Who is Juno Calypso?
“A camera is just a mirror with a memory.” - Juno Calypso
Eternal Beuty, 2015. From the series “The Honeymoon”, 2015. Photography by Juno Calypso.
Billie Eilish for Garage magazine, 2019. Photography by Juno Calypso.
In 2019, Garage magazine revealed the now-iconic cover featuring Billie Eilish, a collaborative effort by three exceptional artists: Billie Eilish herself, renowned contemporary artist Takashi Murakami, and British photographer Juno Calypso. While this article will not delve into the contributions of all three artists, the focus will be on Juno Calypso’s body of work. Deemed the photographer of isolation and loneliness, Juno Calypso presents self-portraits that seamlessly blend aesthetic allure with an unsettling undertone. A graduate of the London College of Communication, Calypso has garnered numerous awards and accolades for her work, earning unprecedented critical acclaim. Her work has been featured in publications such as Vogue Italia, TIME Magazine, The Guardian, Paper, i-D, and Dazed, among others. Calypso explores themes such as feminism, gender issues, isolation, loneliness, self-sufficiency, and desire in her photographs, predominantly monochromatic self-portraits set in eerie surroundings. Her darkly comedic lens offers a unique perspective on both her personal life and the broader world.
The artist introduced her alter ego, Joyce, during her university years, and Joyce has since become a recurrent subject in Calypso’s work. This character embodies performative femininity in the context of the absurd modern world, serving as a satirical commentary on conventional standards and expectations associated with womanhood. In 2015, Calypso created “The Honeymoon,” a series shot in a couples-only, romantic-themed hotel in rural Pennsylvania, where, to gain access to various hotel rooms, Calypso posed as a travel writer. In this setting, the hyper-feminine Joyce was intended to “perform solitary acts of desire and disappointment,” serving as an “ode to womanhood and finding comfort in solitude,” as described by Sleek. Despite its initial sweet and romantic appearance, this series is laced with an unsettling blend of eeriness and uneasiness, capturing the ritual of seduction for one.
The Honeymoon Suite, 2015. From the series “The Honeymoon”, 2015.
Continuing her presence in Calypso’s body of work, Joyce made a notable appearance in the artist's 2018 series, “What to Do with a Million Years.” This peculiar series was captured in the underground residence built by Jerry Henderson, CEO of Avon Cosmetics, in Las Vegas. Constructed in the 1970s to provide shelter from a potential nuclear war for Henderson and his wife, the house diverges from the typical bunker concept, presenting itself as a luxurious mansion. Decorated with pastel-colored interiors, plush carpets, chandeliers, and even a swimming pool and an artificial garden, the ‘bunker’ becomes the backdrop for a series that is both terrifyingly beautiful and haunting, dwelling on life, death, and eternal life. Inspired by cryonics magazines, Calypso shows Joyce as a woman trapped in this underground bunker, gradually succumbing to the loss of sanity and undergoing a transformation into an alien. The voyeuristic nature of the photographs invites viewers to peer into the private life of Joyce through her window. Similar to her other works, this series provides dream-like imagery with an ominous undertone and occasional nightmarish scenes.
A Clone of Your Own, 2017. From the series “What To Do With A Million Years”, 2018.
Juno Calypso has always been a solo photographer, never having a team of her own. Reflecting on this choice, she acknowledges that having a team might alleviate loneliness, but she expresses discomfort with the idea. She commented, “I’ve never done this around another person. I read somewhere that isolation and solitude are the only places where fantasy can take place. Being alone is the only time you can set off that inner cinema.” Once more, there may be those who perceive Juno Calypso’s work as an attempt to objectify women and view them through a male gaze. However, Calypso’s intention is not to endorse these ideals but rather mock them. Calypso’s work centres her subject - usually herself - in a landscape of broader problems in contemporary society, dealing with themes like beauty, gender, and solitude, but always
