What Occupation vs Liberation Means to Me
The occupation of Jersey represents the injustices and lack of remorse for the Islanders due to leaders in a heirachy. Jersey is a small island, it doesn't have prime ministers, it only has a small governmnet. However, Germany, a large country in a dispute with the rest of the world felt the need to occupy and control under harsh ruling a small island off the coast of France. The occupation of Jersey also represents determination and rebellion due to the stories of the Islanders. Characters such as Claude Cahun who was a Jewish, gender fluid lesbian who was in a relationship with her stepsister produced anti-nazi properganda and slipped them into the pockets of German soldiers. Although Cahun would've been brutally punished, she still took the risk to rebel, displaying the retallience of the Islanders.
Landscape
For the overall project Occuption vs Liberation we visited Noirmoint point to explore the landscapes and bunkers of that area. We met Tony Pike who looks after the bunkers of Noirmont Point and he gave us an insight into the rich history of the area. By learning about the history of Noirmont Point I am able to have a deeper understanding of what it was like for the residents of Jersey and soldiers during the occupation, whilst also comprehending the natural and gradual changes of the landscape throughout time. Here are some of my favourite examples of landscape photography at Noirmont Point:
Portrait
We were also given the amazing opportunity to photograph two individuals; Hedley and Joyce, who were alive for the occupation of Jersey. They gave us a detailed account of what their lives were like and unique experiences, in Hedleys case, where he got a German soldier drunk. We photographed them in the studio and I was able to develop key skills such as management of lighting, angles and dealing with subjects that are constantly changing due to movement. Here are some of my favourite portraits I took:
Objects
Proceeding our visit to the Jersey Archives, we were lent some objects that were from the Occupation, we also visited the Jersey War tunnels where we were also able to photograph objects that were in the war tunnels. In both scenarios I had to learn to cope with different lighting, managing the different lights in the studio and dealing with the low lighting in the War tunnels. Here are some examples of my photoshoots:
Photomontage
I also experimented with photomontage which was brought on by the study of Rafal Milach. I experimented incorporating both images that I had taken myself and archival images from Societe Jersey. I used photoshop to cut the images and place them together and in some instances to also use the colour tool to create bright backgrounds. I also printed out some images and cut them out and stick them together using glue. Here are some examples:
Sewing
Following on from my photomontages, I wanted to further on my artistic abilities and decided to sew into on of my montages. I created cages out of the string. All of the characters had different colours for their cages which represents how although they are all in their cages of war, their individuals experiences are unique to them. However, the guard has his colour and the other colours of the other individuals because he has control over their lives making their cages of war part of his.
