I experimented with lightroom by changing a few images into black and white to link them to the type of photos they would have captured during World War 2. Viewers may have a different perspective on how they see a black and white image and may feel more somber as a result of the dark colour scheme. I used the preset B&W Sepia Tone since it brings a slight vintage feel to the image.
why use black and white?
Colour can be distracting in some images and can take the focus away from the subject.
Textures and contrast within a black and white image are prominent.
Black and white images often have a nostalgic look. Because black and white was invented before colour, we associate monochromatic images with the past, even when they portray a current event. As a result, subjects from the past tend to look best when edited in black and white.
The contrast between the highlights and shadows of a black and white photograph can add a dramatic effect. Turning up the contrast is a powerful way to capture the viewers attention.
colour
For the colour images I added the Matte filter. This filter makes the contrast subtle and the saturation lower than normal. These adjustments make the vibrance of the images less intense. I wanted my outcomes to have a vintage effect so that’s why I chose this specific filter for the colour images. Finally, I added grain to make the images appear like film.
why use colour?
Colour photographs show important aspects of a subject.
Colour can suggest the era in which the photograph was taken. Films manufactured in the past often have a very distinct look.
The the photographic archive of the Société Jersiaise which consists of around 80,000 images dating back to the 1840s. This includes many different collection from different time periods, places on the island and different parts of history; including the occupation. This provides a very good understanding of what Jersey used to be like in both the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The photographic archive of the Société Jersiaise was founded in 1873, to create not only a museum, but also a library. The Société Jersiaise opened its museum in 1877 and with collection of photographs already identified as a priority, these activities were continued as significant parts of the Société museum and library. Some of the first photos to be produced arrived in Jersey on the 9th of May 1840 and after nine months the Société Jersiaise first publicized it in the urban centers of England and France.
The archive contains examples of work by important early photographers such as Henry Mullins William Collie, Thomas Sutton and Charles Hugo. The collection also contains late nineteenth century collections of negatives by Jersey based photographers such as Ernest Baudoux, Albert Smith and Clarence Ouless. There were also very important twentieth century documents and images including a major archive collection of over 1000 negatives by Percival Dunham, Jersey’s first photo-journalist, as well as an archive of 1300 German Occupation images compiled by Emile F Guiton; the honorary Curator of the Société Jersiaise Museum and founder of the Photographic Archive. Public access to the archive was granted in 1992, and now contains online catalog with over 36,000 images that can be searched via a link online, as well as visiting the archive to view the images, negatives and original prints as well.
