Photographer Cindy Sherman has launched the Cindy Sherman Legacy Project (CSLP), a formal initiative to preserve her photographic works by offering to destroy and replace damaged prints with new, artist-approved reprints. The project, announced on June 16, includes condition assessments, a controlled replacement process, and an online catalogue raisonné. Collectors can submit works for evaluation at a New York facility; eligible prints are destroyed and replaced with mint-condition reprints signed by Sherman, with a $10,000 administrative fee plus production costs. The fee is waived for non-profit institutions.
The CSLP is the first initiative of its kind in photography, setting a potential benchmark for legacy care among artists working in lens-based media. It addresses the growing concern over the long-term preservation of aging photographic materials, particularly Sherman's early gelatin silver and chromogenic prints, which are vulnerable to fading. Museum leaders and curators have praised the project as proactive and generous, providing a sustainable model for other photographers to follow. By directly involving Sherman in the evaluation and reprinting process, the project ensures the conceptual and physical integrity of her work is protected in perpetuity.