Juno Calypso: A Photographer’s Guide to Surreal Self-Portraiture

Juno Calypso is a British photographer and visual artist renowned for her dramatic self-portraits that are feminine explorations of loneliness, artificial beauty, and the complexities of human relationships. Her genre combines elements of performance art, surrealism, and filmmaking, and as such, she is the perfect reference guide for photographers interested in experimenting with staged photographs and conceptual narratives.

The Style of Juno Calypso

Calypso’s photography is immediately identifiable due to her distinctive aesthetic choices. Some of the most significant visual elements are:

Pastel and Neon Colour Schemes – Her images often feature pale pinks, greens, and blues, which create a dreamy, nostalgic atmosphere.

Cinematic Lighting – She is careful with her lighting to enhance mood, often adding soft glows, neon flashes, and dark contrasts.

Mid-Century Interiors – A lot of her shoots are staged in retro-like environments, such as old hotels, beauty salons, or simulated home situations, adding to the hauntingly glamorous feel of her photographs.

Themes in Her Photography

Juno Calypso’s work goes beyond the visual, discussing deeper themes with regards to modern womanhood and self-discovery:

Construction of Femininity – Through makeup, wigs, and staged photographs, she investigates how femininity is created and performed in society.

Isolation and Artifice – Her models (often herself disguised) are presented as isolated, artificial figures, raising questions about beauty standards, self-reflection, and personal space.

Surrealism and Satire – Her work often has a satirical or eerie undertone that leaves the observer questioning whether they are observing things as they truly appear.

Union and Connection – While Calypso generally presents individuals isolated, she also examines tension between connection and separation, especially in social or romantic relationships. Her photographs sometimes present the concept of union as both prison and shelter, which says something about the complication of human interaction.

How to Use Juno Calypso as a Reference for Your Own Photography

If you’re inspired by Calypso’s work, here are some ways to incorporate her style into your own projects:

Experiment with Self-Portraiture – Use yourself as the subject, creating a persona that fits within a conceptual narrative.

Play with Set Design – Find unique locations with vintage aesthetics, or carefully stage a setting to enhance mood and meaning.

Colour and Lighting Focus – Use coloured lighting gels, neon lights, or pastel hues to create an atmospheric and cinematic mood.

Explore Union and Isolation Themes – Think about how relationships, intimacy, and isolation can be visually represented in your work.

Tell a Narrative – Think beyond one image—how does the setting, costume, and stance work to enhance the overall message of your work?

Conclusion

Juno Calypso’s photography is a masterclass in marrying substance and beauty. Whether you adore her surreal storytelling, her powerful use of colour, or her contemplative themes, learning from her can be an excellent means of elevating your photographic aesthetic to the next level. Adopting her technique of staging, lighting, and performance can lead you to create powerful and captivating images that make an impact

I have decided to do some final mounting as well as my photobook. I have portrayed my images in two separate layouts.

The first layout includes images of mainly cars, with some landscape images, it acts as a breakup blackboard. Having some more personal close up shots as well as some further landscape images it provides a wide variety of images from different aspects.

My second blackboard consists of more fun related images, of the group engaging in some more personal activity’s rather than there main hobby that brings them together. This provides a different outlook on the people that I have photographed.

For my mounting mock exam, I first wanted to group my photographs. I had a total of 9 final prints, grouped into a 4, a 2, and a 3. I was very careful about the photos and their group, didn’t want an anomaly in a group, since I want my photos to look professional and put together, even when being mounted.

Group 1 :

These 3 photos were grouped together due to their nature, I thought all 3 fit a description of ‘teenage dirt bag’. Their rough nature and daring symbolism depict a small glimpse into a teenager life in this day and age, so I thought the grouping of these photos would work well together.

Group 2 :

With this group of 4 photos, the link between was family. all 4 photos has the inclusion of my 15 year old brother, these photos depict family and union through touch and emotion, shown through the sitters in the photo.

Group 3 :

With this last group of photographs, they were kind of my red herrings of my shoots. Since both photos are headshot portraits, I thought they went perfectly together anyway. Even with different symbolism and background thoughts to each photo, I thought side by side they looked really well.

Layout overall –

Group 1 –

The thought behind this layout is the close up and far away contrast. While having 2 of 3 photos being close up headshots, while one being from a distance, I thought instead of alternating, just to do top and bottom. The bottom photo, in my opinion, is more impactful, while the other two help show the story. The bottom photo includes emotion, blank staring and an emotionless face, so I thought that could be the focal point of this board.

Group 2 –

With the layout on this group of photographs, because some of the photos are similar I thought to put them in opposite corners of the layout. This gives my work dimension but also comfort through the known. The contrast between each person in the layout go very well together, the difference in the photos work simultaneously together.

Group 3 –

For the last group layout, I thought that having a male, love interest, as the initial photo, it tells a smaller story, an explanation where as teenagers, our family ( bottom photo ) is always there, but we choose the temporary fix ( top photo ) as main priority, even over friends and family.

I mounted my images using white foam board, as well as black card. I experimented with different coloured backgrounds and different layouts.

Virtual Gallery

Evaluation

I think the mounting of my images went well, because I was able to experiment with multiples different layouts, with different amounts of images. I also experimented with different coloured backgrounds. I was also able to group images together that compliment each other, so that I could improve the layout and compositions of my mounts.

For my final photography project, the theme of Union I’ve decided to merge the idea of feminism and girlhood. I’ve always been inspired by how women and girls are connected to one another and the strength that comes with understanding these connections.

I would like to know more about how we take care of each other, both in our day-to-day lives. I believe that girlhood is beautiful, strong, and complicated, but also often oversimplified or misinterpreted, mostly by men and so I’d like to reach towards the many different layers of what it means to be a girl today as I believe being a girl in todays society is very difficult.

I’d like my photography to point to the power of women’s solidarity, how girls are lifting each other up to resist stereotypes, fight for equality and are there for each other. I want to demonstrate that girlhood is not about being “girly” but rather, it’s about claiming your identity, standing up for your friends, and drawing power from the community of other women and girls. The concept of union in this work symbolizes how we, as women, unite to advocate for each other’s voices and experiences which could be for misogyny, rape, assault and many issues women have to deal with today.

I plan to capture true interactions between girls that vulnerability, intimacy, and strength that comes from being together. I want to show the quiet acts of support, as well as the noisier. I also want to employ colour, light, and composition to express the intimacy and solidarity of these relationships, emphasizing the depth of feeling that exists, in some places such as the beach ,bathroom and narrowing down to a school bathroom too.

Cindy Sherman is also one of my biggest inspirations for this project since her work often concerns issues of identity and the performance of femininity and women’s roles. Her self-portraits made me think more about the representation of girls and women in the media and how we can resist those images through our own representation. Like Sherman, I am interested in reclaiming and redefining girlhood and femininity in my images to try and make this die down as women struggle voicing there opinions.

What I try to do through this project is create work that inspires audiences to reflect on the strength of women’s and girls’ solidarity. I’m trying to show that if we support each other and hold each other up, we’re not just stronger but we are unstoppable. I want to represent the depth and power of girlhood and the power that comes from finding common ground in it.

To what extent have cindy sherman and Claude Cahun explored the male (photographic) gaze in their work?

“In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously  looked at and displayed with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness” 

-Laura Mulvey

The male gaze. The term the male gaze is referring to Laura Mulvey’s feminist theory where she discussed how women are seen as objects for men’s visual pleasure. This is present within society however it is magnified through the media. A prominent example of it would have to be Marilyn Monroe specifically in River Of No Return from 1954 where the first few shots of her in the saloon focus purely on her body and then her seductively resting on the piano. Similarly, Tom Ford’s advertisement for their first male fragrance in 2007 featured a woman’s bare chest with a perfume bottle in between her cleavage and another with a perfume bottle placed in front of her groin. Its clear that the male gaze has been evident and used for many years and has not appeared to stop.

However, artists like Claude Cahun and Cindy Sherman challenge these harmful stereotypes and portray a different perspective of the female experience. Cindy Sherman focused on identity, gender roles, and stereotypes. Similarly, Claude Cahun questioned identity and gender but they used aspects of surrealism in their work. I believe that their work and their message are still important, relevant, and still needed. I am exploring similar themes within my own work as I believe it is important to highlight the issue of the male gaze. I’m planning on showing this by creating cracked effect for the models faces. I want to use some of the usual conventions similar to what Cindy Sherman created however by creating this cracked makeup on my models face I’m hoping it can show her she is breaking from within and the objectification she’s facing is ultimately breaking her.

I believe feminism is such an important topic as the patriarchy affects everyone in society. Feminism tends to have a bad stigma around it which could be due to the lack of education around real feminism. Society has tainted the message of feminism many people think it centred around wanting women to be superior to men which is not the case. The first feminist movement (which can be considered the first wave of feminism) took place during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was centred around women’s suffrage and giving more opportunities to women as during that time women were seen as inferior to men, they weren’t able to have their bank accounts, they weren’t allowed to vote even after that law was lifted the only women who were married could vote as well as women of colour were still unable to vote whether they were married or not. There have now been around seven waves of feminism each one carrying on the previous message but improving it through new ways. For example, the main difference between third and fourth-wave feminism is fourth wave wants to focus more on technology and social media so spreading your knowledge and fighting through social media. However, very recently it appears that as a society we seem to be back peddling as of January 20th, 2025 Donald Trump is president of America once again and has been vocal about his opinion surrounding abortion rights. Women finally got the right to have control over what happens to their bodily autonomy in 1973. However, since President Trump has been elected people are scared that once again we will have these rights stripped away from us.

A photographer who was renowned for their work centred around feminism and the male gaze would be Cindy Sherman. She rose to fame during the mid to late 1970’s with her “Untitled Film Stills” where she produced 70 black and white stills centred around her portraying these different characters. She produced a depiction of a working woman, a housewife, etc… This can be linked to Judith Butler’s ideas of Gender performativity where she discusses how gender is based on repetition and rituals within society. The idea that gender is not fixed but is unstable and the notion of gender that gets pushed on people during infancy is in fact a myth. Similarly, Cindy Sherman discusses how she took inspiration for her work from the phrase “male gaze” as she felt that the media only portrayed women from a heterosexual viewpoint and it tended to reduce women to being objects. You can see how this impacted her work as she tried to challenge these gender-driven stereotypes by not romanticizing or glorifying them and instead exposing them. She does this very successfully, her images tend to be quite simple and she is always the model which I believe makes it more effective as she always has the same quite flat and unreadable expression on her face in all the photographs making them appear a lot more superficial as you can not tell how the model/women within the image is feeling. I also think by Cindy Sherman being both the model and the photographer for her pictures I believe makes them more impactful as she has all the power in the situation, she isn’t affected by the male gaze which will often occur subconsciously or not because it is so heavily ingrained into society but because she can control every aspect she tried to prevent that.

For example, in image no. 10, Cindy is playing the ‘role’ of a traditional 20th century housewife. She is depicted crouching on the kitchen floor alongside a broken, spilled shopping bag. What Sherman achieves through this comment on female stereotypes is nothing less than protesting the traditional roles of women in that time period. Women in this era were restricted and categorized to act and be a certain way; cooking and cleaning for the kids and husband, and overall being the invisible ‘caretaker’ to what would’ve been an ungrateful family. This concept is solidified in her lack of direct address, her melancholic, distant gaze leaves the audience questioning her real personality; who she is behind the ‘role’ of a housewife. Visually you can tell she was inspired by the 20th century from her outfit to her hair and makeup which is effective for creating the atmosphere of the role she is meant to play as being a housewife was one of the only roles for women during the 20th century until a little later when the suffragette movement started to grow and women started to get into more occupation fields but it was only around 20% of all women at the time who were working.

Similarly, Claude Cahun is a great example of an artist who challenges harmful stereotypes and creates thought-provoking feminist photography. Even before creating they started to explore art and photography Cahun started to push the boundaries with feminism and gender during their childhood Claude Cahun delved into the idea of being non-binary and going by they/them pronouns which clearly influences their work today through their differing characters some presenting more masculine some more feminine. They tended to focus on gender and more specifically the fluidity of gender. Claude Chaun’s work is contradictory to Cindy Sherman’s work focuses on the stereotypes to challenge them instead Claude Cahun uses elaborate props and fashion to convey new a different ideas about gender. It is evident within their work that they stray far away from the male gaze all of their work appears to be quite androgynous and doesn’t fit the beauty standard. However, like Cindy Sherman all of Claude’s work are self-portraits so they’re taking away the power from the audience by being in control.

For instance, the image ‘I am in training don’t kiss me’ holds the title as one of Cahun’s most famous pieces of work. In the picture they have short hair, evident in how Claude makes a point of distancing herself from the male gaze and alongside it, the stereotype that women must have thick, long hair in order to be deemed attractive by society. Similarly Cahun appears to be holding a pantomime barbell which continues to challenge stereotypes as its often said that women should be dainty and delicate and not strong, powerful and capable to do the same things as men. Additionally, Claude’s facial expression holds power and significance. Specifically, in the direct address to the audience, Cahun comes across as very intimidating and, as a result, holds power over the viewer, positioning herself at a higher status. In addition, they wrote the title of the picture on their shirt which emphasises their message of “don’t kiss me” demonstrating that they don’t want to be sexualized through her photo.

Ultimately, both Claude Cahun and Cindy Sherman have created incredible work which pushed against boundaries, challenged stereotypes, and helped advocate for change. Claude Cahun has effectively helped push the boundaries of gender and gender performativity, and Cindy Sherman challenged the harmful stereotypes which often suppress women. An aspect of both of their work that I am interested in exploring is their use of facial expressions in their photos. Both Cindy Sherman and Claude Cahun use quite deadpan facial expressions however, unlike Cindy Sherman, Claude Cahun uses direct address, which I find comes off as very powerful and demanding, so I would like to experiment with that within my work.

For my final photography project on UNION. I’ve decided to explore the topics of femininity and girlhood, taking inspiration from Cindy Sherman. Sherman’s photography really resonates with me because she challenges traditional ideas of women and what we’re meant to do in society. Her ability to show the complexity of womanhood—strength and vulnerability—will be a huge influence on how I approach my project.

Cindy Sherman was born in 1954 and started taking painting classes, but she got frustrated and disliked it so she moved on to photography as a way of expressing herself and challenging the conventional standards of women. My favourite aspect of her work is that she poses herself as the model for her photographs. She dons different costumes, makeup, and props. She completely transforms herself to tell a tale. Sherman has explained, “I was closely duplicating other art, and then I realized that I could just use a camera and spend my time on an idea instead.” This shift to photography allowed her to express herself and explore concepts of gender, identity, and cultural expectations in a more individualized and focused way towards herself.

Sherman’s photography is not so much about depicting women in stereotypical positions—she turns them on their heads and confronts us. In a lot of her work, she plays with tension and unease that so frequently come with womanhood. To cite an example, in one of her most famous photographs, she is dressed up as a 1950s housewife, but the way she stands and the expression on her face create a feeling of unease. The photo seems to be innocent at first, but the tension in the scene is apparent once you take a second look. This tension between what is done with and what is actually done to women is something I personally would like to address with my project.

I would like my final project to show the unease and vulnerability that comes with girlhood and femininity. I’m going to be employing self-portraiture, like Sherman, to describe what it is like to be a growing-up girl in contemporary society. I’m going to attempt to convey a sensation that is raw and unfiltered, such as when we’re alone in our own minds, or with the tension of having to meet up with society’s expectations. It’s about portraying girlhood as not necessarily simple—its complicated, confusing, and sometimes clumsy, but it’s also full of strength.

Sherman has had a deep influence on photography and art, specifically on how we perceive women and femininity. She prompted artists to move away from standard, two-dimensional depictions of women and create more complex and nuanced images. Her work opened up a conversation about gender and identity that still influences photographers today. By doing my project, I hope to continue that dialogue and prove that being feminine is greater than what’s expected of you by society—about all of the various different experiences that all add up to being a girl.

I desire to utilize New Jersey’s environment for my project in order to portray various views of femininity. From awkward moments outside to more powerful images in urban settings, I hope to have a body of photographs that represent both the awkwardness and strength of girlhood. I would like to focus on how women support each other and how we can find strength even in awkwardness. My goal is to create photographs that prompt individuals to reflect on what it really means to be a girl or woman, and to challenge the stereotypes which so easily define us.

Ultimately, I want my project to capture the complexities of girlhood and show the strength that exists in embracing our own uniqueness. Cindy Sherman’s work has prompted me to look deeper into these issues, and I’m thrilled to make my own images of the strength and vulnerability of girlhood

Process

For this photoshoot I went into the studio, as I felt like my photobook would need some other images to add contrast; this is because most of my photos are portraits so by adding these additional filler images it will make my book appear less repetitive and more engaging.

I chose to use some ripped-up book pages and a piece of card with the face mask to create a cracked look on the model’s face. I did this to try and symbolise destruction and loss, just like I did with the models; to amplify and carry on with the ‘narrative’ that I am trying to tell whilst also using an alternative and more abstract way of showing destress, vulnerability etc…

Contact Sheet 1

Contact Sheet 2

Editing

Final Images

Final Images

Evaluation

Overall, I’m quite happy with the pictures of the rocks because some of them were close-ups, meaning you can see many details in the different colours and textures. This is going to be very useful in my photobook as it’s adding a lot more variety. I also find that they link and can be related to the cracked ‘skin’ that I used on the models. However, for the picture of the water I wish I had used a faster shutter speed in order to get a clearer image of the water running as the ones I got came out slightly blurry due to the speed of the water and the lower shutter speed which I used.Similarly, I’m happy with how the book pages and the piece of card turned out. I tried to get multiple different angles when photographing the book pages, experimenting to see if I could create more depth within the photos. Which I think I successfully achieved by taking some of the photos from a lower angle additionally by using the lower angle it reveals more layers and textures which you couldn’t see from the higher, birds eye view which I also used.

Process

For this photoshoot I wanted to focus specifically on sexual assault and harassment. I did this through creating handprints on the model. This was actually inspired by a movement originating in 2020 where sexual assault victims would paint a red handprint on their body where they were touched without consent and share their story/experience as a part of the hashtag ‘DenimDay’.

Contact Sheet

Editing

When editing something I wanted to focus on and emphasise was the darkness of the photos. I knew I wanted to place these images towards to back of my book which is where the more dramatically lit and intense photos would be found. This meant that I had to increase contrast, blacks and shadows in the photo however by just doing that it lost a lot of the details so I then increased the high and highlands to help make sharper lines.

Final Images

Evaluation

I’m extremely pleased with how this photoshoot came out. From a technical point of view potentially they could have been better by increasing the exposure in order to brighten up the picture. However, by doing that I felt it lost part of the intensity of the photo. The picture of the hand with the aged rose I think is my favorite from this shoot I used the rose to try and symbolise how objectification doesn’t only affect you internally but can start to manifest and affect other aspects of your life in the way you see things or interact with things.

Girlhood, Feminism, & Union in Photography

1. How Girls Are Represented
   • Breaking stereotypes: Showing girls as strong, independent, and real.
   • Body image: Challenging the unrealistic beauty standards society sets for women.
2. Feminist Photography
   • Female Gaze: Women behind the camera telling their own stories, not just being objectified.
   • Body Autonomy: Capturing women owning their image, showing they’re in control.
   • Self-expression: Photography that shows girls and women in their true, unfiltered selves.
3. Social Media & Feminism
   • Platforms like Instagram allow girls to share their stories and fight for what they believe in.
   • #MeToo: Social media as a space to raise awareness about harassment and inspire others to speak out.
   • Breaking the “perfect” image: Embracing authenticity over curated, filtered perfection.
4. Union of Girlhood & Feminism
   • Growing Up: Photography capturing the journey from girlhood to womanhood, embracing the ups and downs.
   • Breaking norms: Photos of girls and women standing up against society’s expectations.
   • Solidarity: How girlhood and feminism often unite to challenge gender norms, supporting each other in the fight for equality.
5. Influence of Feminism in History
   • The suffragists fought for women’s rights, and today’s photography continues to carry their message, amplifying women’s voices.
   • Union and Change: Feminism, girlhood, and solidarity in photography come together to spark change and inspire a new generation.