One of the artist talks I attended was with Juno Calypso, a young British photographer whose work discusses many themes most prominently feminism, isolation, loneliness and self sufficiency. Her work has a retro/vintage feel to it and recalls 1950’s style in some ways, probably calling back to a very different age of feminism.
Juno explained a series called ‘What to do With A Million Years’ in some depth and described how she approached a venue she was interested in, a Las Vegas 70’s underground bunker now owned by a group of people attempting to achieve immortality. She explained the way she approached the owner and group and the sensitivity with which she had to approach.
She also explained and encouraged us to ‘just go and ask’ which is always useful advice for someone like me to hear; I struggle with confidence especially when asserting myself in the outside world. It was encouraging to hear from someone who had a relatable experience to tell, it gave us a different kind of insight than listening to an artist later in their career.
Juno then went on to explain how her process is very personal and therapeutic (even though it won’t feel that way at the time) I think the wisdom she was trying to tell us is to be true to yourself and do what works for you. She did this by explaining her own limited photographic process which usually involves just her, with little outside help or equipment. For this reason she does most of the work in post production where she edits and tailors images to get the desired effect.
Photography is something I am interested in and after this talk I would like to explore it further conceptually, although it isn’t relevant to my practice at this time and I feel like engaging heavily in this would distract from the current train of thought I am working through in my practice.
However I would like to incorporate and experiment with some of Juno’s stylistic qualities, figure, colour, drama and self/self sufficiency. With a view to try to create my own reply to a conversation we are now in (because she is a newer influence to me I always like to directly respond to my first encounter with them).
The most impressive thing about Juno was her honesty, with her intimate photos of her own body and with her honesty about her process, stating she feels success is attributed to luck as well as talent. It has been very inspiring this year to hear from multiple young artists who have had different experiences after graduation. THIS IS THE KIND OF HELP WE NEED AS STUDENTS. Something to bridge the gap between student education and adult engagement in society/workplace, these kinds of skills seem to be in short supply and it is an area of our education that isn’t practically focused on, only conceptually.