Two intrepid librarians

Two intrepid librarians review the best nonfiction books for children

Monday, December 11, 2017

Meet Cindy Sherman: Artist. Photographer. Chameleon By Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan



Meet Cindy Sherman: Artist. Photographer. Chameleon
By Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan.  
Roaring Brook Press. 2017
ISBN: 9781626725201

Note: While Cathy is on Sabbatical, Louise will be writing all the reviews. Cathy will return in March, 2018.
 
There was once a girl who loved playing dress up and pretending to be someone else. “She put tape on her face and pulled it into strange shapes to look like a ghoul. She painted herself with poster paint and took the train into New York city with her friends to spend an afternoon “fake” shopping as the paint peeled off her eyelids.”

In this absorbing biography, Greenberg and Jordan do an excellent job of highlighting the fascinating, creative process of Cindy Sherman. In her work, Untitled Film Stills, Sherman would dress herself up in various costumes and photograph herself in any spot that interested her. When she develop the film it would look cracked and grainy. Sherman wanted her photos to resemble black-and-white film stills that were used to promote movies. The project was done over four years and included sixty-nine images.

To this day, Sherman continues to do many interesting photograph series with herself as the main character. Her ability to totally transform herself is truly amazing.

The narrative is paired throughout with well-captioned color photographs of Sherman’s different art projects.

The book includes a section called Production Notes that takes a deeper look at the artist. One fact that stood out for me was that Sherman was the first woman artist in the world to sell a photograph for $1,000,000.  Other back matter: a bibliography, source notes, lists of artwork by Sherman.

Share this with middle and high school students.

Click here to visit the artist's website for more information about her work.

I borrowed a copy of this book from my local public library.

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