Cindy Sherman: Fashion | Art21 "Extended Play"

- 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 sometimes will just accept it,

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 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 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 it's like,
I would just never go back to film.