All photographs: Jo Ann Chaus_ Chaus embodies a range of female stereotypes and archetypes – figures shaped by inherited expectations and internalised roles. I was waiting for a good rain for the flooding at this location, in which to place my antique deer head, speaking of courage, presence, strength and beauty’ ‘I discovered this diner early one morning; such an ode to Hopper with the raking light and a woman, alone’ Though deeply personal, these meticulously staged images also deal with overarching gender stereotypes, the roles women were and are often still expected to perform, from lover and muse to mother and housekeeper Chaus recognised how deeply she was still bound to her mother’s generation: the ideals of the devoted wife and self-sacrificing mother. Creating these images revealed the tension between who she was expected to be and who she was becoming ‘The act of photographing was instrumental in breaking free from these gendered confines and allowing myself to become unstuck, unconstrained and to express myself, unencumbered’ The characters appear rooted in mid-20th century domesticity, yet beneath the polished facade, they radiate defiance and vulnerability.
Looking to decipher what she calls the unspoken messages of her childhood years, Chaus creates photographs filled with mystery, tension and a touch of humour ‘In my search to find memories and a connection to the past, I wore many “vintage” garments of personal significance. This slicker, mine from college days, spoke to me as a relic of simpler times’ ‘This image resulted from an assortment of objects on my studio table, collected from walks, thrift store expeditions and additional personal items that held time and a prior life’ ‘Always thinking about glamour –it’s in my DNA. This image is a throwback to early Hollywood days, with a touch of the cynic’ ‘These pictures are both an attempt to gain a long-overdue sense of agency and a homage to women who dared to break barriers’ ‘Could anything be more sumptuous than chartreuse velvet?
These are the signature traces we leave behind, like a waft of perfume’ ‘Mimicking my mother, I summoned up a vision of her in her smoking days: naughty glamour, as she saw herself back then’ The vintage dresses and objects hold personal meaning, allowing her to layer memory and history, merging her private narrative with a collective cultural archive ‘This is the image that speaks volumes to me – this housewife, in a corner, at that sink, gazing out that window; do you see the knives just within reach?’ ‘This is an image loaded with emotion. It was one of the last days in my old house, in my beautiful library. It is not just about the dress, it is a kiss goodbye’ ‘Immersed in a cacophony of pattern, I am a mere dot in the image.
After my work of confrontational self-portraiture, I moved towards being smaller in the image, manifesting a bird’s-eye view of where I fit in the bigger world’ Emmys 2026: red carpet looks and outfits at TV’s biggest night – in pictures Zendaya, Nicole Kidman and Selena Gomez are among the stars at the 78th Primetime Emmys in Los Angeles, with actors from The Pitt, Pluribus, Hacks and Widow’s Bay walking the red (well, blue) carpet 1. #### Hyrox changes rules and apologises for allowing Australian athlete who soiled herself to continue 2. #### ‘Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like’: female athletes lead backlash against viral advert 4. #### Duke and Duchess of Sussex granted security review after return to UK 5. #### Emmy awards 2026: The Pitt and Widow’s Bay take home major awards – as it happened 6. #### Sunday in the Park With George musical cancelled, after Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey both drop out 7. #### Sydney Sweeney naked sports ad controversy: what’s she playing at? - The Latest 8. #### Emmys 2026: Widow’s Bay dominates as Matthew Rhys and Jean Smart land historic wins 9. #### Supreme court rejects Trump’s mail ballot restrictions for midterm elections 10. #### Sydney Sweeney’s prediction ad is cynical, unhealthy and reveals plenty about modern sports 1. #### The desecration of DC: from a giant arch to a nuke-proof bunker, Trump’s legacy-building blingfest is an architectural atrocity 2. #### Why Athena was more than just a naff purveyor of mild erotica 3. #### We Are Family: photography from Images Vevey 2026 – picture essay 4. #### Holed up: man falls into art installation of 8ft hole painted black This article is more than **8 years old** 6. #### ‘He would have been the center of everything’: the art exhibition imagining if Emmett Till lived 8. #### Love, sex and the female-male dynamic in 50 photographs at London Art Fair 9. #### ‘Like a Klingon prison’: inside Barack Obama’s audacious, near-windowless, $850m presidential library 10. #### Tschabalala Self’s Lad
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