Since the mid-1970s, the US artist Cindy Sherman has been an exponent of staged photography. She uses herself as a model to explore the female role as defined by culture – a recurrent theme in her works. She dresses up and assumes different identities. Her photographs are comments on, and parodies of stereotypes: for example, those that feature in Hollywood films and the world of fashion. In this work, a female character, perhaps a Hollywood actress, is gazing longingly beyond the space of the picture. A projection serves as a backdrop, simulating a location outside the studio where Sherman’s depictions usually take place. Sherman’s photographic staging comes across as a fictional film still, in which she presents herself in a genre-typical, but non-existent film. Sherman’s approach and aesthetic tamper with expressions, which at first glance seem familiar, but which, on closer scrutiny, appear eerily alien. Viewing Sherman’s works, we find ourselves caught in this area of tension. With photos such as this one, Cindy Sherman helped redefine staged photography. She has also been a significant female critic of the male domination that has characterised art, photography and film for so many years. In particular, her works are a critique of the masculine gaze that for decades helped define the way we viewed women. This is the gaze that Sherman probes and challenges in her works.