Untitled

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

Co-founds the Hallwalls arts centre

With Robert Longo, Charles Clough and Nancy Dwyer, Sherman founded Hallwalls in Buffalo, an arts centre meant to welcome artists of diverse backgrounds. It was in Buffalo, too, that she encountered the photo-based conceptual work of Hannah Wilke, Eleanor Antin and Adrian Piper.

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.