- Cindy Sherman: Well I don't usually do commissions,
but I think when I
haven't been working,
when I feel like I need some sort of,
project to challenge me,
to force me to start working.
I..
I sometimes will just accept it,
because...
because I have a real deadline
to, y'know, to force me to get going.
It was through a friend of mine
who represents Balenciaga,
asked me if I wanted to do some shots for French Vogue,
and I said, my sort of stipulation is,
as long as you can lend me the clothes for
weeks at a time,
and I don't have that kind of pressure that,
like, normally, I think commercial photographers
shoot everything in one day,
and I said, no, I need the clothes for longer,
and so they were totally cool with that.
I...
wanted it to look like these are people
who happen to be wearing Balenciaga at, like, some groovy, y'know, parties.
Maybe they work in the fashion business,
or maybe they would like to be working in the fashion business.
I...
was trying to, y'know, sort of
make it look as if they're shot with flash.
The backgrounds are all digitally added
with just shots of people in restaurants and bars.
And, yeah that was kind of what
this series started out as,
and...
then I subsequently
blew up one of these large
to see how it would
hold up as a work of art,
And it didn't look good with the backgrounds,
so...
so I wound up going back
and completely changing the backgrounds,
and they sort of,
now have a new life as like, different sort of pictures.
Still somewhat as if they're from parties,
but even, in some cases, even more so,
because I added these flash effects.
And it was actually the first time I tried shooting with the digital camera.
I borrowed a friend's camera,
and I was kind of nervous about that, too.
Now I'm suddenly experimenting with a digital camera,
and I don't know how to use it,
and does it work the same with the lights?
And then I have to set it up
to look at my computer while I'm shooting,
and it was all kind of touch and go
in the beginning and a little scary,
but, um...
but once I was into it,
it was just like, I'm a total convert.
I threw out all my film and I'm ready to get rid of my cameras,
and, y'know, it's...
like, I would just never go back to film.