After looking through my photos that I took of Joan I took my best images and edited them so I could see how I could improve them to get them at a better standard.
Here are the finished photo montage pieces I have created.
The images created were done so by using my own personal images from the trip to Battery Moltke, combined with images from the Jersey Archive of similar, if not the same areas, and other images during the occupation, including images of some of the German soldiers themselves.
Image no. 1:
Here is my final image that I created for the photomontage project. In the background one can see a group of workers/manual labourers being escorted (probably to work) by a German Officer. Then in the foreground, a present day dummy, which has been dressed to recreate the outfit of one of these workers during the occupation. This is effective as it shows how similar the recreation is to the original outfits and it gives people a more detailed impression of how they may have looked in colour, wearing predominantly dark clothes.
Information:
Originally from France, Ernest Baudoux (1828-1897) worked in Jersey from 1869. In 1885 he was joined in business by his son, but two years later they sold out to John Stroud, a young photographer from London, who in turn sold his business, including many of Baudoux’s glass-plate negatives, to Albert Smith. Some of these photographs have been attributed incorrectly to Smith and the Photographic Archive of La Societe Jersiase have a project under way to attempt to correctly identify who took each of the 3000-plus images in their collection attributed to Smith.
There are 1385 photographs by Badoux available online from the Société’s archive. They are mainly portraits, which was the photographer’s speciality. Many of his portraits exist in two versions, one of them retouched to hide facial blemishes and wrinkles. Baudoux also undertook photographic commissions of clients’ houses and, working with his sons, he photographed views of the island.
He was the first significant chronicler of island life in images, a role which was later to be taken up by Albert Smith, which explains why there is doubt over who actually took some of the images attributed to Smith. The gallery below shows the diversity of subjects captured by his lens; from the portraits which were the bread-and-butter of an early professional photographer, to scenes of the island and pictures of major events in the mid-Victorian era.
Information:
Matt Porteous is a Jersey born photographer who travels the world capturing images of different cultures, people, objects and landscapes. He showed an unusual interest in photography from an early age, his first yellow underwater Minolta accompanied him everywhere. It was through that simple lens that he learnt to capture the sublime beauty of nature.
“Matt’s love and delight in his surroundings are evident in his work. He captures and reveals the expression and detail that is seldom evident to the naked eye. His images are alive with emotion and movement; he enters the world of that image and allows us a glimpse of his excitement, his humour, his soul. “
His mentors, close friends and travel opportunities have all influenced his approach to his work over the past 25 years. He is passionate about his photography and always has been. The love he has for his work, the people and places that he encounters along the way is apparent in the detail and perspective, in the stories he tells in his photographs.
One of his projects: Galileo G
Galileo G is a different kind of motor yacht: when constructed in 2011, the vessel represented a new design and purpose. Silvio had the boat built in order to navigate the Northwest Passage which links the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, through the very north Canadian Arctic Archipelago. In order to complete this voyage, attention to design detail was mandatory: the hull is built of steel, to Ice Class criteria with extra thick plating and the rudders feature ice knives. The extra long waterline and narrow bow maximise hydrodynamic efficiency, with an added wave breaker on the foredeck, as well as all decks being heated to prevent them from freezing in the icy conditions.
There is also a nod to economic and environmental consideration, with the boat being able to run on one engine in ‘get-home mode’, or to reduce its’ fuel consumption – something that isn’t usually possible in motor yachts of this size. As a result of this, one tank of fuel will enable the vessel to travel 8000 nautical miles, which is equivalent to crossing the Atlantic three times.
Matt was welcomed by the beautiful crew, 11 always being his lucky number, and he felt like the luckiest guy alive to be invited to share this time on such an amazing adventure yacht. He was well-looked after and surrounded by a genuinely enthusiastic, caring crew, including Captain Tom who is a true gent, with a huge passion for the ocean, born from his days working as a dive instructor on adventure vessels on the Great Barrier Reef. Chef Pierre was also an all-time legend, creating incredible dishes with ease and finesse.
The crew and owner’s love for the ocean was so clear, as they appreciated their environment and the ocean at every moment. At one point, a pod of around 15 dolphins came to play around the bow, as the hydrodynamic design pushed the water aside with ease. The next day, whilst playing with the sea bobs, the guests were joined by a pod of whales and dolphins, who played together for around an hour. The creatures frolicked around the area, interacting with the movement and excitement of the underwater scooters.
Having looked at this diversely different and more modern approach to photography given by Matt it can be seen that drastic changes have occurred to how photography was used and perceived. Apart from the introduction of broader ranges of colour and texture into photography in the modern day it can be seen that the contextual and conceptual themes behind the photography can be in some ways similar and in some ways drastically different. One of those similarities could be the objective photographers in the past and present day have had to capture wealth and luxury among individuals and to present it and make it desirable, in order to create some sort of imaginative start in the viewers to think outside the box and broaden their ideas of what is and isn’t possible in their day to day lives after having seen the extravagance of others lives. One difference between them could be a slight move away from the sole purpose of catering the materialistic opportunities wealth brings and this introduction of the sub-category of capturing the experiences and emotions wealth gives rather than just the status and objects. This Is shown clearly in Matts work through the paragraph where it talks about the crews love for the ocean who were aboard the super yacht he was onboard in the project above and through the photo of the two people underwater with the sea scooters. I think this idea of showing the experiences wealth presents is a much more inclusive way of documenting this type of photography and believe it therefore brings with it a greater public interest and understanding.
The Jersey Archive is the Island’s national repository holding archival material from public institutions as well as private businesses and individuals.
With collections recognised by UNESCO, the Jersey Archive is the Island’s national repository holding records on all aspects of Jersey’s history. Researchers can use archive resources to trace their family history, the story of their house or street and to find out more about the German Occupation of Jersey during the Second World War.
In 2017 the archive team launched thousands of images from the Jersey Evening Post photographic archive. These can now be viewed online by the public.
The online catalogue includes images of a number of documents including Occupation Registration Cards, will and testaments and transcriptions of early baptism, marriage and burial registers. Documents can be downloaded through an annual subscription or on a pay per view basis.
Information leaflets are available on a variety of subjects as-well which make perfect for students or researchers studying certain topics.
Staff at Jersey Archive can assist with legal and property research enquiries, offer advice about preservation, and give talks, tours and education services.
Jersey Archive also holds the collections of the Channel Islands Family History Society.
To add to their list of impressive services and capabilities, Jersey Archive was also awarded Accredited Archive status in 2014.
Examples of archives held include:
Joan is an 85 yer old lady who was 6 when the German forces occupied the Channel Islands during the 2nd world war.
She lived on the North coast in a cottage with her family and had a great view of the North Eastern French coastline. She spoke of how, often, she was able to hear bombing coming from across the water. When describing which she exclaimed, ‘I used to wonder if it was waves crashing against the cliffs nearby. Until they would get closer.’
Some of the notable things Joan spoke about include:
Above are three up-close images of Joan. I took them in this manner to highlight the complexities of her skin and features such as freckles and bumps. These are all special to focus in onto as it can give an idea almost of the all the years worth of memories, encounters and potentially injuries that Joan has maybe faced during her lifetime. It gives a person a sense of wisdom and knowledge from experience.
Historical context:
Still life emerged, particularly during the early 1600s in Dutch and Northern European paintings. Many of the objects depicted in these early works are symbolic of religion and morality reflecting on the increasing urbanization of Dutch and Flemish society, which brought with it an emphasis on the home and personal possessions, commerce and trade.
Paintings depicting burnt candles, human skulls, dying flowers, fruits and vegetables, broken chalices, jewelry, crowns, watches, mirrors, bottles, glasses, vases etc are symbolic of the transience and brevity of human life, power, beauty and wealth, as well as of the insignificance of all material things and achievements.
Below is a link directing to a website that is discussing the way in which modern artists have been able to keep Still Life Painting relevant and how hyperrealistic imagery has overturned the more classic styles of Still Life Art in order to be more useful in the modern day, for example, its uses in branding and selling of household products and accessories.
Therefore with this project as it can be seen, it was set out as an aim to look to capture similar styled Still Life Imagery from pieces we’ve seen and studied and allow us to explore the different areas of conceptual art a still life image can relate to, for example story telling or extracting emotive responses to the work by the viewers.
Here is a selection of my favourite image along with other images I thought were particularly well put together/taken:
Henry Mullins started work in London in the 1840s. He moved to Jersey in July 1848. He set up a studio known as the Royal Saloon. He initially had a partnership with someone else called Mr Millward, though by the following year he was working by himself and carried on doing this for the next 26 years. He advertised his photographs as cheap and coming in various sizes. With the price reduced to half of that in London.
His collection of images was obtained by Clarence Philip Ouless in 1883 and was given to La Societe in 2006.
This is an image of a Mr Bolton by Henry Mullins.
Technical: This image looks as though it would have been taken in his studio using unnatural lighting. I say this due to the simple background within the image, and the lighting coming from the left hand side of the of the camera shining mostly onto one portion of his face. The shutter speed would have been set quite high due to the amount of light captured off of his face and hands.
Visual: The image had been developed in a brown colour. This would have likely been due to camera limitations with not being able to take images in colour. The image has come out with a huge contrast between lighter and darker colours, with the lighter colours only really showing up where his face and hands are, and the darker colours being in the background and his clothing. This likely would have been done due to camera limitations, but also could have been done for other reasons such as making the person within the image look more professional as you can still make out some of the details within the dark suit.
Contextual: This image is one of his very early pieces. This image was taken during the time period of 1848 – 1850. This was just after he had started his portraiture business. This likely was taken when he was starting to become known around the island and began taking images of influential individuals around the island. He was known as the first professional photographer Jersey had due to his skills with the early cameras.
Conceptual: Henry Mullins work became popular with people within the Royal Militia Island of Jersey. It was very popular for these people to get their picture taken and for their families to. The image above could relate to this as I am unsure who Mr Bolton was or about him. Though, he could have been one of the many influential people that Henry photographed such as Dean Le Breton.
Here are some of the original photos from the shoot I did with Joan Tupley
I really enjoyed doing this photo shoot with Joan, as she had a lovely, caring yet resilient character and she purveyed this through the way she held herself and posed towards the camera.
Joan Tupley was a young girl in World War II when the Nazi German soldiers came to Jersey with the aim to occupy the Island. She came into Hautlieu to talk to us about what life was like on island during this time.
Joan was only 6 years old when the occupation took place and changed life on the island. Joan was an only child who lived with her mother and father. Before the occupation movement happened, Joan recalls the island spreading white sheets and cloths around, to show the Germans that they were no threat. She remembers hearing the planes soar overhead, scouting the island, being an only child, Joan couldn’t enjoy this experience with a sibling, so she sat in an open field with her best friend watching the planes fly over. When suddenly her mother called, telling them not to sit out in the open field, so they Joan, her friend and Joan’s- mother all sat in a privet bush watching, the low flying planes. She says she remembers hearing, what she now knows were the sounds of bombs going off, which the Germans had dropped on the tractor and farm vehicles, thinking they were troop transporters.
Joan’s childhood house was along the North Coast at Les Platons, which was later a very popular place for the German fortifications and gun placements. When the Germans arrive in mass and started occupying, they fortified the island by having barbed wire and mines placed around the coast of Jersey.
Everyone on Island had to have a ration book, so that they could spread what little food they had over the weekly period. Joan explained that the weekly ration for butter was 4 ounces for a male/father and 5 ounces for a female/mother. She explained how her mother had registered as a farmer so that she could get extra rations.
Due to the shortage of food and rations during the occupation, islanders turned to using substitutes for the simplest of things such as tea and sugar. To make tea, they turned to parsnips, where they’d chop the parsnips up and cook them to dry them out, and then boil them and use the broth type water afterwards. Then for the sugar substitute they’d use Beetroot, to make beet sugar.
Listening to Joan, opened up my views on the occupation, she explained whilst life was tough under these living conditions, she personally believed that it was fair, Live life by how they wanted and by the rules, then you were treated fair. Listening to the endless stories amazed me as I was hearing about things for the first time, and it just opened my eyes more on what living was like during the occupation.
