JPG Magazine: Stories: Photo Essay: Giggles, The Drug Pushing Clown

Giggles, The Drug Pushing Clown

By Jenna Cooper

21 February 2007

Okay, so I have a lot of personalities. One of which is Giggles, The Drug Pushing Clown. That one doesn't come out much but is real fun to shoot. The truth of the matter (I suppose) is that my god-mother just had serious back surgery and is on circa 5 painkillers. They're just so darn pretty! I had on rainbow suspenders, but you can't see them. This shoot was hard to do since I was the model, photographer, light-holder, set designer, everything.

The main picture titled, "Bozo is on Zolo" really captures the feeling of an addiction. The clown is looking forward perhaps at the camera or perhaps at the pills. He/She is obviously unhappy but is it stress? Sorrow? Craving? The bright colors show how the silliness associated with getting high is slightly ironic because drug addiction is a very serious thing. The frown is contrastingly exaggerated to show that the orange pills are not happy.

I myself recently started taking Zoloft, and by no means am I trying to insult the product. I believe that Zoloft has helped me. The title was just because it was what I was thinking about at that moment.