CONTENT WARNING!
Cindy Sherman’s series depicts the artist in various guises, including the use of dark make‑up (“blackface”). Blackface carries a long history of racist stereotyping and the dehumanization of Black people. We present these works to foster critical discussion about masquerade, role‑playing and representation in the media, not to endorse discriminatory imagery.
We acknowledge that these photographs may cause harm and distress. If you have questions or wish to share feedback, please e‑mail us.
Bus Riders (1976/2000) is considered to be one of Sherman’s earliest self-contained series. It consists of small black-and-white photographs of various passengers on a public bus, staged in front of a brightly lit wall without any additional decor. Sherman herself assumes the roles of the different passengers, whose clothing and postures reference stereotypes of urban everyday life. Just like the ever-changing occupants of a bus, the diverse identities and types of people portrayed remain playful and open. The images in this series were originally presented as billboard cutouts in an exhibition in the interior of a public bus. They were not exhibited as uncut images, as here, until Sherman had them reprinted in 2000.