For the photos of Bob I knew that we would be in the studio this means that the environment is heavily controlled. The rule of thumb for studio flash light is to have your camera at 100 ISO, 1/125 and at f/16. The reason for this is that the flashes are used to simulate the daylight and this group of settings will always be roughly right for daylight. Using studio lights with a shutter speed of over 1/200 will not work as the shutter will block out part of the light and will be too fast for the flash of light that the lights will give off.
For this photo I had Bob facing side on to me and then gave him a point to look at which was down to my right, I then focused on his eyes and framed him in the center of the image, I was using a 50mm zoom so I could get a top torso shot with space over his head. For the editing I boosted the texture and and the clarity, also making the contrast larger to show the mall wrinkles and features on his face.
For the left image I thought that I would focus on Bob’s nose as it is a prominent feature of his face to do this best I thought that a profile would work. I made it black and white because it shows well the contrast in his hair and it shows the lines and contours of his face well. I also gave him a high point to look at to show his jawline more. The image on the right was similar to the first in composition but I changed it to black and white and had him look up.
This image was taken to show his walking stick which is something that he has with him all the time and it has scratches, chips and dents which give it its own character, I had Bob lay his hands on top of eachother so that there wasn’t a big empty space that there would be if his hands were side by side. The focal point was the ring finger of his left hand as it has a chip in the nail. I put this image in black and white so that there is a big contrast between the darker wrinkles and the highlights and his nails.
Robert (Bob) Le Sueur is an occupation survivor from Jersey who has been credited for his role the escape and survival of multiple Russian prisoners who were held in Jersey. For this and other Humanitarian work he did during the occupation he was awarded an MBE, and was on the Queen’s birthday honours list in 2013. When Bob came in he had some great stories to tell about life in the occupation here are some of my favorites:
A Porky interruption: This story starts on the morning of July 1st Bob was awoken to the sound of German planes flying overhead and went to look out at them to see if they had doped bombs again, as they did a few days prior, but they hadn’t they dropped 2 parachutes which at first could be soldiers but were too small. They ended up being containers that held a message to the leader of the military of the island. The message said that if the island wasn’t to surrender within 24 hours it would be carpet bombed which would have almost wiped out the population of Jersey. The states were unsure of the best cause of action as they had heard false propaganda showing the germans as rapists and evil people. The only words of advice that would be given by the crown and the uk government was to ‘do the best for the population’. There was a crowd growing in the royal square in front of the states. To control the crowd a man named Capt. Bentley, who was an affluent businessman within the islands, went out to address the crowd and then started barking orders at them. Telling them to get into line and quiet down. In this moment of great tension as Bob described it a bird flew over top and then relieved itself all over the captains pork pie hat, the crowd then erupted with laughter. Bob says this was a heaven sent message to relax the people and break the tension.
The Slavic Soiree: For this story bob talked about a party that he was involved in. He didn’t say what it was specifically for but he said that they had them for everything from the last day of having a gas supply to people’s birthdays. Bob then enlightened us on the best way to make sure that everyone that comes to your party has a good time. He said “invite guests that haven’t eaten properly in months, cook a rabbit and then serve them calvados” which is a sort of distilled cider that had a higher proof than vodka. At this party there was one man who lived with them who was a Russian escapee. Before the party however this man had gotten into the calvados which meant that his Slavic side came out and then he started doing ‘Gopak’ dancing and singing slavic folk songs at the top of his lungs in the middle of town. As he was doing this a German patrol passed by but luckily they were singing their own chants so the Russian couldn’t be heard.
Bullet Bike: This story took place on liberation day. Bob, the Russian from the previous story, one of the people the Russian lived with and two girls were all together when they got the news that there was an American destroyer that had been spotted passing Normint point and at this point they all knew that there had been an armistice signed for the western war (Japan was still going at it). When they got this news they all got on their bikes and then went to cycle out to the end of Victoria pier. On the way however, some misfortune befell Bob, when he was going past the German tunnel entrance that was filled with weapons and guarded by two soldiers, which is located opposite the old lifeboat station or the rowing club, his bike tyre which was made of a hose pipe as there were no more tyres the clasp that held it together snapped. This sound was comparable to that of a gunshot which made the German guards anxious and could have almost gotten Bob killed but they saw what had happened and was ok. When he looked up to see if his friends had stopped for him they were almost gone already, he said this was fine though as they saved him a good spot to watch the destroyer come in to St Aubins bay.
Leonardo da Vinci is arguably the most famous painter to ever live, most of his work was painting portraiture he painted standard and formal portraits mainly this is when the main focus is the model in the frame, they have nice clothes on. The framing was normally done by thirds for lots of his work with the shoulders and upper torso taking up one third and then the head and the empty space above the head taking up the rest. He has the subject doing different poses and facial positioning in most of his paintings, some are looking straight then others to the side some are looking forward with different body positions and have their shoulders facing off to the side.
Intro: Upon visiting Battery Moltke we found that there were a great amount of unique and dynamic photographic opportunities. It was interesting to learn the historical backgrounds behind the different areas whilst also aiming to capture effective images of the era in time we were studying.
We started off by visiting the remains of the larger outside cannons which had been pained to resemble the colours of what they would have been during the occupation. Lower angles suited these areas better when photographing due to the solid single coloured background of the sky which highlights and exaggerates the colour patterns on the cannons.
We then visited what used to be an emergency dorm incase of attack by the British during the occupation, which was situated under many metres of concrete below the surface. It has been renovated to contain similar furniture if not the same as when it was in use, also being fitted with a small cabinet of relics such as newspapers like this one. These came to great use when I later experimented with photomontage.
A reinactment of a likely photo one of the soldiers may have posted near their beds or work station of their partners whilst separated during the occupation .An interesting machine inside of the sleeping quarters in the bunker. Although I cannot remember its exact purpose it still makes for a captivating image highlighting the bizarreness of some machinery during that century.We then travelled through corridors, one of which I found very intriguing which was this one. The reason being that its purpose was being a chamber which, incase of a gas or chemical attack on the germans by the British, would sanitise any soldiers who may have been exposed to the explosion or attack, stopping them from contaminating others.This image I found particularly striking because of its significance in universal recognition. Viewed as a symobol of despair and hatred among most it shows how powerful am emblem can be. It is particularly worthy to note how many, who did not want to, were obliged to represent what this emblem stands for and were expected to sacrifice their homes, their families and their lives for it during those times of despair.“Eintritt Verboten” – A German sign which reads “Entry Forbidden”.A German anti-aircraft machine gun which had been restored too near enough original aesthetics.The most powerful images was able to capture during this project was this. After having wondered around the grounds of the main Battery Moltke bunker tunnels I had come across this dark, lonely and eerie corridor. What makes this image so powerful are the textures and colours portrayed in the image. The texture can be seen through the walls which are all made of poured concrete, which can also be seen to have large stains running down the sides, giving an impression of blood and gore to highlight the evil that was running though these hollow pits. The colours, being predominantly dark oranges, browns and blacks just add to the overall mood, giving the tunnel this almost visual representation of what some would describe as ‘a pathway to hell’. I believe this image is a very good indicator at what life was life to live in these bunkers and how psychologically impacting it must have been to some of the soldiers who actually resided in them.
Above are two final images I found were especially well taken due to the photographic techniques I had used to capture them, with the main one being using the manual focus to highlight areas I wanted the viewers to pay particular attention to, for example the workers facial features and clothing in the left hand picture, and the distant bunker in the right hand image.
As part of the Occupation Vs Liberation side of our project we were given the opportunity to interview and photograph two occupation survivors. Friends, Hinault and Joyce De Le Haye came in and told us some personal stories of their experience of the occupation. While Joyce came off as rather shy, Hinault had no problem telling us about the time he tricked a German soldier into drinking too much cider.
Raw notes
‘I got a German soldier drunk.’
Hinault left school on his birthday when he was 14 years old to work as a Heard’s man on his father’s farm. It was his job to look after 20-25 cattle, only receiving help from his parents to milk them.
Once the occupation began farmers were forces to grow several ‘Vergies’ (areas of land) of wheat. During September the wheat would be harvested. At the time Hinault was too young to lift the harvested sacks of wheat so he was tasked to fill up jouts (2 gallons) with cider to give to the farmers. Everyday one German soldier would stand guard. One day a ‘young soldier with a nice personality’ stood guard. The soldier would always smile at Hinault when he walked past.
‘I wondered if I could roll this one over. I never distinguished if it was brave or foolish.’
The soldier, not used to drinking cider, kept accepting Hinault’s offers of more to drink. Before long the soldier was ‘flat on the floor’. Hinault went to tell father what he done immediately. However, Hinault’s father didn’t believe him, so Hinault took him to see his work. Upon, seeing that his son was telling the truth, he exclaimed in Jerais (Jersey-French), “The kid has got the Jerry drunk!” There was still a few hours until until the sacks of wheat were to be collected so the farmers took this as an opportunity to steal some to keep for themselves.
Hedley Hindult is age 93. He was living in Jersey during the German occupation. Hedley was accompanied to the talk with partner Joyce De La Haye (maiden name Blanchet) , who also witnessed the German occupation on the Channel Islands.
When Hedley was talking to us about his memories he stated that it was hard to remember everything because he was only 14 at the time of the occupation, but even now when he thinks or talks about it he gets upset, due to how hard and scary it was. He then proceeded in saying that he left school at the age of 14, which was very normal in those days and worked on his fathers farm as a herdsman for a cattle of 20-25, which was his main responsibility on the farm. Every farmer at that time was compelled to grow wheat on the acres of land they had, so they could make bread for the locals, along with the German soldiers. Hedley made it aware to use not only did his fathers farm grow wheat and herd cattle, they also made cider. After he told us this, he then continued to tell us a story that he remembers when working on the farm. That one day as young solider around 20 was at the farm to count the wheat after it had been stacked. He said that the solider was a nice man who was always smiling. But Hedley has seen the German looking at the cider barrels and offered the man a drink, and the solider was obviously not going to decline so he nodded and Hedley produced. The solider drank it down quickly that Hedley kept offering him drink after drink. Hedley then went back to his cattle to finish off his jobs, to when his father found the solider lying flat down, this is when they had all realised that he got so drunk that he passed out. So they used this too their advantage and kept a few barrels of wheat behind for themselves. Ever since that happened the Germans would always send 2 soldiers.
After Hedley had told us this story, he carried on talking about life during that time. He said that everyone use to speak Jèrriais , this is because the Germans wouldn’t be able to understand what they were saying. Along with talking about Jèrriais , he told us he has a daughter who use to speak fluent Jèrriais but now no longer speaks it.
Joyce said she couldn’t remember much alike Hedley but she was able to recall small events. She said she would walk to school everyday, which was about a mile and quarter, at the age of 6, but she would be barefoot as shoes where a privilege in those times of the occupation. She said that you weren’t allowed on the beach, to go fishing, that everything was under control by the Germans. They were given food parcels that came from Canada, every family got one Joyce mentioned but it was only the necessities they got, but everyone in the community helped each other out. At such a young age, she said she had to create her own fun with her friends, but it was hard with a German post every half a mile, but she mentioned that parishes would put on dances as a means of entertainment, however with this said the Islanders has curfews throughout the year, during winter is was 10pm and summer 9pm and you couldn’t get away with being late as it was definite you would be passing a German post at some point on your way home and if you were caught you would have you registration card take off you.
On the day of liberation Joyce was at home with her family as it was too far to travel into St Helier. But Hedley was a bell ringer in his local church, he rung the bells between 9am-1pm and after that he went with his girlfriend at the time to St Helier, but he said you couldn’t really see anything due to the mass crowds.
We had a visit from Hedley Hinault and Joyce De La Haye who had survived the occupation of Jersey. Hedley is nearly 93 years old and he talked about how he will never forget living under the enemy rule for 5 years.
He then told us about the one thing that sticks out to him: getting a German soldier drunk. Hedley had left school at the age of fourteen (most children finished school at the age of fourteen), and the German's had came to occupy in July. Hedley was the son of a farmer; when he had finished school, his parents decided him to work on their farm as the herdsman for the cattle. The herd was around 20-25 cattle which in those days was a large herd.
During the occupation, every farmer had to grow vergees (acres) of wheat for bread. This was controlled by the states and the Germans. The farmers then cut their wheat and make one large stack on Hedley's fathers farm. Heldey was only fourteen at the time so he was too young and too weak to lift the stacks of wheat. Instead, Hedley was sent to the cider press to fill up a joole which would fill up to two gallons, which he would then take back to the fields to give to all of the farmers.
The Germans used to send a soldier to watch over the farmers whilst they did the threshing to ensure that they didn't steal any of the wheat for themselves. On one particular day, there was a young soldier in his young twenties who Hedley described as a nice man who kept smiling at him. Hedley described how the soldier had stared at the cider and how he clocked on that the soldier wanted cider. Hedley then gestured with his hands if the soldier would want a glass and he nodded. The soldier had drank the glass quickly, so Hedley offered another glass but told the soldier to drink it quickly, as Hedleys mission was to now get the soldier drunk.
Hedley then carried on with his round to the farmers, cut across the vans, went back to the soldier, gave him another two glasses and completed his round. Hedley then went back to the soldier to find him very red faced and happy so Hedley gave the soldier another two glasses of cider. Hedley chatted to the farmers for fifteen minutes and then checked on the soldier to find him passed out on the floor.
Hedley then told his father and the farmers about the soldier, which they then proceeded to steal a few bags of hay and covered them in straw. The Germans came to collect the soldier at five o'clock and the officers became very angry at the soldier.
Hedley and his parents spoke Jersey French, as did many of the farmers.
Joyce went to school at the age of six and walked a mile and a quarter to school. Joyce lived at Greve de Lecq, and explained how the Pavillion Hotel, water mill and the beach were all fenced off. Also fisherman had to have a German soldier accompany them on the boats. Joyce also faintly recalled that a seaplane landed at Greve de Lecq, but didn't know what happened to it after it landed. The island was completely fortified and people were not allowed, nor dared to go on the beaches as they were all mined.
On liberation day, Joyce wasn't able to go to St Helier to join in on the celebrations as it was just too far away. However, Hedley was informed about Liberation Day the day before as he had to ring the bells for his church. However, after 1 o'clock after his shift at the church, he wasn't able to properly celebrate in the Weighbridge as it was so busy they only made it to West Park. The main celebration was at the Pomme Dor hotel as that was where the German headquarters were, and Hedley remembers the Germans being shipped away.
Below is a selection of images from my Home Sweet Home photoshoot. in this photoshoot I have taken environmental portrait photographs of my mother within the home, to show things she does and images to create emotions.
This is a selection of my favourite images I have taken within this photoshoot. The last one especially shows emotion due to the person seeing the image wondering why she is looking out of the window.
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