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Analysis, Exhibition, Final presentation

Michelle Sank & David Goldblatt

December 13, 2015 Jemma Hosegood 1 Comment

To what extent has David Goldblatt artistically influenced Michelle Sank.

Michelle Sank and David Goldblatt are two artists that have been linked by an exhibition – Quintessence. This exhibition is a group exhibition celebrating the first five years of Archisle. The Archisle Programme, hosted by the Société Jersiaise Photo Archive promotes contemporary photography through an ongoing programme 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. The exhibition features works by – Martin Parr, 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, Martin Toft, Finn Larsen. All of these artists are or have been nominated by another to take part in the exhibition. The artists were asked to nominate another artist who they feel have been artistically influential to them in their lives artistically. Michelle Sank therefore nominated David Goldblatt. These two are publicly linked due to the Quintessence exhibition as both photograph cultural diversity aswell as peoples physical and social landscape.

Michelle Sank

Michelle was born in Cape Town, South Africa. She left there in 1978 and has been living in England since 1987. Her images reflect a preoccupation with the human condition and to this end can be viewed as social documentary. Her work focusses on issues around social and cultural diversity. The two images Iam focussing on were both shown in the exhibition, and are aesthetically linked. Sanks image was taken at Harve des pas, Jersey. And is apart of a larger project called Insula, conducted/researched in Jersey as some images are from the archive. BeFunky Collage However, in the Quintessence exhibition Michelle chose to exhibit two images, although only one showed an obvious link to Goldblatts work the other could be linked aswell. This is due to the theme the two artists are focusing on which is photographing people in their natural landscapes. The less obvious image shows a theme of this as the image is of a greenhouse and one bright red flower in the midst of the overgrown chaos.

David Goldblatt

David Goldblatt is a South African photographer, born in South Africa after his Jewish parents fled Europe in the 1890’s . Since the late 1940’s he has photographed the social and physical landscape of South Africa. Goldblatt is well know for photographing people in South Africa during the period of apartheid, this is when black people were totally segregated and treated differently to white people through facilities such as schools, accommodation and transportation. Goldblatt received knowledge and success from this as during this period, a white person photographing black people was an unusual occurrence, this is because if you were caught interacting with a black person you would be sentenced to prison. Goldblatts images within the exhibition were some of my favourite, due to the stories behind them and also the visual presentation of the images was very appealing to me.Goldblatt was nominated by Sank for a degree of influence. This is obvious in the exhibition as one of the two images Sank exhibited is blatantly similar to one of the four photographs Goldblatt selected. This particular image was a photograph called -‘ She told him: “You’ll be the driver and i’ll be the lady”. This image was taken in Johannesburg, South Africa during the period of segregation, and sticking to the theme of social, cultural and physical landscape the image is of two people holding up a bumper of a car, and looked to be in the working class. This image particularly stood out as it is very similar to Sanks image of ‘Chloe and Leah’.

To conclue, David Goldblatt has influenced Michelle Sank artistically due to a theme of photographing peoples physical, social and cultural landscapes. The links between these two and influential traits that I have researched are visual and thematic links such as similar layouts to their images. Other considerable links between the two are that they were both born in South Africa, this could also have been a leading cause to the influence Goldblatt had on Sank. The photographs they both exhibited were picked due to the themes of social and cultural environments.

Research

Note Taking from Quintessence Handout: Quintessence

December 13, 2015 Max Le Feuvre Leave a comment

Quintessence Exhibition

Presents work by 14 different artists

Exhibiting, as a group exhibition, works from contemporary photography archive
- Designed for future public enjoyment
Creative Partnership with Local and International photographers
- Expanded and develop over the course of 4 Years
- “they engage creatively with the idea that it is only through alterity that we come to know ourselves”
6 from Archilse Contemporary Photography Collection (2011-15)
All of these Artists have completed projects for Archilse
Solo exhibitions from each artist

International Photographer in Residence (IPR) Programme

Sank, Toropstov and Pope
Brings photographers to live, work and teach in Jersey for 6 months
Body of work for exhibition and addition to Archive
IPR teach one day a week: over 100 workshops for islanders since 2011
Give Jersey community access to educational and professional development by internationally successful artists whilst building contemporary collection of photography in Jersey
‘Quintessence’ marks first five years of Archisle Programme

The 6 Photographers

Michelle Sank

Influence from social order of Henry Mullin’s mid-19^th Century Portraits

Clement William Henry – Photographed by Mullins

Mr de Quetteville – Photographed by Mullins

Yury Toropstov

Character from ‘Fairyland’, a JBOF Carnival exhibit in 1937 British Pathé film

Tom Pope

Mask-making, subversive messages and game playing

files/gimgs/iamnottompopeyouarealltompope/website edit.jpg

Mark Le Ruez

Jersey born artist based in Berlin
2014-15 Solo Exhibitions

Rügen #1. - Pigmented inkjet print. 22 x 22 cm

Martin Toft

Atlantus: transoceanic photography project between Martin Toft and Archilse
350^th Aniversity of Jersey Sir George Carteret naming U.S. State New Jersey after Jersey
5 stories that respond to people, politics, landscapes, industries and indentites of Jersey and New Jersey
Binary Opposites: island vs. continental life

Martin Parr

World renowned British Photographer
Commissioned to Photograph 2013 Liberation Day Celebrations

PAM2013021G00393

GB. Jersey. Liberation Day. 2013.

8 nominated Artists

Gareth’s choice = Jem Southam

Jem Southam = Gareth’s Tutor at University of Plymouth
Red Mudstone Photographs = formal visual analyses of geological trauma
Rocks = “geographically an psychologically definite of island life”
Man made effects on environment

Martin Parr = Tony Ray Jones

Tony Ray Jones: 2013 exhibition only in England
Worked in the past with Ray-Jones’ negatives
Inspired very much the now distinct style of Parr

Martin Toft = Finn Larsen

Martin’s Toft’s former mentor
Landscape photographer
Focuses on issue of changing landscape and climate due to man-made influences

# 02

# 01

Michelle Sank = David Goldbatt

South African photographer noted for his portrayal of South Africa during the period of apartheid
More recently that country’s landscapes
Inspiration for Michelle Sank study of social landscapes

Mark Le Ruez = John Gibbons

Irish conceptual artist – born 1949
Known for sculptures and ‘steelwork’

And the Earth Changes Shape

Sculpture: And the Earth Changes Shape

Tom Pope = Peter Finnermore

Welsh Conceptual Artist
Known for performance based, subversive photography
Influenced and inspired Pope’s playful, subversive and comical approach to photography and artistic performance

Research

Note Taking from Quintessence Handout – Archisle

December 13, 2015 Max Le Feuvre Leave a comment

Background

Launched by Societe Jersiaise Photographic Archive in 2011
Promote contemporary photography through ongoing programme of exhibitions, educations and commissions
Connecting past with present
- Archives with contemporary photography

Islandness

Starting a debate about how we represent our island through photography
- Syvret suggests that ‘Islandness’ is not an open debate within Island life and community
Island culture = unique from continental views
Photographers on an island restricted in terms of context, audience and marketing
Project = first in Jersey of its kind: makes the people of Jersey question and embrace unique position of living on an island
‘Archisle’ has potential to grow into worldwide project
- Jersey host island games 2015: ‘inter-island lock in’ event organised – promoting the Archisle project to a wide audience who share in the concern of ‘Islandness’
International Photographer in Residence Programme: Establishing a relationship between local and international photographers

Pioneers of Photography in Jersey

Henry Mullins

English Photographer
Studio in Royal Square (1948-73)
Took over 9,000 portraits of islanders
- Placed and identified in grid configurations based on social status
- Interesting record of life in Jersey in Victorian times
- Use of photo archives as objective historical documentation

Mullins: Subject, Mr Aubin

Mullins: Subject, Mr Bertram

William Collie

Scottish Photographer
Experimented with proto-documentary methods
Creation of some of the earliest portraits of working class people in existence
Some of his images made it into 2007 exhibition of European Photography at Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Photography during Nazi Occupation

Nazi’s made every Islander be photographed:
- Archive of 31,000 I.D. cards collected
Public Photography banned
- Claude Cahun: Anti-Nazi activist
  - Photographed islanders as an act of resistance
- Photographs taken during occupation
  - Explore views of rebellious counter-culture; form of resistance

Invaders: German soldiers with a 25-ton Char B tank used during the occupation of Jersey in the Second World War

Post War Photography

Recent photography is Jersey lacking specific focus and context. Archisle wants to change this
Jersey change over the course of century
- 20^th Century = farming
- 21^st Century = finance
Archisle – 125 Year Project in partnership with JEP
- Selection of images from Jersey’s largest 20^th Century Photographic Archive
- Trying to promote the use of the archives in an interactive exhibition
- Capturing Jersey’s progression from a first, second to third island

21 st Century Photography

Voice of the Jersey people is important
Jersey Archisle wants to promote the invention of specific archives looking into various aspects of Jersey life
- Archisle Contemporary Photography Collection
- JEP: form of contemporary photographic record. Hence its relationship with Jersey Archives
  - JEP = approximately 160,000 photos on-line in 11 categories

Summary

Identities of subjects and photographers absent in recent contemporary archives
Raising awareness of local photographers
Engage photographers with the culture of Jersey to create diverse an incisive visual archive

Link to the Official Archisle Website

http://www.archisle.org.je/

Research

Case Study: Quintessence

December 11, 2015 Max Le Feuvre Leave a comment

Archisle Project

The ‘Archisle Project’ was launched in 2011 by Gareth Syvret, the photo archivist at the Societere Jersiaise. The aim of the project is to promote contemporary photography in Jersey through an ongoing programme of exhibitions, education and commissions. Syvret began the project out of concerns over the various restrictions local artists face in terms of context, exposure and marketing of their work. He hopes through the project, the inspire and give opportunities for young and developing photographers of the future, as well as the ordinary island public to be given access the quality, world-renowned international photographers, their work and extensive knowledge.

The project aims to celebrate and promote the concept of ‘islandness’, recognising Jersey’s unique island culture based on its isolated and ambiguous location in the English channel, subsequently being a mixture of Norman and English culture and identity. At the same time it aims to give photographers in Jersey more international exposure through inviting various internally renowned photographers to work, exhibit and teach on the island. This has seen the presence of various internationally acclaimed photographers on the island including Michelle Sank and Magnum Photographer Martin Parr.

The main goals hoped to be achieved through the Archisle Project

Promote the use of the archive as a source for creative work
Raise the status and context of photographers largely absent in recent contemporary archives
Engage international photographers with the culture of Jersey to create a diverse and inclusive visual archive.

Quintessence

The exhibition is a celebration of five years of the Archisle Project. It displays the work of six different artists who have worked for the Archisle project, and subsequently have such work displayed in the Societere Jersaise Photographic Archives. The exhibition was curated by Gareth Syvret, the photo archivist down at the Societere Jersaise, as well as the founder and leader of the Archisle Project.

The exhibition is arranged so that each artists work is distinct from one another and their chosen influence is next to that artist. The exhibition as well as being a celebration of the anniversary of Archisle, is also a representation of the growing profile of photography taken in Jersey and by Jersey photographs. The idea to include an influence of each of the artists is a clever way of recognising how locally based/born photographers are looking outside for external influence in their creative process, using the Archisle Project to then respond to this and therefore present the Jersey Public with a new and exciting body of photographic work based on their findings and developments.

Mark Le Reuz
Martin Parr
Martin Toft
Michelle Sank
Yury Toropstov
Tom Pope

These artists have all selected their own artists who they consider an influence.

The artists nominations are:

Mark Le Reuz = John Gibbons
Martin Parr = Tony Ray Jones
Martin Toft = Finn Larsen
Michelle Sank = David Goldblatt
Yury Toropstov = Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths
Tom Pope = Peter Finnermore

Gareth, the curator, has cited his own influence, Jem Southam who was his tutor at Plymouth University, for a body of his own work to be included into the exhibition.

Evaluation

I enjoyed this exhibition a lot. In Jersey it is rare for top international photographers to be commissioned, and it was a very good experience to see this very high quality of photographic work displayed and taken in Jersey, all for free. It was a very good educational experience as I have previously studied the work of Martin Parr and Yury Toropstov, and so it was very interesting to see life scale prints of their work.

The layout of the exhibition was very well considered and ordered. I liked how their wasn’t too many photographs only display and that the small size of the area was respected to include the right amount of images. In contrast the JEP exhibition was extremely cluttered and it ruined the atmosphere, making the room feel much smaller. This exhibition had just the right amount of images for the size, allowing space for the different sections. i.e. artists and their influences clearly separated.

The idea of placing the work of the artists next to their nomination was a good idea because it allowed for the audience to directly compare and consider the relationship of the artist/influence, their similarities and differences. This was particularity in the case in the work of Martin Parr and Michelle Sank as their respective influences; Tony Ray Jones and David Goldbatt explored very similar contextual themes; Parr and Jones through the concept off ‘britishness’ and Sank and Goldblattt through the concept of social/cultural identity.

Favourite/Least Favourite Images

My favourite piece in the exhibition was Finn Larsen’s image of a bench overlooking an icy landscape. I like this image because I thought it was visually, an interesting e image. I find his representation of the sparse, sublime natural landscape to be very interesting to look at for both aesthetic as well as contextual reasons, as it is very much linked to the environmentalist concept of celebrating the natural world, whilst at the same time recognising its fragility. This idea is more important than ever nowadays and traditional landscape shots of the changing climate are quite often overlooked.

My least favourite image if the exhibition was Peter Finnermore’s image of a man climbing up a wooden shed covered in moss . To be honest I didn’t find the image to be particularity interesting., nor did I see the relevance/specific focus it had to the other images in the exhibition. I understood the concept but just didn’t particularity like the image.

Exhibition

Quintessence

December 10, 2015 Emily Heaven 1 Comment

How did Yury Toroptsov use the Jersey archive to help create his Fairyland exhibition?

Recently I have been to visit the Quintessence photography exhibition at the Jersey art centre. This exhibition has been created in celebration of contemporary photography in Jersey and to mark a 5 year milestone for the Archisle. The work that was used in the exhibition was by artists who’s work was based on or inspired by our Island, Jersey. These artists were then asked to nominate a friend or a colleague to also participate in the Quintessence exhibition, these nominations were chosen in relation to their own work. The exhibition held a wide variety of photographs, which all held interesting context. All of the work was presented in clusters of each artists and were positioned next to their nominated colleague. I particularly took an interest in Yury Toroptsov, he presented some of his work from his FairyLand collection. As well as his own work he also included some of his research materials such as Jersey Archive photographs.

Yury’s ‘Fairy Land’ collection was created in 2014 when he came to stay on the island for 6 months. His first impression of Jersey was as well as it being a gorgeous Island, with lovely sunsets and beach’s he also came to the conclusion that “Jersey was a very mysterious and discrete place” (Toroptsov in FairyLand video 2014).

He wanted to get involved with the Island’s community and try and capture Jersey from his point of view. Yury’s first piece of inspiration was the traditional annual battle of flowers parade. He was digging in the archive and found a float from 1937. The float was called ‘FairyLand’.

This float was created by Percy Vibert and his family, with his daughter Ivy Jean Vibert being the Fairy Queen of the Float. In Yuri’s collection of photographs that he chose to present at the Quintessence exhibition he included a portrait of the fairy queen. This portrait has Ivy Jean in the centre of the photo wearing a white dress with a flower crown. The photograph is in black and white, however it in rich in texture due to her being surrounded by flowers. I think this photo captures the innocence of Ivy Jean, and the innocence of the island. Another image that Yury presented in his collection is something that he found when looking up the Vibert family in the Jersey Archive. He found Ivy Jean Vibert’s juxtaposing portrait from when she was fourteen. This was her portrait from her German occupation registration card. Yury presented the two portraits together to tell the story of Ivy Jean growing up from a flower inspired queen to being a victim of the German occupation.

I really like that Yury has included archive photographs in his collection as I think it gives his work depth. It also gives the audience an understanding of were his idea’s have sprung from as well as making the collection have a wide variety of type of photographs to look at.

Another archive photograph that Yury Included in his work to help complete his collection is by Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths called ‘Fairy offering Flowers to Iris’. Yury nominated Frances Griffiths as his chosen photographer, but he decided to include him work in within his cluster of photographs.

This photograph was taken by two children back in 1920, who were obsessing over fairies. They made a series of photograph’s featuring Elsie Write discovering fairies, which were edited on. I really like this photograph, firstly because of its age it has almost gone a sepia colour. Because of the absence of colour, it draws the viewers eye closer to the detail. For example the ringlets in Elsie’s hair, which have gone slightly frizzy, highlights the playful nature of the photograph. Secondly I like that it is surrounded by nature, which is similar to the portrait by Ivy Jean.

The final photo that I photograph that Yury presented is one of his own photographs called ‘Jess’. This photograph is in response to the theme of Fairy Land, with his modern interpretation. This photograph is perfectly composed and I believe it is a strong image.

I think that the colours used in this photograph are very important; the reoccurring black and the scars left of Jess’s arms are foreshadowing the darker side of teen hood. However the obvious bright pink hair, which immediately catches the viewers eye foreshadows that last bit of playfulness left in teens.

The photograph captures Jess looking up into the sky, which exposes the side profile. All of her facial features are well defined and create detail for the photograph. The hair is being blow backwards which adds another dynamic to the image and introduces a different texture to the eye. However I think this photograph would be more interesting if you could see more of Jess’s face. The expression on a persons face and the look in their eyes, can change a photograph and the story it tells.

In conclusion, I think that the Quintessence was a very good exhibition that provided amazing photographs that were “Socially and Politically Connected” (Gareth Syvret the 9th December at the Jersey Art Centre) all of the work had interesting stories behind them.

Analysis, Exhibition, Planning

QUINTESSENCE: Task 1 – Questions

December 10, 2015 Jemma Hosegood Leave a comment

Quintessence is a group exhibition at the Arts center in town, celebrating the first five years of Archisle: The Jersey Contemporary Photography Programme. The Archisle Programme, hosted by the Société Jersiaise Photo Archive promotes contemporary photography through an ongoing programme 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. The exhibition features works by:

Martin Parr / 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 / Martin Toft / Finn Larsen

We all have three parts to this tasks, Task one is a set of questions, Two is an essay and three is a photo shoot in response

a) Write down the first thought about the exhibition that enters your head when you walk in?

When entering the exhibition I felt the room looked particularly empty but somehow cramped in some areas of the room. There were few images that really ‘stuck out’ for me, However there was one image that did stand out and was the first image I really noticed even though it was behind me as I entered the room. The photograph produced by ‘Peter Finnemore’ and the image was called ‘Koan Exercises’ from 2004. This image stood out for me due to the extreme saturation and size of the image.

b) Look at all the images on the walls. Now find a set of images that you like/ don’t like and write short descriptions of them.

Throughout this exhibition I came to realise that there were a considerable amount of pictures I did not like and few that I did.

PHOTOGRAPHS I DID LIKE

PETER FINNEMORE – KOAN EXERCISES FINN LARSEN – AL GORE WAS HERE. LLLULISSAT ICEFJORD, GREENLAND JEM SOUTHHAM – RED MUDSTONE, SIDMOUT JOHN GIBBONS – AND THE EARTH CHANGES SHAPEDAVID GOLDBLATT

I came to like the images above for many different reasons, some because on the contextual meanings and some purely because they were aesthetically enjoyable. Peter Finnemores Koan exercises is the first Iam to evaluate as it was the biggest and brightest in the exhibition, aswell as it being the first image to catch my eye. This is due to the bright and extremely saturating greens of the photograph. I found this image to be cleverly edited as the saturation and contrast increase make it the most ‘attractive image of the exhibition. I also find the image draws you in due to editing but the as you get closer to further examine it, you come to realize that there is a person in the image aswell. From afar the photograph just looks like a camouflaged shed, but a further examination reveals that there is infact a person hidden within the foliage. I find this type of image interesting as there are two stages to the perspective of the image. one from a far and one up close.

The two images by Finn Larsen were my favourite images from the exhibition. This is because I prefer ‘pretty’ photography rather than artsy and odd photography. These images I enjoy as they are both photographically correct Eg: well lined and edited. Rule of thirds is presented in the first image as there is an even and equal amount of space either side of the bench, aswell as the bench being horizontally straight.

The photograph has also been edited well as the colours of the image are seen as very clean cut and contrast well from the blues in the skies to the brown wood of the bench. I like how cold the image looks swell, how the focus of the image allows you to see the worn wood of the bench and the ice in the glaciers infant of the bench. However this project is infact about a landfill sight that is located behind the glaciers, Looking at the image on its own, one could not see that but researching the project it explains about the beauty in the nature of this image but you cannot see the ugliness of the landfill and garbage site beyond the ice.

The following image is taken by Jem Southam, This image drew me in due to the ‘warmness’ of the image. The clean cut layout of the four photographs was also aesthetically pleasing. I was also draw in by this image as you believe it is a photo sequence or time lapse so you try to ‘spot the difference’, but you then discover that the four images were actually taken at different times. The vibrance of this image also attracted me as the saturated landfall contrasted well with the pale blue skies.

The next section of the exhibition was the only one of its kind in the room, a sculpture. This sculpture is by John Gibbons – And the Earth changes shape, I found this very intriguing as every other part of the exhibition was an image, in a frame, on the wall. This piece of work changed the feel of the exhibition as it was very different to the others. This piece of art I found interesting as the name obviously explains that the sculpture is of the earth due to the spherical shape, However there are rims that have been added on to the outside. This therefore interests the person viewing it and makes them wonder, why are there rims on the outside? why has the artist changed the sphere to have ridges on the outside?

The next images attracted me within the exhibition purely because of the layout and clean cut presentation of the work. The colours of the photographs contrasted well with each other and well with the frames they were in. The frames and images being the same size and presented in the way they were complimented each other well and therefore when viewing you could see the link between them all. This artist was David Goldblatt nominated by Michelle sank a former ‘artist of residency’.

PHOTOGRAPHS I DID NOT LIKE:

These three photographs I disliked due to their joint awkwardness. The photograph by Tom Pope I highly disliked due to the awkward and explicit nature, Im all for and explicit shoot and pushing the limits of ‘acceptable’ photography, but this image just made me feel very uncomfortable. However, some of the good things about this image was the frame and interest of it. The frame was the only coloured one of the exhibition so clearly caught the eyes of many. Even though the photograph is extremely awkward and uncomfortable for me, it did interest many of the people that viewed the exhibition.

Although this image is well lined and edited, It also made me feel awkward and uncomfortable. This is because you can see the awkwardness that the two girls are feeling swell. Their body language and posture portrays discomfort and awkwardness.

This photograph by Martin Parr, I felt was very linked to his style of work and similar to the style and themes that he portrays in his projects. This image is well lined and has little negative space so therefore is technologically correct.

Evaluation

Finished Print Products

December 10, 2015 Sammie Leave a comment

I have designed two different Print products. One being a newspaper article and the other being a magazine layout.

The newspaper was the easiest of the two to design, as I am a to more familiar with the layout of a newspaper, as they all have very similar structures, whereas magazines have a much wider variety of layouts and design possibilities.

I think the newspaper is very affective, and one of my classmates even asked if my images had been in the paper, because he saw a print out of it and thought it was a photocopy, or nice version of the newspaper print. I really like the simplicity of newspaper spreads and I feel that my newspaper spread has worked really well.

The magazine was a bit harder, but instead of creating a design first, I started with the two colours red and black, creating the banner at the top and header, I then looked at the scope and how i could add it into my spread, and decided the best way to do this was putting a photo behind it. I then decided which images I wanted as background images, then made them slightly transparent. Trying to fit the text in proved much harder than it did with the newspaper spread, as magazines normally have much more creative ways of displaying text.

I do feel that both my products look very affective and somewhat professional and I am happy with how they have both turned out.

Research

Tilt-Shift/ Miniature Photography

December 10, 2015 Sammie Leave a comment

As I have been looking at large spaces and places where people will gather, I thought I should look at miniature photography, although I probably won’t use this technique within my own photos, I may be able to learn something that will improve the quality of my images and my project.

Tilt–shift photography is the use of camera movements on small- and medium-format cameras, and sometimes specifically refers to the use of tilt for selective focus, often for simulating a miniature scene.

This kind of photography is quite intriguing, because there are some images where is difficult to tell if the image is of a real life scene or a model.

An artist named Serena Malyon took a very different approach to tilt-shift photography, taking paintings by Vincent Van Gogh and editing them through photoshop to create this tilt-shift affect. I think these images are a really good example of how this effect can really change an image and the way the viewer looks at them. This also forces the viewer to look at certain details more than others, and actually prevents other bits of the image to be seen clearly.

Some photographers go to great lengths to make effective tilt-shift images, for example, the art design group Skrekkogle made a giant 50 cents, with the scale 20:1, to make other objects look small. I quite like this idea, because rather than photographing whole models, or real life, they’ve decided to mix the two to make the images even more confusing for viewers.

Olivio Barbieri mentioned that this kind of photography is good for showing off impressive structures, without all the business of crowds and it allows you to see the big picture without having to see the whole story.

“I was a little bit tired of the idea of photography allowing you to see everything,” Barbieri says. “After 9/11 the world had become a little bit blurred because things that seemed impossible happened. My desire was to look at the city again.”

Although I don’t think I will be using this style of photography within my project, I may try to experiment with it on a couple of images as I really like the effect, and it could add a different angle to my photo book.

essay

Quintessence

December 10, 2015 Jessica Freire Leave a comment

Quintessence is a group exhibition which celebrates 5 years of the Archisle, which is a Jersey contemporary photography program made through the Société Jersiaise Photo Archive. The Archisle connects photographic archives to contemporary photography and experiences of Island life through the work of Jersey and international artists. Jersey is a small island but with internationalism, photographers are more socially and politically aware and have made many connections outside of the Island. To highlight the importance of connections and influences in this exhibition, Quintessence, the photographers have been asked to nominate someone who inspired their own work. “We do not travel alone; we take with us the histories, knowledge, influences and ideas of others; others we have met and other places we have known.”

We visited the exhibition on Tuesday 8th of December, when I first walked into the room, the first thing I noticed was the way the photographs had been displayed. I think that the display looked professional and I like the way the photographs had been laid out because it flowed well visually . I noticed that there wasn’t any labels letting the viewers know who made the photograph, however there were booklets which included this information. I think that it would have been more user friendly to have the artist names with the photographs.I found myself constantly looking at the booklet and the photographs to try and find the artist which after a while became a hassle. I preferred this exhibition to the exhibition for 125 years of the JEP I think it was more visually attractive. In the JEP exhibition there was short paragraphs with each photograph explaining what was happening in the photo. In this exhibition there was no explanation, when confronted with this question, Gareth the curator said that this was done deliberately so that the viewer would be intrigued by the context of the photo and do some further research into the meaning, rather than just looking at it once and never referring back to it.

My favorite photograph from the exhibition was the photograph by Finn Larson called ‘Al Gore Was Here’. I found this photograph visually attractive and I like the composition of the three smaller separate photographs had a line going through them which led my eyes from one photograph to another. This photograph was simple but I think that’s what made it good. It was not until I further researched into this photograph that I understood the meaning behind it. Behind the photograph of what looked like a beautiful landscape, there was actually a rubbish dump hidden, which are at completely to different ends of the spectrum. Often place are portrayed to be ‘ touristic-ally appealing’ but we rarely ever get to see the other side. I think in this photograph Finn Larson was trying to illustrate this divide, I think he achieved this in an intelligent way These photographs were the only ones displayed however he had a newspaper style booklet with photographs of the dump behind this landscape. After I found out the meaning behind the photographs I questioned why Finn had broken the small photographs that went together into three rather than using it as one, we then thought that he could be using the ‘breaks’ in the photograph as a metaphor for breaking the public’s perception of these ‘touristic-ally’ attractive places.

One of my least favorite photographs from the exhibition was the photographs by Iury Toropstov, called ‘fairyland’. I chose them as my least favorite because I didn’t really find any connection with the photographs and I didn’t think that they were very visually attractive. However I think that the portrait of the girl was quite powerful because it presented her as a beautiful mystical ‘creature’ which ties in with fairyland, however if you look closer she had bruises and cuts on her arm, showing that shes dealing with more deeper and serious issues that what she is presented to be. I also like the idea behind ‘fairyland’ and how it links in with Jersey’s history, however I don’t think the combination of photographs were strong or appealing enough.

Al nr 2_2000 — Al Gore Was Here – Finn Larsen

haute vallee phone shot — Untitled from ‘Fairyland’. 2014 – Yury Toropstov

Jess St Helier, Jersey.2014 – Yury Toroptsov

Exhibition, Planning

Quintessence Archisle | Case Study

December 9, 2015 Shannon O'Donnell Leave a comment

About personal study
The personal study needs to be finished by the end of the February half term and is a self directed study, you will make a hypothesis of what you want and are going to find out in this study. All of your work relating to this hypothesis must be enough to make up an entire book. You must find a subject and choose a story, finding a real issue and explore it. You’ll also be writing an essay about this of about 2,000-3,000 words.

Case study | Quintessence Archisle
This project brings together select Jersey photographers and international photographers in an exhibition set up by the Archisle. The Archisle was put together back in 2010 and has now been around for 5 years.
The Societe Jersiaise Photographic Archive in 2011 launched the Jersey Contemporary Photography Programme to promote contemporary photography in an ongoing programme of exhibitions as well as through eduction bringing Hautlieu into the mix. This brings in ideas to connect photographic archives, contemporary practise and experiences of island cultures. Jersey has become a big part in photographic history and has influenced many artists and new ideas. This exhibition celebrates the first five years of the Archisle. The exhibition contains work from 6 artists either from Jersey or whom have worked with the Archisle and they were each asked to come up with another artist who has inspired and influenced them. The artists are; Martin Toft – Finn Larsen, Tom Pope – Peter Finnemore, Michelle Sank – David Goldblatt, Yury Toroptsov – Elsie Wright and Frances Griffths, Martin Parr – Tony Ray-Jones, Mark Le Ruez – John Gibbons, Jem Southam.

Islandness | What I think
I really like the concept of islandness. To me it really makes sense as I do feel that as an island we are really bubbled from the rest of the world, unique. We tend to see the world differently to those living in the UK. For example, a mass murder in Jersey will hit headline news and be all everyone talks about for months and no one forgets but in America things like that seem to happen all the time and you lose count of how many killings there have actually been. This could be because of the fact that Jersey is so small and these things happen in America because it is so vast and huge but we do seem to reflect on the world in a different way. The idea of islandness is supposed to connect the thousands of islands across the world together. Our concept of identity is different to the rest of the worlds.
Our upbringing and culture moulds us and makes each of us unique. We can change with anything or anyone we meet or a place we go to and it can have good or bad results. Everything that you encounter changes you in one way or another, you can be somehow influenced by something in your life without even noticing it.

The Exhibition | My thoughts
answering questions

When entering the exhibition firstly I thought that it was in a much better location being in the Jersey Art Centre as it is quite a quirky place with the cafe beneath it and is in a more accessible part of town which a lot more teens and adults will likely know about. I also much prefer the layout of this exhibition compared to the Jersey Evening Post – Your Story, Our History: 125 Years Through a Jersey Evening Post Lens. This exhibition looks very professional and I prefer the white walls with the white frames on more of the images. I find the whole thing just looks a lot more professional and clear it is very well constructed and just altogether a better exhibition. I like that the Jersey photographers have their chosen artist/photographers work next to their own to show who they have been influenced and inspired by. I really like this idea of sharing and being influenced by other artists. I find it great that this exhibition is also able to sell the photographers work and showcase their talents to the community of local Jersey islanders. I have decided to do some further research on the work of Finn Larsen as I find his work captivating and after discussion at the exhibition I found that there is so much more to the beauty of the images that are shown in the exhibition itself which I am excited to explore further.