(b Glen Ridge, NJ, Jan 19, 1954). American photographer. While growing up Sherman was drawn to the television environment of the 1960s and fascinated by disguise and make-up. She studied art at Buffalo State College, NY (1972–6), concentrating on photography. Throughout her long career, Sherman has employed the same basic working method: working alone, she creates characters and mise-en-scènes through make-up and costumes, nearly always using herself as a model. The resulting photographs are not considered self-portraits and are almost always untitled. Sherman rapidly rose to celebrity status in the international art world during the early 1980s with the presentation of her series Untitled Film Stills in various group and solo exhibitions across America and Europe (see fig.). Among 130 black-and-white ‘film stills’ made between 1978 and 1980 are portraits of Sherman that recall the types of roles played by women in ‘B’ movies of the 1940s and 1950s, and by such screen idols as Sophia Loren and Marilyn Monroe. In other early series, such as ...