Applying makeup. Dressing. Standing in front of the mirror. Taking a picture of our appearance. We’ve all done it. Cindy Sherman takes it to the extreme.

Her work begs one to question – when does this form of self-presentation become a façade? Where do we draw the line and call it not true or not like one’s actual self? By dressing up as other people, is Cindy Sherman equivalent to the subject she sets out to portray? Is the effect the same on the observer?

Is Cindy Sherman still Cindy Sherman in each of these images? Is she a pageant queen? An old woman in a cable knit sweater? Or is she an 80s businesswoman with large glasses? Which image shows the real Cindy Sherman?

Equivalence stipulates that one thing is equal to another – it is sameness. The two or more things in a state of equivalence are interchangeable.

Through film and video we can record ourselves and refine our mimetic behavior to alter our outward presentation in small pieces – photographs, clips of film – in which we are forever appearing different – possibly equivalent – to another person. Cindy Sherman can be all of these people thanks to a camera. 

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