(Secretary)

1972–1976

From painting to photography

At college Sherman majored in painting but, frustrated with it ('I was meticulously copying other art'), took up the camera; having failed the required photography class as a freshman, she retook it with Barbara Jo Revelle, who introduced her to conceptual art. She graduated with a BA in 1976.

1974–1980

Together with Robert Longo

Sherman lived with the artist Robert Longo, who featured her in his 'Men in the Cities' series and encouraged her to record her 'dolling up' for parties; this was the beginning of her Film Stills. Other accounts date their meeting to 1976; they lived together until 1979 and remained friends.

1980

First solo shows in New York

Sherman's first solo show in New York was at the non-commercial space The Kitchen, and when Metro Pictures opened later that year its first show was her photographs; the gallery went on to represent her for 40 years. The Film Stills were first shown at Artists Space, where Sherman worked as a receptionist.

1980

Ends the “Film Stills” and turns to colour

Sherman finished the Film Stills when, as she put it, she had run out of clichés, and with the Rear Screen Projections series moved from black-and-white to colour and to large formats.

1982

The Venice Biennale and the Stedelijk Museum

Sherman took part in the Venice Biennale (and again in 1995) and had a solo exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. The same year she began the Pink Robes series (Untitled #97–100).

December 1995

MoMA buys all the “Untitled Film Stills”

The Museum of Modern Art in New York acquired all 69 black-and-white photographs of the series (for an estimated $1 million).