Grosnez Castle

Grosnez Castle occupied the headland at the extreme north-west of Jersey in Saint Ouen. Nobody really knows why it was built, but it was probably constructed in the 14th century, and was in ruins by 1540 and remains so today.

This is a reconstruction of what modern day architects believe the building would like by Norman Rybot.

Using the Société Jersiaise archisle, I was able to locate this picture of a family around what is left of the castle. The building is into a similar state today despite this picture being taken by Francis George de Faye between 1890 and 1920.

Due to the symmetrical arching of the castle and the coastal view behind, the site would be able easy to create my own version of a Luigi Ghirri-esque image. The castle coincides nicely with this development on the environment as this site is very recognizable with fellow islanders.

L’Etacq

The story of L’Etacq is deeply effected by it’s environment. It’s rich nutrient filled cotils and close proximity to the sea has seen fishing and farming heavily in its history. The rocky cliff faces also add to the list of nutrients within the heart of Saint Ouen’s, as it has been subjected to quarrying, coinciding with the topic of man’s impact on land.

This image derived from the SJ archives shows the rural nature of Saint Ouen’s, dating back to between 1871 – 1873.  Compared to today, L’Etacq has not expanded in quite the same way the rest of the island has due to restrictions from within the States of Jersey. Some properties have been added and some have been renovated but fundamentally, the landscape does not look too different for a 130 year difference.

A distinctive sign of continuity within L’Etacq is the notorious Fisherman’s Cottage next to Le Pulec Bay. When searching through the archives, I recognized the small jewel within Jersey’s heritage as it still stands tall today. Here is an  image of the cottage against what it looks like today.

The Fisherman’s cottage at the very north of St Ouen’s Bay is surrounded by the wild in arguably the most rural sector of the island, giving it a direct link to a natural environment which coincides with our objective. The site also demonstrates continuity and resilience against man’s impact but also shows how the people of Jersey understood it is important to keep some traditional sites and prevent too much refurbishment.

Following my short and to be continued trip to the North-West coast of the island between Les Landes and L’Etacq in Saint Ouen’s, I was very pleased to see continuity through the unique aspect of the Fisherman’s Cottage. The recognizable monument still stands strong as it demonstrates a rare source of an old Jersey culture and can be interpreted as a form of an archive as it reveals information upon a different era and society. The original Jersey granite reinforces the mere fact this is a Jersey artifact and unique to the island along with the typical coast line that the building faces.

Personally, this building represents the true Jersey without all the finance buildings and prospects which now dominates the island. Previously, the islanders explored their resourceful nature as fishermans, for instance the one that inhibited a site like this in order to survive. We lived off our own grown crops from the cotils or the cattle, for example the Jersey Cow we are renown for would enable island life. It is reassuring to maintain sites like the Fisherman’s cottage as our town centre is dominated by over-powering modern buildings which dominate the Saint Helier scape. For research into an environmental theme, I believe visits to the more remote regions of the island give a more reflection of our island and who I am following my progression as a human on the island.

Lucy Renee Mathilde Schwob or Claude Cahun was an iconic artist, particularly recognised for her photography which was considered rather peculiar for her time period but looking back retrospectively, the modern generation has agreed the French national was ahead of her time. The advanced Claude Cahun was most definitely promoting a minority as she was born into a Jewish family, an unpopular religion throughout history, however, she was also a lesbian and lived with partner  Suzanne Malherbe, who renamed herself ‘Marcel Moore’. Potentially, Cahun’s underdog stature within society caused her to follow up with her surrealism production through art and literature. Cahun had a focus upon ridiculing traditional concepts of gender roles as she exploited her androgynous nature to defy society’s pretensions.

San Francisco, 1928

New York, 1920

Paris, 1920

During World War II, Cahun and her partner Moore created propaganda within the occupied Channel Island of Jersey.  The two worked extensively in producing anti-German fliers and they inconspicuously crumpled up and threw their fliers into cars and windows. In many ways, Cahun and Malherbe’s resistance efforts were not only political but artistic actions, using their creative talents to manipulate and undermine the authority which they despised. However, Cahun’s subversive behaviour was a dangerous game and this led to a death sentence in 1944, fortunately her punishment was never carried out, but her health never recovered from her treatment during the war and she died in 1954.

It wasn’t until 40 years after her death that Cahun’s work became recognized, mostly thanks to Francis Leperlier despite Cahun’s wish to not become famous. To further her fame, David Bowie hosted a specific exhibition for Cahun’s work in New York in 2007.

“You could call her transgressive or you could call her a cross dressing Man Ray with surrealist tendencies. I find this work really quite mad, in the nicest way.Outside of France and now the UK she has not had the kind of recognition that, as a founding follower, friend and worker of the original surrealist movement, she surely deserves.”

Nothing could better do this, I thought, than to show her photographs through the digital technology of the 21st century and in a setting that embraces the pastoral sanctuary of her last years.

Conveniently for me, me and my dad live in Cahun’s old property in Saint Brelade’s, Jersey. Looking through her series of images, you can see where she’d taken some of her photographs on the property which is obviously an interesting and unique situation for me as a photographer and fan of Cahun’s work.  We have access to a few Cahun based sources which of course are beneficial for my study into the artist. In order to further my research into the photographer, I plan to utilize the Societe Jersiaise online archives. This process will help me piece together the history of the environment me and my father live in whilst exploring a famous and relevant photographer.

Examples of Claude Cahun’s photographic surrealism…

Paris, 1915

Bifur, 1930

Paris, 1928

Paris, 1928

Paris, 1917

Paris, 1939

An image of Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore’s graves with their actual names, which reinforces how their fantasy names which everybody recognizes them by, are ignored and their reputation and work is unappreciated which coincides with Claude Cahun’s involvement in the image to follow.

This image created by Claude Cahun depicts her relationship with her partner; Marcel Moore. This image was taken in 1928, long before homosexual relationships were socially acceptable, yet Claude Cahun experiments with this sense of surrealism as she photographs herself and her partner. Although Cahun and Moore maintained a low profile despite their alternative style of photography, in their death their work has been appreciated by the likes of Bowie as they’ve been deemed the founders of surrealism.

Cahun explores the use of two different mirrors to exploit two different emotions as behind closed doors the couple’s homosexual relations are acceptable which is evident through the joy of Marcel Moore. Cahun’s facial expression is more of a concern as she faces society. The intimacy of the image can be displayed by the indirect eye contact of the couple in question. Although both females, Cahun uses the mirrors to divide up the image as she exploits her androgynous physical nature. Note how Cahun (left) is looking away from the mirror and is dressed like a man to the outside world, however, Moore (right) is peering into the mirror, suggesting she prefers the side to Cahun that is not socially accepted. Marcel Moore looks into the mirror smiling as she is excited by the alternative side to Cahun, which can be fundamentally be seen as subversive which reflects the couples life as they often went against authority, for example, in Jersey during the occupation, they created anti-Nazi propaganda. Contrastingly, Cahun who faces the real world has a blank facial expression as she creates this sense of a facade as she cannot expose her feelings to society as it was not acceptable.

Although the image is not what we’d expect of a family photograph, Cahun does display the struggles her and her partner faced to be with one another as they tried to create a family, especially in the small community of Jersey.

I thoroughly enjoy the meaning of this image as a couple from the early Twentieth century challenge society’s pretensions and they act loyal to their subversive nature. The more I study on the work of Claude Cahun, the more interesting and meaningful the images become as although she started her photography over a hundred years ago, her contemporary style is very fitting to modern day society. This image also inverts expectations as we’d expect a lesbian to promote homosexuality and paint it in a pretty picture, however, Cahun focuses on the struggle she faces for being different, which fundamentally, led to global attention she has received now she’s dead.

Both photographers I was lucky enough to meet  (Tanja Deman and Jonny Briggs) adopt the ‘surrealist’ approach to their photography despite the artists having different meanings and approaches.

What is surrealism?

“a 20th-century avant-garde movement in art and literature which sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example by the irrational juxtaposition of images.”

Avant – garde developed in the mid 1800’s as artists produced more radical or unorthodox work which opposed mainstream society and inverted social expectations.

The driving point behind selecting the study of surrealism is the focus on the inversion of society’s expectations as photographs should be iconic and recognisable. The unique nature of the art genre allows a dynamic approach and there is no limits, an exciting factor. For me, the surrealist images I’ve studied are amongst the most interesting I’ve viewed since my thorough study of the subject.

A photographer who followed the surrealism criteria who lived locally from 1937 until her death in 1954 was Lucy Renee Mathilde Schwob or more commonly known as, “Claude Cahun”.

London born photographer Jonny Briggs adopts a dynamic approach to his work so as his work may all have a similar yet deep underlying meaning, the productions are all very unique and different from one another. Briggs hosted a presentation for us to experience and enjoy all his work, which he bases on his family ordeals, particularly how he lived in his sister’s overriding shadows as well as focusing on his struggling relationship with this father. Not only was the delivery of the presentation interesting throughout but the content within the presentation was very peculiar yet meaningful.

Although Briggs is a photographer, he revealed his bad experiences of photographs led him to photography, because as a child his family would create this facade and ignore the problems within their life in order to portray a healthy family circle.

“In search of lost parts of my childhood I try to think outside the reality I was socialised into and create new ones with my parents and self.”

I was particularly interested in Briggs’s fascination with opposites, for example ‘desires’ and ‘disgust’, giving this sense of bathos. Throughout his work, Briggs defies the expectations of photography as he incorporates the unthinkable to his work, relating to his cry for attention following his loss of some areas in his childhood.

Linking to our given theme, Briggs uses family and the environment to express his emotion through photography. For example, this image deemed “Reclamation, 2011” displays Briggs posing for a picture with his father (right). Briggs is wearing an enlarged wooden mask of his father’s head, however, the internal mould of the mask fits Jonny’s face but pushes his cheeks into a forced, reflecting the family photos he used to dread. An alternative point to note is the close proximity of Briggs junior and Briggs senior as the pair struggled to form a solid bond in Jonny’s younger years, so perhaps their affection is a an appeasement for what Jonny had missed out upon as a youngster.

During the presentation, the question of the relevance of the forrest based scenery was asked and Briggs responded that when he was younger, he developed his imagination by using the forest as a setting for applying his infatuation with Disney movies and how they often allow him to divert from the troubles of his childhood. It’s interesting that Briggs found comfort within a specific environment and believed the significance of the scene was enough to set his photograph there.

What are archives?

“a collection of historical documents or records providing information about a place, institution, or group of people.”

“place or store (something) in an archive.”

Société Jersiaise is a Jersey organisation who look to preserve and protect local archaeology, history, natural history, the ancient language and the conservation of the environment.

The organisation is purely funded by memberships and donations which enables the building to function and still provide the people of the public domain as well as keen artists the opportunity to discover a rural and much forgotten Jersey. From photographers to parishes,  Société Jersiaise enables you to search the archives whether it be for work or recreational purposes.

The Photographic Archive of the Société Jersiaise contains over 80,000 images dating from the mid-1840s to the present day and is the principal Jersey collection of nineteenth and early twentieth century photography – http://societe-jersiaise.org/photographic-archivehttp://societe-jersiaise.org/photographic-archive.

Before we had the opportunity to visit the unique site, I was unaware the organisation existed so we’re very lucky to have rare images so accessible to us. Especially for my upcoming search into the property I live in in Saint Brelades.

There are also other sites with similar functions in Jersey, for example the Jersey Archive on Clarence Road withhold over 300,000 forms of archive, however, they’re not all photography based. The most popular reason to as why the public visit the site is to learn more about their family.

https://www.jerseyheritage.org/places-to-visit/jersey-archive

Local archives preserve the history of the island, whether its family based or for research. Admission is free which gives everybody the opportunity to gain information on local matters.