Bob Le Seure: Portraits

Bob Le Seure is a Jersey man who was 19 years old when the Germans occupied the island of Jersey and is due to turn 99 this year. I was lucky enough to be able to spend some time listening to Bob talk about his experiences during the war and then go and take some portrait photographs of him in our studio.

Below shows my four best images I have chosen to work with in the editing process of my photographs. Out of all my photographs these were the clearest and best ones I thought I would be able to work with to develop into final outcomes for this photoshoot.

Contact Sheet:

Edit 1: Black and White

For my black and white photographs I knew I wanted to create them in high contrast as it creates a sense of drama in the photograph. To start with I started in the quick edit section of light room to just straight away turning the photograph into black and white, choosing the preset option of ‘high contrast’ that I could then go through and change and adjust myself to how I feel the photograph needed. I then went to develop, here I altered smaller parts such as the contrast itself and exposure, as well as highlights and shadows; I did this to begin to darken the image, to create some deep shadows and tonal range. I also went in an heightened the texture and the clarity as I felt that it created for a sharper photograph which I feel worked well for what I was trying to achieve as it shows the lines on Bob’s face and all the details which is important to me to show as it shows him as he is as a person and is creating an interesting photograph of him and his stories.

I feel the edited photograph below turned out well and how I personally wanted it too. I feel the position I had Bob in works for this photographs as it lets the light pouring in from the left side of the frame (right side of Bob) to begin to gently light his eye as below his nose onto mouth however unlike the colour image I don’t feel it is working too harshly and is something I am happy with. If I was to go back in again I would possibly think to adjust the photograph to stop the backdrop of Bob from going to grey and would be something I will learn from the alter next time. Overall, however, I feel turning this photograph into black and white has worked well.

Edit 2: Colour Enhancing

For my colour photograph I wasn’t aiming to so much change the photograph drastically, just enhance it. To start with I experimented with looking at the different pre-sets available to me in Lightroom to get an understanding of what changing different aspects might start to look light so I knew where I wanted to go and what would work. I ended up deciding to use one of the presets: Turquoise & Red. I decided to do this as it enhanced the photograph closely to what I was going to aim for myself. From here I went to develop and I began to alter some of the temperatures to create a warmer photograph around Bob himself as well as the contrasts and exposures to enhance the tones and colours in the photographs to make it more vibrant. Again, like with the black and white, I went in and adjusted the texture and clarity to enhance Bob’s features themselves as he has quite distinct features which would be a shame not to bring out and make seen.

The edited photograph, I believe has turned out well and is my favourite of the two photographs due to the vibrancy in the image. I feel if gone back into I could look to adjust the harsh light that is lighting the right side of his face more compared to the left, something that worked well slightly with the black and white image, this I would believe is due to the position that Bob is in, I chose to have him looking straight on to me as I feel he has very compelling eyes and this is something I wanted to capture, however maybe I would go back through and edit it a bit more due to the lighting that this position then lets back onto the face. Overall I do think that this is a successful outcome for enhancing the photograph.

Bob Le Suere: Raw Notes

  • Morning day German’s arrived : 
    • 1940 – July 1st, Air raid on the 28thJune, German Planes had been over that morning, 
    • lived on the avenue sea front, woken by German planes saw two recognized as German bombing planes
    • two parachutes dropping out – not human beings , long cillenders, containing letters addressed to commander in chief of armed forces in Jersey there was no commander
    • islands could not be defended in a military way, they were not of any military value
    • 6am in the morning, heavy bombing, no warning, swept with tanks across the Belgium front
    • British did not want to admit they were leaving the two islands completely undefended, the people of England did not know, the German’s did not know
    • Governor and wife had already left the island the bailiff was the one who received the messages from the parachutes 
    • They had 24 hours to surrender or there would be carpet bombing – Bailiff felt he couldn’t just surrender without some kind of authority, London told them to ‘stay at their posts and do the best they can’ 
    • Bailiff summoned emergency sitting of government, the future lay in the hands of deputy and constable of st Saviour, no one voted to not surrender
      • Bob was In the royal square ‘War time is a time for people to leave unseen’ 
        • Area of the royal square cornered off, asked the workmen what was going on with response of ‘not allowed to tell you mate’
        • Two women immediately in front ‘when this is all over we must hurry back home and barricade the doors, there will be a lot of women raped before nightfall’ – this never happened – tense atmospheres 
        • Captain Bennet got everyone to stand in line for the Bailiff to come out – heavens sent moment – captain bennet pooped on by a pigeon, everyone broke out laughing- heaven sent moment in time of fear
  • St helier:
    • Terraced houses very similar built in time of William 4th– grovners street – two floors up of no.7 – two men bob new housed and kept Russian prisoners
    • Germans fortified the island strongly more then any part of defensive line Hitler was conducting Norway to Spain– had the war been won by them they would not have occupied the whole British isles 
    • Not enough labour to do all the work that the Germans wanted they brought in forced labor from other countries – Spain, Russia
    • Handed over all the able bodied Spanish men who had taken safety in France, were paid but not physically ill treated unless being punished 
  • Slav Race – As called by German (Russian, Poland, Ukraine) were taken as unpaid and ill treated slaves, seen as unhuman, highly rightwing times for German (Racism)
  • One Russian, coming home from school 15years old, German trucks at both end of streets, the boys were herded up onto a truck at revolver point, cattle truck, they were finished up in Jersey in 5 mile road, no contact with parents 
  • Grover terrace two boys sheltering Russian – sharing their rasions, got a hold of illegal identity card the Russian had a rassion card, (If you lost your card you had to go with a sob story  – you would be told to be more careful and given a new one )
    • kept them going with vegetables and occasionally other things – story for friends was that he was polish and was here to study the Jersey Cow and had got trapped and that is why he was here and living with them , very few people knew he was Russian, knew it would only take 1 person who spoke too much for cover to be blown
    • Frequent parties, very resilient boys
    • To be the last day, September 1944, when there would be a gas supply, this was going to be the end of a way of cooking, only now can cook on the open fire or in a stove not many people had 
      • These men had the view of having party as the last day to use the gas stove- have two big stews – if you really want to make a party go make sure your guests haven’t eaten a full square meal in 12 months and serve calvados (cider) (110%) —- the Russian had got a hold before anyone else, went to the floor and was moving legs and arms, loudly singing songs that could be heard down the streets, German Soldiers below also too singing 
  • Liberation:
    • Knew was coming, but not sure when ,by this stage of the occupation there was no gas supply – mid January 1945 the last electricity supply ended
    • Knew that Berlin had fallen April 30th, first important labour day in solvient union 
    • Knew that Hitler was dead
    • JEP was split down the middle, one side Jersey news, one side German
    • Hitler had appointed a Navy General 
    • Knew that an amascite was now being discussed early hours of 7thMay, May 8ththe war was finish, all arms had to be laid down 1 minute after midnight (which would be May 9th, Liberation day) 7:14am the surrender of the whole of the channel islands was signed on the deck of the destroyer in st peter port – around 12pm the specific Jersey surrender signed 
      • Bob was with 2 girls from his office, British destroyer seen coming round noirmont point, bob’s hosepipe tier broke with the sound of a pistol and it sent two German soldiers to the floor turned towards him with riffles, they didn’t shoot, they looked at the rubber and smiled and laughed

German Registration Cards:

In December 1940, the Germans who occupied Jersey the summer before released a decree that ordered ever person over the age of 14 to register under the Registration and Identification of Persons (Jersey) Order, 1940. This resulted in all inhabitants of the island over the age of 14 being issued with a registration card, which included photograph of the owner, their address, name and other personal details. Children under the age of 14 were recorded on the back of their fathers card. The purpose of the cards was to provide clear identification of an individual if they were stopped by a German official, gave occupiers a rounded consensus of Jerseys population, and assisted in identifying and deporting certain individuals based on their nationality. Below is a selection of some of the registration cards given to people living on Jersey during the occupation:

The stories of the people who owned the above registration cards can be found in the Jersey War Tunnels, where some of their stories have been documented, and photocopies of the registration cards are available to look at and keep. Their stories reflect only a handful of the stories available from the German occupation, all of which tell a different tale of the struggles the people of Jersey endured under the strict rules and regulation of the Germans during the occupation.

Jersey Archives

“Jersey Archive was established as part of Jersey Heritage in 1993.  The Archive is the Island’s national repository holding archival material from public institutions as well as  private businesses and individuals. Jersey Archive’s purpose is to preserve the unique written cultural heritage of the Island thus ensuring that future generations can access archival material to learn more about Jersey’s past.

Since 1993 Jersey Archive has collected over 300,000 archival records from the States of Jersey, States Committees and Departments, the Royal Court, H.E. Lieutenant-Governor, Parishes, Churches, Businesses, Societies and individuals relating to the Island. These records are now stored in our environmentally monitored strongrooms at the Jersey Archive.”
https://www.jerseyheritage.org/collections/archive

Images from Jersey Archives:

Registration Cards-

Documents-

German Registration Cards

The entire civil population of Jersey was required by the German authorities to register under the Registration and Identification of Persons (Jersey) Order, 1940. The archive has over 31,000 registration cards of those individuals who lived in Jersey during the German Occupation. Each registration card has personal details such as name, address, date and place of birth, maiden name and occupation. The cards also include a passport sized photograph. Any children under the age of 14 were recorded on the back of their father’s card.

People in story: Maurice Edwarde Green

Location of story: Jersey Channel Islands

Background to story: Civilian

Maurice Edwarde Green was only 12 years old when the German planes flew over. He was a diabetic on insulin from early at birth. Everyone in Jersey thought the war would be over in six to twelve months. Maurice had just over one year’s supply of insulin. Up until D day the diabetics survived on insulin imported by the Jersey States Department of Health. After that day insulin was a life saver. Diabetics were put into hospital. He ended up being the only diabetic to survive in the Channel Islands. Life was hard since there was no insulin at all. Later they were informed that the Red Cross ship ‘Vega’ would be arriving with food parcels and medicines. The ‘Vega’ arrived and his doctor took him to the docks but sadly he returned with the bad news of there being no insulin amongst the medical supplies on board. The second visit of the ‘Vega’ was different. His doctor took him down to the ship again and came back to inform him that there was insulin on board.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/10/a4148110.shtml

Jersey Archive

Jersey Archive was established as part of Jersey Heritage in 1993. The Archive has archival material from public institutions as well as private businesses and individuals. Jersey Archive’s purpose is to preserve the written cultural heritage of the Island so that future generations can access the material in order to learn more about Jersey’s past. Since 1993 Jersey Archive has collected over 300,000 archival records and are now stored in monitored strongrooms.

Family History is one of the most popular subjects for researchers at the Jersey Archive. Archive records allow members of the public to go on a journey through their past and meet the ancestors.

https://www.jerseyheritage.org/collections/archive

Visit to Jersey Archive.

The Jersey Archive has been keeping the Island’s records since 1993. The archive is responsible for looking after and preserving States, public, church, business and club records. Currently it houses over 300,000 records, the oldest dating back to 1378. This equates to over 10 miles worth of records on over 180,000 people.

The purpose of our visit to the archive was learn more about how archives work and have the opportunity to research records from the German Occupation. While there, we were given a tour of the research room and the Strongrooms, where all the documents are kept. We went into the green and red Strongrooms which contained all of the written records.

The Research room and Green Strongroom.

Michelle Sank

Michelle Sank was born in Cape Town, South Africa and currently resides in the UK. Sank is well known for her ‘youth work’ among projects: thematic series of portraits of young adults, often dealing with an adolescent struggle to find their place in the world or define their identity. Her ability to evoke these human states through a direct yet deceptively potent vision has led to numerous commissions and residencies photographing young people in diverse cultural settings: Belfast, Northern Ireland; San Francisco, USA; Manheim, Germany; Wolverhampton, England etc.

Introduction Article – Michelle Sank Insula: Archisle

Writing about her work, the photographer David Goldblatt has observed: “Michelle Sank uses a simplicity of means that falls way below the zealous art critic’s qualifying level for success”

Insula is a photographic project that Sank took part in in 2013 on the island of Jersey where she arrived in April and had a residency on the island for 6 months when geographic and historical influences also loomed large.

Working outside of particular demographic scenarios Sank’s Jersey imagery continues to develop lyrical vision within which the defining influences are place and cultural geography. Insula eschews a specific brief though the work responds to the wealth of nineteenth century portrait photographs within the Jersey Photographic Archive that it now joins as a powerful point of interpretation. The beguiling qualities of these new photographs call to mind the position that Lewis Baltz found for photographic series “somewhere between the novel and film”. As such, Sank’s photographs offer a visual poem to the island.

I have chosen to look at Michelle Sank’s work as I enjoy and like the visual aesthetic of the photographs when they are produced I like how they are taken and what they are representing which is why I have chosen her as one of my photographers.

I have chosen the photograph below as my chosen image to analyse as it was one of the photographs that I was most drawn to. The women shows to be in the centre of the photograph lying close to the foreground, she is the only figure that can be seen in the whole frame and I find this quite interesting as it singles her out and I feel almost enhances her surroundings as there is no other noise coming from the image apart from her figure and it creates a quiet background and surrounding which I feel is effective here. The way her mouth is formed suggests she may could have been talking, from the squint it suggests the natural sunlight is lighting her from the front, as we might guess that she could be talking it makes this a much more personal shot as she would be having a conversation with the photographer, it feels more personal and less staged; almost just in the moment.

Occupation / Liberation II – Post 2 (Artist Reference – (Historical) Francis Foot)

Francis Foot:

Francis Foot was born during 1885 in Jersey Channel Islands. He began working as a gas fitter, but shortly after starting he was fascinated by photography and started developing his skills further, this enabled him to make a living out of doing what he loved. His family helped him invest in a shop in Pitt Street, where he was able to work on and sell his work.


Many of Foot’s images depict family members, this led Foot to create an archive for his family, where he was able to document peoples’ lives, actions and show the developments of individuals growing up. His work has a personal touch too it, as he is presenting to society the evolution of his family, it is almost as if he is paying tribute too them, with all the com positions displaying them at various stages of their lives or life events. Not only has foot taken portraits but he has also documented events happening around the island during his time.

Best Images:


Technical:

The subjects in this image are being photographed head on in height order. There is a pathway and a fence leading into the distance of the image, this creates a sense of depth and makes the subjects in the foreground appear more flat and structural.

Visual:

The tallest is seen sat on a chair which presumably was used to allow all three subjects to be clearly seen in the photo without the background taking up too much of the composition. The young girl and middle boy are holding hands which suggests they know each other well, this is the case as they are related.

Contextual:

The image is in black and white however I doubt this is for effect, and is purely due to the technology available to photographers at the time. The image documents 3 siblings together.

Conceptual:

Foot likely took this photo to add to his family archive with many other compositions of his documenting the lives and existence of his family members. The image is mainly for archival purposes and lacks any hidden concepts or detail.

Comparison of Classical and Contemporary Portrait Photographers.

Comparing Francis Foot and Michelle Sank:

Both of the artists explore portrait photography and capturing citizens within different cultures. Within Sunk’s work she looks at randomly capturing different teenagers within different parts of the UK, to represent diversity and individualist, where as Foot was a family photographer who only captured upper class citizens of Jersey, who could afford for Foot to capture images of their family. This outlines how the methodology and type of portrait photography differs from one another, as well as the types of models that both photographers used to be apart of their photographic series. Conceptually, the two images have been taken for different reasons, and the reasons where considered important at the time the photographs where taken. In Foot’s work he showed the concept of family honour and purity, where as Sunk showcased the ideology of diversity and celebrating individualism, which creates a contrast but helps to showcase the time frame, presenting the contextual factors of things important at specific times in history, and change between the work of Foot and Sunk.

Visually, the two artists share similar compositions in order to showcase the subjects, the people within the photograph (main focus point of the image). In the classical piece, the photograph is taken at a straight on angle, putting the focus on the three children. The layout and positing of the children is kept simplistic and naturalistic, which helps to emphasise the purity of the children. The foreground is kept simplistic, only having the children, and the background also follows the simplistic rule, by just having a field creating a sense of space. The quality of the camera helps to present a textural quality towards the piece. Similarly, in Sunk’s work the captured the main focus point at a straight on angle, as well as keeping the foreground and background simplistic and personal to the model, in order to clearly present their personality. The only difference made in the visual aspects of the two images is that, the positioning of the model in the contemporary piece is less naturalistic, which looses the sense of them presenting their real identity, as it seems that the girl could be putting on an act for the camera.

Technically speaking the two images are somewhat similar, one thing to consider when making this comparison is the quality of the camera during the classical piece and during the contemporary, again showcasing the sense of time. In the classical piece the shutter speed used is quick due to no intended blur. The ISO seems to be higher due to the noise presented in the photograph, however this could have been created by the poor camera quality. The exposure seems to be high, due to faces of the boys seem brighter as well as the background, creating a slight blur. This then showcases how a narrow depth of field is used as well as the aperture being low, making the three children the main focus point within Foot’s photography. The lighting is natural, from the sun making a more naturalistic image. Similarly, in Sunk’s work the shutter speed seems to be quick, due to no intended movement blur, as well as the ISO being low due to no noise produced by the natural/artificial lighting, sunlight alongside lamps located in the rooms, helping to light up the model. The whole frame seems to be in focus suggesting a wide depth of field as well as the aperture being high as the photograph is sharp. The white balance seems to be appropriate for the lighting used, a daylight setting, which allows a sense of warmth to be presented to the photograph. The similarity in the technical elements in the photographs, showcase the settings which make a high quality portrait photograph, no matter what the reasoning behind the imagery is.

To conclude, both images share the same simplistic and naturalistic methodology in order to showcase the subjects of the photographs, even though the conceptual and contextual factors significantly differ. Alongside the technical elements being similar which outlines what makes a successful portrait photograph and how even after a set period of time the same settings and methodology is still used, due to the success it brings to the final outcome. On the other hand, the two images differ significantly in conceptual and contextual factors, due to the time period , which was expected as both artists had different aims and ways around the broad topic of portrait photography.