Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman (born 1954) is an American artist who has photographed herself for nearly fifty years without ever making a self-portrait. In the Untitled Film Stills (1977–80) she cast herself as the heroines of films that never existed. Each later series, from the centrefolds and fairy tales to the history portraits and the society women, turns costume, make-up and the camera into a study of how identity is constructed and consumed.

The archive holds:

  • monographs and catalogues, including Specimens (Art Random, 1991), Photographic Work 1975–1995 (Schirmer/Mosel), Possession (Manchester, 1994), the Baden-Baden/Boijmans catalogue (1997) and the Hasselblad Award book (2000)
  • group shows that placed her beside Claude Cahun, Maya Deren and Annette Messager
  • catalogues and ephemera from Paris, including the Pompidou's Alibis (1984)