(Glen Ridge, New Jersey, 1954 - )
1976 (printed 2005)
Gelatin silver print
7 3/16 x 5 in. (18.3 x 12.7 cm)
Collection of the Akron Art Museum
Knight Purchase Fund for Photographic Media
2012.25
Some of Sherman’s earliest work, these images were produced shortly after the artist graduated from art school in Buffalo. Sherman enacted characters based on keen observations of people she encountered on the bus, and then displayed them in the upper portion of a city bus interior typically reserved for advertising or public service announcements. The Bus Riders series serves as an important bridge between Sherman’s student work and her first major series, the seminal Untitled Film Stills, 1977–80. With Bus Riders, Sherman explores portraiture and stereotypes, honing her sensibility for representing age, class, gender and race differences.