For my fourth photoshoot I decided to go to the Jersey Museum and focus on the Merchant’s house, looking at the old furniture. I wanted to interpret Walker Evan’s photography, specifically the photos in his book ‘ Message from the interior’ where he pays particular attention that he pays to the inanimate objects that are present, almost representing them as characters themselves.

The Merchants house is a recreation of the home of Dr. Charles Ginestet, homeopathic doctor and political activist. The house was built in the English Georgian Style in 1818 by Philippe Nicolle, in what was then the red light district of St. Helier. It has been furnished to represent what it would have looked like in 1862.

Philipe Nicole was one of the most successful merchants pf his time with about 20 ships. He and his wife had 13 children but upon his death in 1836 the house was left to one of his daughters, Jeanne.

At the age of 47 Jeanne met Charles Ginestet who had been imprisoned in France for his political views and was recently widowed with three children to support. Within the year Jeanne married Charles who moved into the house with his children.

Technical

• The lighting used in this image is natural, the light coming from the window on the right. This gives the image a more authentic look as it doesn’t look manipulated or too intense. I used a fast shutter speed so there was no blur in my image.
• The angle this image was taken looks at the a four post bed from a sideways angle creating an interesting composition, rather than the image being taken from a front angle.
• This images ranges with dark brown tones to light ones, dark brown in the bottom left corner, which is then contrasted with the light bed sheets and canopies which have yellow and brown undertones.

Visual

• The lighting in this image creates light undertones, linking on with my other images from my project where the images look authentic and natural.
• I specifically wanted to photograph beds when i went to the merchants house as i wanted to interpret Walker Evan’s images of different beds in houses from the book ‘Message from the Interior’.
• The texture created by the material on the bed is what i focused on when taking the photo which gives the image depth and adds more detail. There’s a contrast in patterns made by different materials on and around the bed, e.g the checked pattern on the bed sheet, compared to the texture of the blanket on top and the pattern on the canopies on the four posts.
• This image depicts what a bedroom was like 1860, the appearance of the bed looks like a person has just slept in it and the casual placing of the furniture and the ornaments surrounding the bed giving the appearance of a natural setting rather than a staged one. This makes it easy for the audience to imagine that the image was taken in 1860.

Contextual

• The image is taken of a recreation of a bedroom from the 1860’s in the Merchant’s house.
• I took these images of the recreation of bedrooms and rooms in the 1800’s as i wanted to show what life was like then and show how conventions have stayed the same and some have changed. E.g some aspects like furniture have stayed similar, but the conventions of how we live have changed from the 1800’s to now.

Conceptual

• I wanted to take photos of furniture from a house in the 1880’s to link to my projects theme of how conventional objects and furniture have history and stories connected to them.
• The objects and furniture shown in these images create the impression that someone still uses them based of the casual appearance the settings give.
• This links to Walker Evan’s images where he pays particular attention to the inanimate objects that are present, almost representing them as characters themselves, also representing absence and the passage of time.
• My images show furniture and rooms like someone is living and using the furniture, but there aren’t any people, also representing, like Walker Evan, absence and the passage of time.

Rooms shown in the pictures:

Anne Nicolle’s bedroom:

• Her room is decorated in red, reflecting her family’s association with the Rose party.
• Gas lighting was installed in the 1830’s but paraffin lamps and candles were still used.
• Her was an ‘Albert’ with a partial canopy curtained for privacy and warmth and four posts.

Sydney Nicolle’s bedroom:

• His father (Jeanne’s brother) died and his mother remarried and movies to England, too he stay in Jersey and lived with his aunt Jeanne.
• His room was very simply furnished with a brass bed and various Militia items- uniform and sword.

Berthe and Alice Ginestet’s Bedroom:

• They shared the albert bed for warmth, and it was unusual for everyone to have their own bedroom in 1862.
• The room is typically floral with French wallpaper, drapes and privacy screen

Schoolroom

• Education in 1862 was not compulsory but those wealthy enough employed a governess to educate their children at home.
• Toys were designed for an educational purpose or to develop skills to take you into adult life.
• In a horse drawn society, a young boy would need to know how to ride a horse which is what the rocking horse was for.
• Jigsaws orientated from cutting out maps and scenes and fitting them back together, and the cup and ball encouraged hand/eye coordination and was known to be played by Queen Victoria.
• Children’s clothes did not exist before 1860 an they wore cut down versions of adult clothes i.e. sailor suits.

The flooring throughout the house is mahogany, imported from South America on board one of Nicolle’s ships. The floors were caulked with tarred string, like the deck of the ship. Victorians liked to show off their wealth, particularly if they were ‘new money’. The clothes they wore and the buildings they lived in demonstrated this. Paintings were often displayed in the hallways indicating the occupant’s wealth and status because this is where the guests were received.

I edited some of the images from the photoshoot black and white to better interpret Walker Evan’s work and displayed them above. Below I have shown some of his photography to compare our images. I think I successfully interpreted his work paying particular attention to the inanimate objects that are present, almost representing them as characters themselves. I think the images I took represent the passage of time and absence, showing furniture and beds of people in the 1860’s, but the absence of people in the images show the history and how a conventional objects within a house can have more meaning than the purpose of what it was built for. In one of Walker Evan’s images shown below it displays a bed where it is clear someone is living in it as the bed is unmade like someone has just slept in it, which is also what I think i showed in my images. One difference between mine and Walker Evan’s images are that my images are of settings recreated of the 1860’s, whereas his images are actually depicting the 1960’s, time he was living in.

My first final outcome range

I chose this image as it contains a mirroring self removal of identity and questions the codes and conventions of people and how they act in groups when presented against another being. I think this is successful due to the tones and the removed fragments but after consideration I do not think is the most entertaining or edited to the level I would want for a finished piece.

I chose this to be a final image as it successful conveys my themes of presenting many aspects of human behaviour and emotion presenting one identity and being, due to this being a collage of a photoshoot I had done it is increasingly abstract ,tonally and yet also demonstrates a distortion wihtin people and a secret that we hold in out identity. Overall I think the composition of this image is interesting and still allows a three dimensional  aspect of realism. I think this image has such a strong impact and I would want the size around a3 and to be printed on its own on a large black canvas.

This was originally a development idea for a final piece but I have since released I do not think the top piece is the most successful, because off this I will continue on the idea of hanging the collaged face piece but accompanied with a different piece on top. 

This image I have decided will definitely be accompanied with the collage piece, as it is interesting wihtin the mirror lines and the shades and again connotes a direct eye contact and a humanness mirrored of different emotions of different self, it proposes the idea what is real and if what we are seeing a a reflection of something untrue or if it is real.

I was considering this piece as a final but then have realised it,s not the most effective due to the editing not being the best and not finished to the standard I would want, although it would work well In a series it is not the standard of image I would want  to show.

Second final outcomes

I then decided to focus on these following images as I think the moulding of the behaviour of nature and humans is more effective and the unpredictability of the water accompanied with additional editing has made a more accomplished set of images. I will have these four images as my main set, but separate this profile image and have it as its one successful separate image. I think this image is interesting with the amount of circular curves around the person, this allows a secret of hidden identity and being submerged and separated from society from being wihtin the water. Additionally the wave from below is interesting as it connotes tones of smoke and a gradually movement to the piece.

wihtin this image there is an emotion of isolation but it is highly accomplished and effective with the isolating pale tones of water contrasting to the darker face and direct eye contact to the camera.The composition works well as the face is at the bottom of the image as if it is being swept away.

This images I wanted to show a removal of being and an aspect of  trying to escape the image, this simple editing enhances the image and still holds a simplicity.I chose this because it too still sticks to my themes and will work successful among the others. 

lastly I chose this images as there is a syncricity wihtin the previous and holds themes of escapism and surrleism within the hand almost coming through and out of the image, the textures on the floor also enhance a movement being surrounded by the water.Overall all these 6 photos(2 sets) of images will be successful and still convey human behaviour in two different environments and subject matters.