Juno_Calypso_Photography
Check-In, 2011. Joyce I.

London-based photographer Juno Calypso mutates into a horrifying caricature of feminine angst and exhaustion in her series Joyce I & II. Frequently compared to the ground-breaking work of Cindy Sherman, Calypso stages herself in a series of bizarre images saturated with pastel boredom and suffocating kitsch. Whether buried behind a desk in a twisted sense of 1980s independence or drowning in a plethora of pink beauty products, Joyce is both unresponsive and blank, staring at us with deadpan desperation. It is the juxtaposition of swallowing scenery and quiet emptiness that makes the work so unsettling. Calypso hints that the expectations of female perfection and beauty is not a history removed, but an ever-present burden to each new generation of women struggling forward.

Juno_Calypso_Photography
Popcorn Venus, 2012. Joyce II.

Juno_Calypso_Photography
12 Reasons You’re Tired All The Time, 2013. Joyce II.

Juno_Calypso_Photography
Agency, 2011. Joyce I.

Juno_Calypso_Photography
Reconstituted Meat Slices, 2013. Joyce II.

Juno_Calypso_Photography
Massage, 2011. Joyce I.

Juno_Calypso_Photography
Artificial Sweetener, 2012. Joyce II.

Juno_Calypso_Photography
Disenchanted Simulation, 2013. Joyce II.

This post was contributed by photographer and Feature Shoot Editorial Assistant Jenna Garrett.

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