In this exercise you’ll consider stereotypes and how they come into being – nurses are kind and caring, youths in hoodies are waiting to break into your car.

Use the same person to model several different roles, as Cindy Sherman has done in some of her photo-series. You’ll decide what they will be but one of them must be genuine. The aim here is to get people to question what a doctor or a student or a politician looks like. If you can, provide suitable outfits – from your own wardrobe, borrowed from friends or bought from a charity shop.
Produce a set of three images, two false, one true. Show them to as many people you can and keep a track on the results. Can people spot the genuine image? Look for a pattern. Do people want the person to be something other than what they actually are?

Write around 250 words in your learning log or blog reflecting on what you’ve found out about stereotypes and our need to ascribe characteristics to particular roles.