Like a veritable chameleon, the photographer Juno Calypso has been slipping into the skins of different characters since the beginning of her career. After completing her studies at the London College of Communication, the 29-year old artist became “Joyce”, a fictional character with whom she did a series of romantic self-portraits. Juno Calypso is interested in solitude, desire and femininity. Hers is an ultra-pop glamourous and seductive imagery with its roots in the pink-hued pin-up world of the 1960s. Her honeymoon series was recompensed with the British Journal of Photography prize. In her latest series What to do With A Million Years, Juno Calypso took her photos in a manor house imbued with the spirit of 1970s Las Vegas, a place where she feels protected and far from the bad vibes terrorising the world today.
Creativity and daring is the order of the day with the artist’s new Christmas campaign for Burberry. “I wanted to depict a realistic Christmas, but one that’s carried by a fantastical imagery. The campaign brings the end of year rituals to life. Good and not so good, it’s what brings us together during this period,” explains Juno Calypso. It’s a slightly bonkers British end of year that reflects the artist’s early inspirations drawn from American visual artist Jeff Koons. The photographer has produced a powerful series surfing a retro chic style. Model Naomi Campbell and her mother Valerie Morris-Campbell, actress Kristin Scott Thomas, rapper and activist M.I.A and the actor Matt Smith all strike a pose in familiar mise-en-scenes around a festive table, or in slightly more banal and solitary situations, on a bus, in a living room or a cheap restaurant.
Extract from the series What to do with a million years by Juno Calypso.
Extract from the series What to do with a million years by Juno Calypso.
Extract from the series The Honeymoon by Juno Calypso.
Extract from the series The Honeymoon by Juno Calypso.
