In advance of our visit, read the Exhibition text below and make notes. Think of at least three questions that you want to find answers to on your visit and write them down. Bring text and notes with you. 

During our research on photo stories and documentation , we looked upon the various ways to document photography in a new, palpable way. Visiting The Jersey Arts Center in early December, we got the chance  to view the exhibition ‘Quintessence’. Quintessence is a group exhibition celebrating the first five years of Archisle: The Jersey Contemporary Photography Program.

The Archisle Program, hosted by the Société Jersiaise Photo Archive promotes contemporary photography through an ongoing program of exhibitions, education and commissions. Archisle connects photographic archives, contemporary practice and experiences of island cultures and geographies through the development of a forum for creative discourse between Jersey and international artists. Quintessence selects works commissioned for the new Archisle Contemporary Collection at the Société Jersiaise Photographic Archive since 2011 to celebrate, critique, contrast and discuss what has been achieved over the first five years of the project. Our teacher, Martin Toft is one of the thirteen artists representing his works in the Quintssense exhibition, exploring his project ‘Atlantis’. Other artists include the likes of:

Martin Par/ Tony Ray-Jones / Jem Southam / Michelle Sank / David Goldblatt / Yury Toroptsov / Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths / Tom Pope / Peter Finnemore / Mark Le Ruez / John Gibbons

Alongside photographs which have been produced in Jersey, Artists such as  Jem Southam one of Britain’s leading landscape photographers and David Goldblatt, the seminal documentarist of apartheid era South Africa, have been influenced by the work produced by the archive. Gareth Syvret, the Archive’s leading curator, has singled out Jem Southam as his nominee, prior to studying him since he was a student.

I asked a few questions to Curator, Gareth Syvret about the exhibition:

What did you find was the main themes which run through the show Quintessence? 

Has Quintessence changed your perception of Jersey and its cultural diversity? What have you learned from this exhibition? 

When curating this exhibition, how did you narrow down which images to select? Was it clear what you wanted to present in the show? 

Link to Exhibition text: https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo16a2/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/12/Quintessence-Programme.pdf

Link to Media Release: https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo16a2/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/12/Quintessence_Media_Release_Jersey.pdf

Link to Task Sheet: https://hautlieucreative.co.uk/photo16a2/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/12/Quintessence-task_sheet.docx