Above are some pictures from the archive taking from the Societe Jersiaise webiste
My interpretation of an archive is something that stores hardware photographs, audio books, letters, anything really that has sentimental value to its society and nation, it usually is relatively old meaning that it gives us a better insight to years that I certainly wasn’t around for. In many ways, the purpose of these archives is that they are there to protect old records that if displayed wherever could potentially be ruined and too also educate and inform younger generations of the sort of activities and events that have taken place on this island we call our home. Archives have the function to inform us of what our island’s culture used to be like. Having them in our lives is important as most of the images found in archives go way back to the 19′ hundreds which therefore gives us an insight into how much our culture has changed not just in terms of our streets and buildings but our fashion industries and government standards.
Images from the archive’s have dual meanings because what we see in these images is just an aspect of their reality, its a split second of their day whether they are working or just simply sitting doing nothing the reality of it is that we actually don’t have a clue of what the context being those images are and how those people are actually feeling.
Archives act like repositories of cultural memories because its where memories,events,important dates have been stored. By keeping them in a safe location it means that younger generations can look back on their grandparents or even great grandparents lives and see how much it has changed as the years have gone by.
Photography doesn’t just play an important role to the archives history but it plays an important role in day to day life without us even thinking about it. As previously stated, theres an idea that our feelings change once we know the context behind the image. I think it was important to photograph back in the day the reality of their lives without mobile phones,internet pretty much nothing but pen and paper if you wanted to communicate and how easy todays generations have it. I think it makes younger generations reflect that our older families did not have it easy and that just because they look happy for an image doesn’t mean that’s how they’re really feeling.
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Now in the modern days, images can be taken on many different devices but there is a part of me that enjoys looking at pictures of my parents and grand parents because they have an element of being old and they look not as highly focused and the colour balance of some images are not the right tones. I do like the old fashioned photos but i know that most pictures i will likely look back on will be freshly coloured and in relatively high quality.
Visually, looking at the archival images will enrich our personal studies because we can see how much our culture and society has developed not only with the quality of those images but in terms fashion and political aspects on the island. Seeing it on a piece of paper will make us see the changes and give us a more personal account to look at it. It will also influence what we go out and photograph as they’re are going to be certain ideas that wouldn’t completely fit into this theme.
Looking at the images has been resourceful because it has given us lots to look at and from looking at those images we can take elements and copy into what our society and culture for our new images and my response. I think that as young photographers/ Artists we can use elements of their photos and adapt and use them into our own wether its by using photo – montage or a simple over layer of the two images 70 odd years apart. Archival images can be used in many inventive and creative ways therefore just being able to see what life was like before we were all born was seemingly interesting.
To answer the title “who’s archive is it anyway” I think its hard to say because each individual has a different interpretation of an archive. Some places were not affected by any sort of conflict so wouldn’t take into account archives from the war as they have no link to it but their are some that put 100% time and devotion to make our land remembered for what really happened to it and how much we have got and what It has really come to and why.