Internship

Today was my first day as an intern at the Société Jersiaise Archives. I am undergoing a 6 week internship (over the course of half term). The idea of the internship is to spend a couple of hours each week down at the archives, in order to aid my studies for my Personal Study project.

I am working with the Société Jersiaise Photographic Archivist Gareth Syvret. He is assisting and guiding me in my studies and providing me with resources the archive has to offer with relevance to Le Feuvre family.

Review

This first session was very much an introduction to the course of the six week internship.

To begin with Gareth showed me a copy of two photographic books. The first book was by French photographer Camille Silvy who took portraits of around 17,000 people in London during the Victorian Period. For comparative purposes Gareth then showed me another collection of photographs, this time by Scottish born Jersey based portrait photographer William Collie. Gareth explained the difference in the two photographers in how they documented their work. While Silvy made his photographs in chronological order with specific dates and a coding system to organise the archival documentation of what was made, Coille was perhaps more artistic in his approach – ordering the pages of his album in terms of status order in which the highest status individuals in Coille’s opinion is at the front of the album, descending down in terms of wealth, power and importance as the book progressive – On reflection whilst it can be argued that Slyvie’s is a collection of images is simply an objective documentation of who lived in London at the time, Coille’s collection on the other hand can be viewed more subjectively from a socio-political stance, his own artistic interpretation being used possibly to challenge and drew questions surrounding the nature of class division within 19th Century Jersey Society.

After this introduction to how the archives operates, we then sat down at the Archive Database in an attempt to uncover archival information about my Grandfather. After a few minutes it was apparent that  we couldn’t find much out about my Grandfather. We instead decided to find out information about his father, Francis Vibert Le Feuvre.

A lot more information about this ancestor (my Great -Grandfather) could be sourced. It was revealed that my Grandfather was born in St Peter, Jersey – 1871. In a short space of time we found a stack of archival material relating to my Great Grandfather and other members of his family. In total we found  the following;

• 4 Census records, ranging from 1881-1911.

• The Resigration Card of Francis Vibert Le Feuvre (Ordered)
• The Will of Francis Vibert Le Feuvre (Ordered)
• List of Jersey Jurats 1665-1972

• Group Portrait of Francis with fellow Jurats in 1910

• Documentation of Francis’ membership in the Societe-Jersiaise 1933

• Group portrait (potentially) of three of Francis’ son Phillip, Edward and Jack – need to check authenticity

Quick Biography of Francis V. Le Feuvre

1. From what we have gathered he was the son of Philip and Ester Le Feuvre from St Ouens.
2. Born in 1872 or 1873.
3. Philip died some point in the period of 1881-91 – lived alone with mother Ester in St. Ouens.
4. Francis began to work as a farmer at around the age of 18 (as shown on the 1891 St Ouen’s Census).
5. Married  Lydia Vibert in 1903.
6. (According to 1911 Census) 5 children; Jack (not mentioned on Census), Dorothy (7), Enid (6), Edward (3) and Edna (1).  His mother, Ester Le Feuvre and aunt Elize Le Blancq + 2 servants also lived with the family.
7. Occupations: Farmer ( Listed 1891 + 1911), General Merchant (Listed 1901)  + Chief de Police = Honorary Police Force (Listed 1911).
8.  My Grandfather born 1921 – youngest of 9 children.
9. Became ‘Jure-Justicier de la Cour Royale’ (Jurat of the Royal Court) in 1931.
10. Died 1952 (age 79).

Evaluation

I found this research to be extremely useful and interesting. I have seen first hand the effectiveness of using archival material to get accurate and clear evidence. It is also very interesting to see this evidence directly – documents from the past have a certain haunting presence to them, the sense of re-animating the past into the present. The document which I found particularity interesting were the series of 3 Census’ which Gareth uncovered, ranging from 1881-1911. It was really fascinating to see this Census document because it showed direct evidence of the ages, occupational and status of my ancestors. Which family members (and others) lived in the family home at particular times is a useful indication of how the structure of the family unit operate at different times, and thus how various circumstances effected this.

Mapplethorpe. R (2004), Robert Mapplethorpe and the Classical Tradition, New York: Guggenheim Museum Publications

Davidson, J (2015), ‘Naked Ambition’. The Guardian: 16-17

Lenman. R (2005), The Oxford Companion Photograph, Oxford New York: Oxford University Press

Muybridge. E (1995), The Human Figure in Motion, New York: Dover Publications

Week starting Monday the 18th January 

Objectives and Criteria from the syllabus 

Be aware of some of the methods employed by critics and historians within the history of art and photography.
Demonstrate a sound understanding of your chosen area of study with appropriate use of critical vocabulary. – use for image analysis
Investigate a wide range of work and sources
Quotation and Harvard System of Referencing

Use quotes to support or disprove your argument
Use quotes to show evidence of reading
Take notes when you’re reading…key words, concepts, passages etc.
Write down page number, author, year, title, publisher, place of publication so you can list source in a bibliography
Use Harvard System of Referencing…see Powerpoint: harvard system of referencing for further details on how to use it.
Here is an overview of an essay structure. See below for a more detailed breakdown on what you could focus on in each paragraph.
Blog: Produce a number of posts that show evidence of the following:

Essay: Complete writing paragraphs 1 , 2 & 3 in your essay

Paragraph 1 Structure (500 words) : Use subheading. This paragraph covers the first thing you said in your introduction that you would address. The first sentence introduces the main idea of the paragraph. Other sentences develop the subject of the paragraph.

Content: you could look at the following…exemplify your hypothesis and introduce your first photographer. Select key works, ideas or concepts and analyse in-depth using specific model of analysis (describe, interpret and evaluate) – refer to your hypothesis. Contextualise…what was going on in the world at the time; artistically, politically, socially, culturally. Other influences…artists, teachers, mentors etc. Personal situations or circumstances…describe key events in the artist’s life that may have influenced the work. Include examples of your own photographs, experiments or early responses and analyse, relate and link to the above. Set the scene for next paragraph.

Include relevant examples, illustrations, details, quotations, and references showing evidence of reading, knowledge and understanding of history, theory and context!

Paragraph 2 Structure (500 words) : Use subheading. In the first sentence or opening sentences, link the paragraph to the previous paragraph, then introduce the main idea of the new paragraph. Other sentences develop the paragraphs subject (use relevant examples, quotations, visuals to illustrate your analysis, thoughts etc)

Content: you could look at the following…Introduce key works, ideas or concepts from your second photographer and analyse in-depth – refer to your hypothesis…Use questions in Pg 1 or add…What information has been selected by the photographer and what do you find interesting in the photograph? What do we know about the photograph’s subject? Does the photograph have an emotional or physical impact? What did the photographer intend? How has the image been used? What are the links or connections to the photographer in Pg 1? Include examples of your own photographs and experiments as your work develop in response to the above and analyse, compare, contrast etc. Set the scene for next paragraph.

Include relevant examples, illustrations, details, quotations, and references showing evidence of reading, knowledge and understanding of history, theory and context!

Paragraph 3 Structure (500 words) : Use subheading. In the first sentence or opening sentences, link the paragraph to the previous paragraph, then introduce the main idea of the new paragraph. Other sentences develop the paragraphs subject (use relevant examples, quotations, visuals to illustrate your analysis, thoughts etc)

Content: you could look at the following…Introduce key works, ideas or concepts from your third photographer and analyse in-depth – refer to your hypothesis…Use questions in pg 1 and pg 2 or add…How does the photograph compare or contrast with others made by the same photographer, or to other images made in the same period or of the same genre by other artists. How does the photograph relate to visual representation in general, and in particularly to the history and theory of photography, arts and culture. What are the links or connections to the photographers in pg 1 and 2? What are the similarities, differences or links and connections? How does this work compare to yours? Include examples of your own photographs and experiments as your work develop in response to the above and analyse, compare, contrast etc. If more paragraphs are required, set the scene for the next paragraph.

Include relevant examples, illustrations, details, quotations, and references showing evidence of reading, knowledge and understanding of history, theory and context!

William Eggleston is an American photographer who is known for working with colour photography. Using his home environment  Memphis and Mississippi as his subject matter, Eggleston became famous for monumentalizing everyday subjects in his large-format prints. Eggleston captured Large amounts of his home environment, making his images very personal to him. William then went on to more commercial photography where he continued colour photography and highly saturated images in an awe for people to see insight of his life. I felt William was an idea artist for me to work from as his works his way around peoples lifestyles in an interesting and captivating way. I feel his utilising images are powerful in a sense that each individual has a very different routine in life and that different moments spark different opportunities. In this instance, every person has a journey and within that journey are multiple opportunities and goals within a day to day basis. I am going to continue by using Eggleston’s work as a guideline and inspiration into capturing random moments with an open mind.

“Sometimes I’ll leave the house with a fully loaded camera and end up with nothing. Its just about being there. Anywhere. Even the most uninteresting, ugly or boring places can for an instant become magical to me”.

I really like this quote from Eggleston, he understands about there being a time and place. I feel my ambitions for my project may take of in the style of Eggelston, as he knows how to compose a story. Above, “Huntsville, Alabama, CA. 1970″ shows a strong image of a man with a high working class status of his time. His trimmed clothing and wide open spaces signifies his detailed identity of power and wealth. Eggleston’s work is very symbolic, an iconic representation of humans in a position of various power and status. I wish to base this aspect primarily around my own family, so the reader is able to understand a story without a composed narrative.

William Eggleston’s Memphis: Photographs by Joanna Welborn

William Eggleston’s groundbreaking reinvention of color photography in the 1970s established him as one of America’s most original and influential artists. In Autumn of 2008, photographer Joanna Welborn made portraits of William Eggleston at the offices of his archive in Memphis, Tennessee.  Welborn then spent time photographing throughout Memphis, at some of Eggleston’s favorite haunts as well as making photographs that evoke Eggleston’s own groundbreaking color images. Welborn here discovers a more intimate side to Eggleston, exploring the reminiscences of where he spends his time creating new ideas and media, the heart of his lifestyle and time. In my own project, I wish to accomplish a similar response so that the viewer could understand the relationship between my parents and our house.

Here is a link to the Article about Joanna’s project on Eggleston:  http://www.cdsporch.org/archives/2590

Photographers:

• William Eggleston
• Yale Joel
• Rita Puig-Serra Costa
• Martin Toft

Modernism / Post modernism 

• Modernism – broad movement encompassing Avant Gard ‘isms’ – another word for ‘new’.
• Discovered at the first half of the 20th Century.
• Define Avant Gard – transgressing the limits, non-mainstream.
• Push the boundaries Manual labour- beginning of the industrial revolution.
• What happens outside art?  – Societies expectation at large.
• Queen Victoria, Victorian times, invention of photography 1839 – part of modernism, machine, optical device and object, interpreting reality, development of machinery, lasting over 100 years.
• Different interpretations of Avant Gard – cubism, tantrism, futurism, surrealism, social realism, formalism, in photography and art.
• Invention of the press, beginning of the 20^th century, mass production of newspaper and magazines, money in the early 1900’s.
• References to Abstraction / expressionism / cubism – abstraction and modernism, different multiple interpretations
• Post modernism – ‘after’ 1970s-80s, post second world war, destruction to our civilisation, ordinary people killing ordinary things – questioning authority in society – law enforcements, police, various occupations – complex movement.
•  Investigating a process’s rather than the finishing product. E.g. Conyrast to Picasso who never realved the process of his art, only ever cared about the end product.
• More stage photography, ref. to tableau photography, using yourself as a self-portrait, using people that are creating an image which is highly constructed, ref to political, historical, or in the art world.

Example Artist  (landscape Photography) Ansel Adams

• Ansel Adams is seen as a modernist, his photographs are intrinsic to modern photography, of his time / very contrasted / vivid imagery / looking back he was he was now he isn’t as its very traditional of his time – now seen as contemporary.
• Modernism changes over time.  Romanticism – leading into post-modernism.

Example Artist  John Millais – 1852

• Millais shows deliberate references to other things outside of the art world, not trying to hide the production / stages with references to Shakespeare.

Other Techniques relating to Modernism and Post-Modernism 

Pictorism vs Realism

•  Photographers who wanted to make photography an art form, invented as a scientific experimentation – not scientific experiment but an artistic experiment.
• Deliberately used processes to make photographs seem ‘fuzzy’ and out of focus. In the dark room they’d create textures, manipulating chemicals in dark room, photographs became more like paintings making them overall more eccentric forms in the art world – debating what’s the point of the photography, should be sharp and in focus.
• Straight photography was a  direct reaction against the pictorists.
• Celebrating vivid, realism in photography. Realism can be found I theatre, architecture. – Frank Eugene (pictorism) – subject matters of mythology, fairies. Straight Photography (Sally Mann)

Dadaism and the development of the Photo Montage

• Constructivism Photography shows extreme angles and advantage points
• Example: El Lissizky 1890-1941 was apart of a communist regime, based in what happened in 1917 – part of the political regimes, photography turned into propaganda / contextual resources / origins of change /manipulating the public through social media of the time / advertisement / creating a shift in social movements.
• References to the Russian Avant Gard.

Surrealism

• Founded in Paris in 1924,
• Example: Psychologist Froid – ‘Psych Analysis’,  which displays themes of dreams and internal forms.
• Feminism against realists, sexists in their subject manner, predominately men. The Female was seen as the ‘Muse, catalyst for Male psyche – misogynists – segregation in today’s society, majority of governmental power is male, male dominance has various debates towards sexism.
• Looking at stereo types in modern day society, how its developed from years since Surrealism was introduced.
• Patriarchal structures, men seen as ‘rulers’ women seen as workers in the home.
• Example: Man Ray (Solarization / Rayograph) cameraless photographs, exposing an object into sensitive paper, superstition versus reality 1890-1974).

Social Reform photography 1895-1965

• Example artist: Dorothea Lange 
• Includes Interdisciplinary – other knowledge from different subjects, e.g. gothic texts

Question to consider in my final paragraphs / conclusion:

What ism does my work fall under in my personal study?

Has the development of photography overtime impacted the outcome of modern day photography today? 

How is the work of Phil Toledano and Corrine Day autobiographical?

Overview 

My initial concept was to show the theme of ‘family’ and ‘community’ through the comparison of ‘history’ and the modern day. Using archival material, I plan to demonstrate a clear example of how family traditions change, within architecture, the work place, and within every day lifestyles. I also wish to display the privileges of living a lifestyle in the modern day compared to a lifestyle in war and the post-war era. This is all connected to my recent move to a new house.

Thoughts and Ideas 

• I wish to dig deeper into the history of my house. Primarily using archival material which i extracted during my recent work internship at the Societe Jersiase.
• The lifestyles of when it dated back
• To interview and photograph previous owners, builders, landlords,
• To discover the beauty around my house,
• To show what my other family and friends think of the location, what the new build means to people,
• The debuting controversy over the production of  a ‘block house’ on a old heritage site.

How can I show this? 

I believe I  can show this by producing various types of media. Voice Recording, Video, and Photography with various techniques such as montage and collage in Photoshop. I believe the manipulation of my images and the merging of old and new can subject the transition of time and passage, connecting to my family and the community around me. Another idea is use the technique of placing text on a photograph to show a distinct narrative. This is all in connection with the work of Wendy Ewald.

In  the style of Ewalds work, I could produce an image, adjust it, then allow the person i photographed to write on the image to signify the personality, community and familiarity of the subject, condoning an overall sense of transition and modern and new.

Modernism Versus Minimalism

Photographers and Research 

Martin Toft – Similar concept as he was comparing the history of one location to another. Martin in his project ‘Atlantus’ discovered the movement of ‘Jersey’ (Channel Islands) to ‘New Jersey’ (State, United States of America), and how it has evolved, compares and works with the background and history of being part of a place most people haven’t even come across.

“A visual an oral exchange of cultures, histories and identities”

“Why would you photograph in black-and-white if the world is in colour?”

“My work, in one way is rooted in reality but on the other level it is all about fantasy.”

Biography

Julian Germain, born in London, 1962 started photography at age 18, taking it up as an extra O Level option at his Sixth Form College. Germain became inspired by the work and practise of his photography teacher, known for his eccentric and subsersive artistic nature. As Germain describes, “he was the first person who got me interested in art and using creativity to get your message across”

Germain then when on to study photography at Trent Polytechnic in Nottingham and the Royal College of Art in London.  During this time he became interested in the work of a variety of photographers including, Paul Strand (Time in New England), Robert Frank (The Americans), Gary Winningram (The Animals), Nan Goldin (Ballard of Sexual Dependency), and Chris Killip (Isle of Man: A Book about the Manx).

Germain’s style is very poetic and metaphorical. I would regard his style as something in between formal and vernacular photography. He is one of the earlier colour photographers in Britain and contributed greatly to the transition of British Art and Photography in the 1990s, along with other artists including Richard Billigham, Tracey Enimem and Damien Hirst. He is perhaps however, not as recognised as some of these artists, but nevertheless credible and noted greatly for his contribution.

He regards himself as a documentary portrait photograph, working with subjects to create a narrative on different themes and subjects. Interestingly, he was one of the editors of Richard Billigham’s extremely famous ‘Rays a Laugh’.

Here is a list and brief overview of different publications by Germain.

‘Steel Works’ (1986-90)

In this series Germain looks at the post-industrialisation of Britain in the period of the early 1990s. The series  is a look of the effects of Thatcherite Britain (1979-1990) on the working class. The series presents combination of Germain’s own photographs, alongside historical images and pictures from various sources including family albums. It examines the effects of the closure of Consett steelworks as well as broader issues of post industrialisation.

“I was photographing something which wasn’t there”

“I collected pictures on the way. I realised that they were just as much a part of Consett as my pictures were”

Soccer Wonderland’(1994)

Soccerland is a photo-book exploring the theme of ammeter football. It is an extensive look at all aspects of the sports: players, fans, community involvement, groundsmen, park football, football games, traditional history, local rivalry etc.

“Germain offers his audience a multi-layered view of the subject of football. Like a good piece of drama, we are encouraged to consider the subject from a range of different perspectives – we can for example choose at any one time to empathise with the young football fan obsessed with her hero or that of the football “widow” immortalised in her red and white garden.” –

Brett Rogers, In Soccer Wonderland exhibition catalogue, the British Council, 1995.

Face of the Century ‘1999’

A series of chronologically sequenced portraits of 101 individuals, commencing with a 100 year old, ending with a newly born baby.

“Very nice and easy to do”

“I just hung around on street corners. I would just stop people”

Classroom Portraits ‘2004’

This ongoing series began began in schools in North East England in 2004 and was extended to schools throughout the UK the following year. Since 2005 the archive has grown to include schools from North and South America, Europe and the Middle East. The children are photographed in their classrooms oppose to the whole-school portraits which does not actually reveal anything about the classroom.

“I wanted this be be an examination of the school”

“I wanted to challenge traditional school photography”

“It is a unification of different cultures”

Generations

Generations was inspired by Germain’s previous ‘Face of the Century’ project, engaging with similar themes concerning the life cycle, the ageing process, human biology, characteristics and questions of nature and nurture. It specifically and sequentially records direct biological lines of descent.

“I wanted to show a clean, genetic line”

“The clothes of the different generations are wonderful, they add to the story a lot”

“Nature and nurture come together in this project in a really beautiful way”

For every minute of anger you loose sixty seconds of happiness ‘2005’

A series of photographs made over 8 years of the quiet, contemplative existence of Charles ‘Charlie’ Snelling, an elderly widowed man living alone in a small house in Portsmouth. Charlie was an elderly shopkeeper selling plants. Germain visted the shop in 1992 and befriended him. He visited he over the course off 8 years, photographing him during this time.

Charlie died in 2000. Germain then went through all the images he took of Charlie, and in 2005 produced a book and exhibition.

“he showed me some photo albums. I was very touched by the way he photographed his wife – very intimate, open and totally unpretentious.”

“I visited Charlie off and on, occasionaly for about 8 years.”

“I wasn’t working towards anything, I was going to see Charlie.”

“I loved the way he dealt with the world.”

“Charlie would leave little notes to let customers know where he was – he would save the notes and use them for another time.”

“One of Charlie’s notes inspired the title of the project. He had a a lot of wisdom did Charlie.”

“I monumented the photo-album. They are such an important part of all our lives so I thought it was an appropriate thing to do.”

I found these two talks by Julian Germain to be very interesting and helpful in finding out more about him.