THE FEMALE GAZE: “Jo Ann Chaus: Silent Self-Talk With Pictures” by Diana Nicholette Jeon

Jo Ann Chaus is a photographer based in New York City. Her formal education includes a BS from Boston University, Certificates of Study from the International Center of Photography in NYC, and advanced workshop studies at Maine Media College. This year, Chaus was long-listed for the Aperture Portfolio Prize; her Critical Mass Portfolio was awarded Top 50 in 2023 and 2022, along with Top 200 recognition from 2018-2021. Solo exhibitions include two Julia Margaret Cameron Award exhibitions in Barcelona, the Atlanta Photography Group, Cortona on the Move, and SOHO Photo. Recent group exhibition venues include Amos Eno Gallery in Brooklyn, NY, a three-person exhibit at Decode Gallery in Tuscon, AZ, and a Portfolio Finalist Exhibition at the BBA Gallery in Berlin.

Footprint, from Conversations with Myself, Continued

In my practice, I have spent significant time creating work around issues of contemporary female identity in American life. I’ve been following Jo Ann Chaus’ work for a while, specifically the works beginning with the word Conversations. Chaus’ imagery resonates with me profoundly personally.

Three years ago, Chaus won the Julia Margaret Cameron Award. Viewing that work on their site was the first time I had seen it presented together as one body rather than individual images. While any given image stands alone as substantial and visually interesting, seeing the work as a group brought even more power to any given image. I knew then that I wanted to share them, so I did a Portfolio feature of her work in my writing for One Twelve.

Yellowbird, from Conversations with Myself

Today, I revisit that work but bring a greater sense of Chaus as an artist by looking at several series and listening to her words about her life and work. Throughout the work, there is a style and palette that connect each to the other. Even before the work in which Chaus declared she found her voice, you could see the voice rapidly emerging image after image as you viewed each series. Visually, the work is stunning—the lighting and palette work to complement and underscore her ideas. But I think it goes deeper than that. When Chaus was learning to find her photographic voice, it converged with the work in which she portrayed a character whose voice was limited by the timeframe in which she lived. I don’t think it is a coincidence that the work created under those conditions quietly screams of finding oneself. It may be serendipitous, but it is also brilliant.

I asked Jo Ann for summaries of each series so that readers who do not know Chaus’ work have some context for her interview responses.

White Coat from Conversations with Myself

Sweetie & Hansom was my 1st real body of work about my parents, to get to know them as people, not just my parents. While I was making this work, my younger brother passed away from a drug overdose; he had struggled with that for many years. This work was about loss, grief, and support within the family when we didn’t know how to be there for each other.

Lily and Burt, from Sweetie and Hansom

Conversations with Myself is a series of self-portraits in which I impersonate a woman from the 1950s to try to understand what it was like to be a woman of that era, the era my mother was young, and how that might have impacted and informed our family.

White Sheets, from Conversations with Myself

Conversation Continued was an extension of Conversations with Myself, in which I was present but less prominently, as I was becoming more comfortable in my skin and not needing to be so front and center.

Slip, from Conversations with Myself

The Mirror Opened up the Sky: This book project draws from both Conversations series. My narrative has my character traveling back and forth in memory, dream, and psychological states of mind, constantly referencing myself as a girl-turned-woman navigating through life, trying to understand the people around her/me and thus myself.

Ties, from Conversations with Myself

DNJ: Tell us about your childhood

JAC: I was born during Hurricane Hazel on October 15, 1954, in Brooklyn, NY, but my parents already had the house I was raised in in Massapequa Park, on Long Island, not far from Jones Beach. It was a post-war Levitt tract home popular with young families leaving the city. I was the middle child flanked by two brothers. We had a ground-level Long Island Rail Road station in town to get into ‘The City’ by the time I was 16. We lived on Atlantic Avenue, a half-mile walk to the candy store where we got Gold Nugget bubble gum that came in pouches, Neccos, and Red Hots. It was around the corner from the 7-11, where the “Hoods” hung out with black t-shirts and cigarettes rolled in the sleeves (though I’m not sure if the latter is accurate or imagined??) Our phone number was Pyramid 8-0808; I don’t think there was an area code; this is a trip down Nostalgia Lane. Our home was a beautiful cornucopia of color. My mother had an incredible aesthetic; my brothers and I inherited our artistry from our parents. I am a Libra, which explains my gentle soul, love of beauty, ability to see both sides of an argument, trouble making decisions, and always seeking balance.

Brooklyn, from Conversations with Myself

DNJ: When did you take your first photograph? What was it of, if you remember?

JAC: In High School. It was my cousin sitting on a car hood, and it was a good picture!

Triple, from Conversations with Myself

DNJ: Where did you go to college, and what did you major in?

JAC: After seeing Love Story, I wanted to go to school in Boston. I went to Boston University, first as a premed major, later switching to business, and ultimately going into retail after a class with Professor Beckwith, who recommended the training program at Abraham and Strauss, a leading department store (later merging with Macy’s.) I was in the buyer training program when I met my husband; his father was a women’s clothing manufacturer. Ultimately, we opened our own store, which I ran for 18 years. It was in Fort Lee, NJ, and was called RTW (Ready to Wear.) I was a good buyer and merchandiser; we had a substantial following and a fantastic reputation.

Kitchen Sink, from Conversations with Myself

DNJ: What brought you to photography?

JAC: I took a photo class in high school. Also, my older brother was an excellent black-and-white darkroom photographer. In retrospect, I realize my Dad was also into it; he made great pictures.

I had taken great pictures of my kids over all their years; I still remember taking each one; the making connects me to the moments, almost as Susan Sontag references that the photos serve as our memories.

Head and Shoulders, from Conversations with Myself

When I stopped working around age 48 (I had a women’s clothing store for 18 years), I finally had time for the things I’d been too busy to do, including photography. My local teacher gave me very positive feedback. When she suggested ICP classes, I attended and got hooked.

In my first black-and-white darkroom class, we had an assignment to do work on “transportation.” I chose “walking,” specifically men walking and standing outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was all dress shoes and dress pants, cropped to focus on transportation. Reentering the photo world as an adult, the pictures of men’s shoes—outside the Met in NYC, dressed for work, a throwback before casual attire, sneakers, and soft shoes became the norm. As an aside, I recently framed and hung them. I love them.)

In 2013, I became focused when I committed to a one-year program that went intellectually deeper. In 2015, I self-published a book about my parents.

Party Dress, from Conversations with Myself

I did a 2nd one-year program in 2017, which launched me into the work I do now, revisiting an earlier assignment to make self-portraits. I saw myself in the pictures, as I was, as I wanted to be seen, or as others saw me in ways I hadn’t seen myself before. I had been too busy to be connected to myself, or maybe I was too busy not to connect with myself; thus began this long journey of getting to know myself through self-portrait making, both in session and post, with time to study my image, and what I was expressing in the sessions I imagined myself as many characters, drawn from the media (ads, film, tv, other artists). Making pictures and performing for the camera was energizing. It was a great gift to spend that time, then and now, allowing me to grow my work, evolve, and put it out into the world.

The “looking, seeing, and making” of pictures slows me down and connects me to the moments I’m in, aka living a life.

Queen, from Conversations with Myself

DNJ: What do you do when you encounter a period of creative block?

JAC: I keep trying. Also, I write, walk, read, make still lifes, go to museums, watch movies/shows, and peruse art books. Having a creative block is unnerving but allows the brain to rest.

Summer, from Conversations with Myself

DNJ: Where do the ideas you work with come from?

JAC: Since 2013, I have been interested in self-portraits, aka knowing myself through them.

The “Conversations” work was born as I was cleaning out my house and decided to photograph myself draped in all the things (objects) I wanted to dispose of; they included my kid’s Halloween costumes, old sheets, and stickers. Then, one day, I found a treasure trove of dresses in my daughter’s room. She’d taken them from my mother-in-law’s mother-in-law, who had been a seamstress in the 40’s and 50’s. The dresses spoke to me, and the work grew into the “Conversations” series, made on location at Maine Media while studying with Cig Harvey in the Personal Story workshop.

Banana Bread, from Sweetie and Hansom

I was trying to understand by osmosis, performing for the camera in clothing worn by a woman I was connected to from an earlier era (my mother), channeling her, what it was like to be a woman then. I realized that regardless of the era, we are each trying to make our way in the world and discover our inherent power, irrespective of our families and culture, as a woman navigating this world in its patriarchal leaning. That is the thrust of my work. My mantra is the uplifting of women to be heard, seen, and acknowledged for the inner strength and insights they carry.

Seven years later, I did not feel the need to be in costume, but I acknowledged myself as I was and continued to make pictures of myself out in the environment on little adventures. I had been impersonating and personifying a female character until I connected to myself more deeply. Through many classes and sessions, I found my voice and could express my ideas and opinions more confidently, recognizing I had “come of age” artistically, even at this late age.

House on the Hill, from Sweetie and Hansom

The series I’m working on now (and probably will be for the next five years) is about myself as traces, suggestions, and metaphorical self-portraits that include landscapes, still life, shadows, and remnants. I can now go back into the shadows with confidence and self-knowledge. I may also dabble in portraits of others, including my husband, daughters, family, friends, and acquaintances.

Niagra, from Conversations with Myself

DNJ: Can you share your approach to creating the work?

JAC: I anthropomorphize things and project a human quality on them, making them a self-portrait of sorts. Also, I am interested in how people get to where they are on their path and their inner psychology. I make work anywhere, anytime, as prompted by the light and location. I have my camera with me 97% of the time, just in case I see something.

Pre-Covid, I traveled to workshops and self-made residencies with a friend. I traveled with a trunk of props and costumes, imagining myself as someone else. Post-COVID, I am more home-based. I plan shoots, scout locations, and respond to interesting light and weather. When I travel, I often bring props and lights in case something interesting happens.

Dressing, from Sweetie and Hansom

I often begin making an image in a place with an idea that always morphs into something better, allowing my instinct and intuition to guide me.

I am motivated by having little adventures, seeing new places, the beauty in anything, and odd assortments and juxtapositions of things, often as they exist.

Laundress, from Sweetie and Hansom

DNJ: The battle for women photographers and artists to have equal recognition is still ongoing in the art world. It’s improving, but very slowly. Museums still hold more works by men, and the more well-known galleries are still doing the same. Do you have any thoughts on this?

JAC: If I define a “feminist” as someone who supports equal rights for women and believes that women should have the same political, social, and economic rights as men, then I am a feminist.

Men are more prominent in museum collections and galleries because they have been more active in promoting themselves over the years outside the home, as opposed to women, whose roles have traditionally been more about home and family. Thank goodness women who deserve it ARE getting the recognition they deserve.

More Light, from Sweetie and Hansom

I would guess that more men own galleries and run museums than women. Generally, men and women come from different places and have different agendas and perspectives. Would it be fair to say just by the numbers that men “made” more work than women and promoted it better?

The work should be what’s important, and as women’s issues and points of view continue to gain traction, so will their representation.

Craft Paper, from Suspended

DNJ: You have gotten a lot of acclaim for your work. How did you make that happen? What advice do you have for others trying to succeed with their work?

JAC: I kept doing my work voraciously over the past ten years as I had a lot to catch up on, having started photography later in life. I stuck with my point of view and subject matter, which ‘had legs’ for recognition. I also entered many calls for entry and attended many portfolio reviews, getting to know and getting known by many of the gatekeepers.

We’re so inundated with art and photos that it’s hard to “stand out.” I believe one has to stick to one’s authentic self in what one makes work about. So, there is a lot of promoting and getting one’s work out there, and if it’s of interest to the public, it will get seen.

Carol, from Conversations with Myself

DNJ: We have all had images that somehow we can’t make work, though the germ of something we love is there. What do you do when you encounter this?

JAC: If I have a hint that something might be there, I’ll put it aside, and hopefully, it will resonate sometime in the future. I organize my work into collections by date and subject matter, so when looking for something, I may come across something I put aside that suddenly resonates. If I missed the images, i.e., the subject was right, but the image didn’t sing, I’d try to reshoot it, which often leads to something else. My work is born of emotional input at the moments of shooting, so to try to resurrect that emotion to reshoot is a 50/50 proposition.

Pink Flowers, from Conversations with Myself

DNJ: Please tell us what you are working on now and what is influencing your work lately.

JAC: For new work, I am making pictures of myself but more obtusely and adding still life and landscape images that say something more than a picture of me could say about the happenstances in life and the world and how we are interconnected.

I have been working on a book edit to submit to publishers; I am on the second draft. I have so much work, which can be organized in many ways; it’s been a process. The body of work is Conversations with Myself, but we came up with a working title, The Mirror Opened Up the Sky, as I often use mirrors to glance sideways at things.

Shirt on Lamp, from Still Life

DNJ: What’s on the horizon for you?

JAC: Getting my book published!!! Also, I want to make pictures of friends and family; I need the practice and courage to do it!!!

Lemons, from Stil Life

I hope FRAMES readers enjoyed this deep dive into how and why Jo Ann Chaus makes work. Thank you, Jo Ann, for sharing your time and thoughts with us and allowing me to share this work. I look forward to seeing more and eagerly await your book when it is published.

JO ANN CHAUS

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