For my artists references I will comparing two completely different photographers that focused on the same area of photography- portraits. I chose one from the Societe Jersiaise Photo-Archive called Francis Foot and one contemporary from the Archisle Contemporary Programme called Yury Toroptso

Francis Foot

About: Francis Foot was born in 1885 and was the son of Francois Foot who lived from 1847-1918 and Louisa Hunt who lived from 1843-1934. Francois, Francis’ father was a China and Glass dealer who was located in Dumaresq Street, during this tie period this particular area was one of the most wealthy area in St Helier. Francis started working life as a gas fitter which soon led to an interest in photography and the earlier phonographs/gramophone records, soon to figure out that this could lead to a career where money was able to be earnt to make a living. Therefore the family took on a second shop in Pitt Street, this is where Francis worked as an eager photographer, along side his parents who sold gramophones, records and more, whilst still concentrating on their other shop, however when Francis’ father died Francis put his focus of on the business in Pitt street. Just before The First World War Francis married a lady called Margaret Vernon, in which they had four children called George, Stanley, Dora and Reg. Some of Francis’ photographs were turned into postcards, although many of his images feature portraits of his family. Soon enough the shop in Pitt Street became dominantly more important, where Francis was still selling records in the 1950s and 1960s when they were mad from vinyl. It was Stanley’s son John who gave the collection of the glass plates and other photographic material, which had been gathering dust since his grandfather’s death, to La Societe Jersiaise in 1996. Its online photographic archive contains 322 images of subjects as diverse as Battles of Flowers, St Helier Harbour, shipwrecks, fetes and coastal and country views.

Yury Toroptso

About: Yury Toroptsov was born in 1974 in a rural community near Vladivostok, Yury Toroptsov left his native Russia in 1998 to begin his studies at the New School for Social Research in New York as a Muskie Fellow, after having won a prestigious scholarship. With his Far-Eastern origins, American travels and the current residence in Europe, Yury Toroptsov keeps at the centre of his work; people and their identity and the permanence of the myths. Memories, metamorphosis (in an insect or amphibian) the process of transformation from an immature form to an adult form in two or more distinct stages.), profane (of a person or their behaviour) not respectful of religious practice; irreverent) and sacred (connected with God or a god or dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving veneration) are the recurring themes in photographs. Toroptsov’s photographs have been featured in numerous personal and group shows including at the Maison Europeenne de la Photographie, Paris Photo, Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature in Paris. Cureently he is still now continuing his hard work in Paris.