Untitled #465 [Society Portaits]

With Society Portraits (2008), Sherman continues to grapple with the representation of aging apparent in Head Shots (2000–2002). Instead of the failed life stories of the middle-class, however, the female characters in the Society Portraits represent the money, success and social prestige found in high society. Accordingly, the images are exceptionally large and ornately framed. The figures are shown in stately poses against opulent backdrops, looking down on the viewer. Even the smallest details of these pictures convey the high social status that these women represent. But it is precisely these unsparing details of the large-format portraits that provide just as much information about the fragility of the roles and the transience of the characters. Their social success cannot halt the progress of time or the fact of mortality.