Honeymoon Syndrome Explores the Regressiveness of 'Straight Culture'

‘Honeymoon Syndrome’ is a real-time translation based on a process that is fluid, performative and experimental. Shot by Berlin-based photographer Elis Jolie, the editorial explores the regressiveness of straight culture (that is still ubiquitous and treated/imposed as the universal default) still finding comfort in the binaries, and poking fun at some of the traditional ideas surrounding love and relationships.

It is intended to question the ‘natural’ and the ‘normal’ and create more space for the minorities. Living in an age where things are not quite as they appear, like fake news, social media bravado and images/archetypes (generated by our culture like cinema, fashion, pornography, or any other cultural platform you can think of), Honeymoon Syndrome also addresses the one-dimensional stereotypes that women are still moulded to perform and enact in society and media spheres.

The story unfolds in a fictional domestic setting. Our character is moving in the realm of cliche, wearing a restrictive gender role (mask), tinged with emotions like sadness, confusedness and desire.
The metaphor is inviting to deviate and explore away from the claustrophobic norms of gender and sexuality, thus overthrowing older archetypes and crafting a model of identity that is inclusive of plurality, the unconventional and the ‘other’.