Write an evaluation, reflecting on the experience of being part of making a newspaper and working on Occupation vs Liberation project and put it here at the top of the blog post, titled: Liberation Newspaper.
Copy and past all the below and publish as your own blog post.
Liberation Newspaper
Since the summer of 2019 A-Level Photography Students at Hautlieu School have been working on an extensive programme of study in their final year exploring Jersey’s Liberation and Occupation history in collaboration with Société Jersiaise, Jersey Heritage, Channel Island Occupation Society, Jersey War Tunnels, Bureau des Îles Anglo-Normandes and post-graduate students from École Européenne Supérieure d’art de Bretagne in Rennes with funding from Liberation 75. Students were challenged with responding to personal stories told by islanders experiencing the German Occupation first-hand and finding inspiration by looking through images, documents and objects held in various collections in Jersey’s public archives, producing a series of individual creative outcomes such as montages, photo-zines and collectively construct a visual narrative presented as a newspaper supplement printed and distributed by Jersey Evening Post on Friday 24 April 2020.
The Liberation vs Occupation project began partly as a response to 75 years of celebrating freedom in Jersey from the German Occupation in 1940-45. Sadly, islanders will not be able to commemorate this landmark event as initially planned and it is hoped that this newspaper and joint exhibition between Jersey and French students will in some small way act as catalyst for remembering those years of hardship and subsequent joy when Churchill’s now famous speech was broadcast on the 8 May 1945 with the endearing words ‘our dear Channel Islands are also to be freed today’.
The programme of study began on the 4 June at the Société Jersiaise Photographic Archive where students took inspiration from a presentation by Patrick Cahill, Photo-Archivist and looked through some of the historical collections held in the photo-archive pertaining to the German Occupation of Jersey in 1940-45. In September students explored the landscape of German fortifications around the coastline of Jersey with specific visits to bunkers, such as Battery Moltke at Les Landes and Battery Lothringen at Noirmoint Point. Further visits followed to Jersey War Tunnels and Jersey Archive to research public records and learn more about life in the island during the Occupation.
Personal stories and memories from islanders, Bob Le Seur, Hedley Hinault, Joyce De La Haye and Joan Tapley, experiencing the German Occupation first-hand were recounted to students in a series of workshops, that included portrait sessions in the photographic studio at Hautlieu School and photographing objects from 1940-45 held in the Occupation collection at Jersey Heritage. Students have interpreted how the themes of Liberation and Occupation relates to them as teenagers growing up in the 21st century and the combined outcome of their studies can be seen on the pages of this newspaper, and in a joint exhibition Bunker Archaeology 2020 with postgraduate students from École Européenne Supérieure d’art de Bretagne (EESAB) originally to be held at the Berni Gallery, Jersey Arts Centre 6 -30 May 2020, now postponed due to Covid-19.
The Bailiff Timothy Le Cocq, who has written a foreword in the newspaper expressed his delight with how this collaboration has played a wider role in cultural diplomacy by; ‘allowing Rennes-based Masters students to work with students from Hautlieu on a project that has helped to spread the message of our important history, shared heritage and bringing communities closer together.’
Photographer and teacher Martin Toft who led this project, commented: ‘Every student involved in this project engaged passionately in the subject of the German Occupation of Jersey and the images presented here in this newspaper are only a fragment of the enormous amount of work that each student has produced. It provides a fascinating insight into how young people have used the language of photography to explore and interpret events which happened many years ago.’
Here is a video browser of the Liberation Newspaper printed and distributed islandwide by Jersey Evening Post.
Zines: The editing and sequencing of this newspaper was derived from a number of photo-zines produced by A-Level photography students at Hautlieu School.
I am going to hospital to have scans of my brain done and on my spine so I thought the would document what it is like when i go wearing the hospital gowns being in the hospital my throughts emotions and feelings. When i go to hospital I alway fell nervous and uneasy i want to try capture this in my photographs. I want to make some self portais and allso take photos in the changing room mirror becuase every time i look at myself very indepthly becuase I alway beging to feel nervious in those times. I will take the iages on my phone becuase taking my camera to hospital is just another thinhg that I dont wont to worry about i will eddit the images on lghtroom after and perfect any imperfections that i find.
Shoot 4 i want to look at the harsh reality of what it is like to take pills after surgery because unfortunately have been left with taking pills every day. These pill can vary from pain to inturnal problems caused by the surgey and becuase of taking all these pills i can get ill from them so i also have to take more pills to try to stop this. In my plan i want to pool at taking the pills almost as a self documentary how they make me feel also all the different types. I want to make a load of self portraite images document my experiences some being a refection of a mirror and some being self portraits face on.
These sets of images will most likely be taken on my phone or on my canon camera with a 50 mil lense. I will import them into lightroom as a separate image file documents. As i am planning my book to be mostly black and white photos I will eddit most of the images using the b&w image transformers and then use the editing sliders from there such as contrast, vibrancy and opacity. Then i will import the images i want to use into my book and putting these in the pages i have left or change the order arount into places where I feel that the images look best.
For my first photoshoot I will taking images of close up textures that relate to my title ‘liberation through dance’ whilst also considering the back ground research I did into Laura Blight who carried out a collection of textures close up image whilst also having a narrative and deeper meaning behind her images. When taking my image it is important I consider the following: lighting, angels, textures that I am trying to achieve, quality, light sensitivity, overall camera settings, the relation to my project and my new knowledge relating to Laura Blight. Firstly I gathered objects that I wanted to photograph this included, my ballet shoes, character shows, as well as my old and new tap shoes; to me these objects where sufficient to use as each item represents a completely different genre and therefore will present a different feeling and will have separate memories and connotations that are associated with it. I began my creating a plain background by using A4 white paper and placed it on the floor so that if there was to be a part of the background shown in the image it would still be crisp and clean. I then selected my best possible lens that would have achieve the type of detail I wanted- this led to me elected a 100ml lens as it allow be to get clear and concentrated close up of the objects that I have selected to use. Finally I considered the type of lighting that I needed to use in order to produce the best possible outcome this was resulted in using various lighting and experimenting with what worked best. After I took the image I opened them up on LightRoom and began the selection process of what images I wanted to consider for editing and for my final pieces. Whilst doing this it was important to that I remember to refuter on my previous work in order to help me improve in this photo shoots and end results whilst still taking into account the previous work I did on the artist Laura Blight that aided possible inspiration.
LIGHTROOM PROCESS:
OPENED UP ALL IMAGE IN LIGHTROOM:
FLAGGED POSSIBLE IMAGES AND ELIMINATED ANY IMAGES THAT I WILL DEFIANTLY NOT BE USING:
I THEN WENT THROUGH THE IMAGES AND RATED THE IMAGE ON A SCALE OF 1-4, WITH THE BEST IMAGES BEUNG A RATE OF 4 AND THE WORST IMAGE BEING A RATE OF 1:
I NEXT WENT ON TO DOING A SIMILAR METHOD AS ABOVE BUT USING A COLOUR SCALE:
I FINALLY CUT THE IMAGES DOWN FROM 250 TO 30 IMAGES. WITH THESE NEXT IMAGES I BEGAN EDITING AND DISCOVERING WHETHER THEY WOULD BE APPROPRIATE FOR MY FINAL PIECES:
ThThen I went through each of my final images including and considering on adjusting the colours dates; colour or black and white, exposure, contrast, texture, clarification and many other which can help create the best possible outcome for the image. As previously mentioned also reflecting on my previous work through evaluation and analysis as well as a reflection of Lauren Blight.
Laura Blight specialises particularly in photography as well as being a visual artist from Essex and is currently working I London. Laura Blight’s work adopts a more curious and intuitive approach to the imagery she creates where by making a presence or even an absence is evidenced summoning the strange from the everyday; opposing a representation of abstract work and opposites. This includes traces left by human activity and is a recurring theme throughout her work and the idea of exploring the play between the strange and familiar in domestic environments; normally unstructured with many dynamic obstacles, yet again support a more obscure and abstract t approach to photography that she is presenting. Laura Blight has created many studies and collection but in particular I will be looking more closely at her more recent publication called ‘Residue Studies’ which she carried out in 2019. With this particular section Blight goes on to discuss the studies mentioning that they are hand-made paper works incorporating domestic dust that she had personally collected from different sources including her own family home. Although at first glance from these images someone may not understand that in fact Laura has added a personal touch which helps provide great contextual information towards her work. redacting a narrative. these works are continuation of her exploration with dust, where this waste material connects me to the mystery of past events. Printed onto the paper are close-up digital images of skin photographed by Lucas Gabellini Fava as part of a collaboration project with Pic London who she has worked multiple times with in October 2019. Below are her main images that she presented from this particular expedition. From her I have grasped a sense of inspiration where I will soon go on to recreate my new images, so therefore it was important to me to analyse one of the images to get a better overall understanding of the type of photography she produced in this collection.
When analysing this image it is important to investigate and look closer at the image in terms of technicality, visually, contextually and conceptually. By doing this I hope to grasp the better understanding for the type of images she create and why and then eventually help me produce my own where I can answer the same questions for my own photographs that I produce. this is an essential step to consider as it will help me with evaluated my work and creating my own concepts of how I want to relate my own work to my main title which relates to liberation through dance.
Initially the best way to get an understanding for the imagery is to first look at the images visually, in terms what you actually see. Evidently the colouring of this image is an important aspects with colours including blush, flamingo, peach and hints of a dirty yellow and light brown. These colours are evidently all spread and merged together with in the image which helps create the rustic look and supporting the idea of high level textures which are presented through the contextual meaning. Overall through the specific colour which are presented this aids the tone of the image and creates a much lighter representation as the colour themselves are fairly bright and therefore illuminate the whole image itself. Although the photograph is evidently 2D the detailed textures that are used helped add demential aspect with the image and therefore creates more interesting and abstract features to it. Furthermore, in terms of patter there is no obvious patterns in terms of the colour however there is a consistent textured pattern seen throughout the photograph which help present a level of compatibility. From doing my own research the layout of the image is simple but effective, with all four image being similar to the others and stacked on top of each other a straight line and mounted on a wall which goes well with the theme creating an abstract views to its audiences. This the of layout is important to consider as it helps the idea of the images having a symmetrical layout which aid an ascetic perspective to the photographs. on the the other hand, someone may critique this idea of having four images as it goes against the ‘rule of thirds’ which suggest sieges to go in set of three; this provokes differentiations individuals opinions to be presented on how they feel about the visual aspects of the image.
Secondly, now there is an understanding of the visual aspects go the image it is key to follow this with more technical aspects that are presented within the photograph. For example, the image has bright lighting which could be reprinted through the use of natural light as there is no specific tones of unnatural lighting being presented; as well as the fact that there has been no flash or reflection presented or used. There is no tonal range as the image is not balks and white as well as the exposure is not to low nor too high as the image doesn’t present features of being to bright of white. There is a high intensity distance as the image is clearly very close up and therefore presents lots of high levelled textures. I continued to do some research online about the type of camera and camera setting Blight used however I couldn’t find much so I used my own knowledge and assumed the types of lens and setting that many have been use to help create this image. In terms of the aperture its likely the lens size was around 100ml which would have aloud for the close up and clear detailed textures of the image, with the use of a macro lens. The focal point would high if not the maximum of the camera this is suggested through the features of the image which suggest it is only a small snip it of the whole area of dust that is photographed. the focal point would have been large which would enable a close up area of a large area. The image has a low depth of field as it doesn’t cover large areas and there is a sharp, focused and short features presented and seen in the image. In addition, the shutter speed most likely would have been high in order to capture the correct details with an average level of exposure which would have depended on the type of light that was used; as well as the IOS which relates to the light sensitivity which I would suggest to have a higher setting due to the grainy features and texture seen in the photograph. the temperature of the image have a warmer accuracy due to the tone and specific colours presented.
Contextually it is important to understand what the image is actually showing. Laura Blight explained that it is hand made paper works incorporating domestic dust that she has collected from different sources including her own family home. These works are a continuation of her exploration with dust, where this waste material connects her to the mystery of past events. This clearly shows that there is a much deeper and personal aspect to the image. Although a view may just see textures to Laura Blight and what she is actually trying to present is much more; to me I could see this as the idea of reflecting abstract aspect fo life at home and maybe the textures and colours present different types of meaning and feelings within her family. Laura Blight went on to explain her work that she produced by stating ”Just like dust contains particles of skin, interwoven with memory and traces of people, paper is also a material full of meaning. I have been experimenting with a variety of paper types and weight to achieve different textures. The close-up images of skin printed onto the paper resemble those of microscopic images and bring out the tactile nature of the paper to reveal its skin-like quality. Paper has always been something to communicate with, it is never a neutral surface. I had the urge to make something where substance, form and object were the focus whilst totally submerging the dust in the process. The work also questions the potential of everyday, disposable materials and in a broader context, one that is environmentally sustainable and eco-friendly, rejecting mass production and returning to the intimacy of the user.” (Blight, L. 2019, https://www.laurablight.co.uk/dust-paper-and-skin-coming-soon)
When looking at Laura Blight’s work it important to see other conceptual factors that could have influenced her worker led to her end photographs and her complete ideas of creations. the particular study that I was looking more closely at the residue studies (2019) and as previously mentioned the works are hand made paper works incorporating domestic dust that was collected from different sources including from her family home. The process of sourcing, collecting and assembling the assembling the material is a personal ritual connecting Blight the mystery of past events. Printed onto the paper are close-up digital photographs of skin photographed by artist Lucas Gabellini Fava in a recent collaboration project titled ‘Collective Strategies’. In The Senses are Still (1996), anthropologist Nadia Seremetakis writes ‘dust is the perceptual waste material formed by the historical-cultural repression of sensory experience and memory’. Residue Studies also symbolises the psychological burden that lives under our skin in the form of repression. Just like dust contains particles of skin, interwoven with memory and traces of people, paper is also a material full of meaning; it is never a neutral surface. Laura went on to have had the urge to make something where substance, form and object were the focus whilst totally submerging the dust in the process.
ACTION PLAN:
After going into great depth and investigation into Laura Blight and her up close photography it is now time I create a photoshoot and reflect on her work whilst considering my title. For this photoshoot I intend on taking close up textured images of subject and objects which help present my title of liberation through dance. For example, the textures of old tap shoes compared to my new taps shoes and reflect on possible deeper meaning that could be projected from this photoshoot. Whilst carrying out this photoshoot it is import to consider what I have learnt from Laura Blight and how she uses her camera to get the best types of images whilst remember why she is photographing what she is; this therefore creates a forum and narrative as well as prodding a more abstract approach.
After, my previous blog post where I really began to understand how I can improve of my own work I started to investigate and look more closely into more ideas and other things that I can photograph that link with the concept of ‘Liberation through dane’. my previous photograph consisted more form the idea of using other people to reflect my own story , however now I want to move away from this idea and begin to produce more higher quality of images that reflect a more obscure and abstract response to my title. This is important to me as I want to create different ideas to the views and create more conceptual responses and produced connections and a strong sense of perception. After doing a bit more research I looked into more idea for different photoshoot that I could begin investigating.
For example, I came up with the idea of photographing my home environment this idea came from previous work that I did called ‘home sweet home’ although this does not directly relate to the idea of dance to me this is a very important area to investigate as a dancer, the type of room you have reflect the type of person you are much like dance, the type of proffered genres and how you approach new music has connotations toward the type of dancer you are. When looking back at the reflection I made on my previous work that would help me improve of new ideas, this photoshop idea fitted the criteria, it presents a more abstract idea, with a different approach to photographing dance as well as being able to hold ideas of perception that I intend to show through the images themselves. Possible artist that I may investigate in order to reflect this photoshoot include Laura Blight and Jimmy Dodds who both photographed the interior of homes. By looking at other artist who did similar work this will me get an overall better understanding for the work I am doing as I will have a better unstinting visually, technically, contextually and most important conceptually.
Another possible idea was photographing significant objects that I believe to relate to my understanding and passion for dancing, this to me offer opportunity to create more abstract image and create more conceptual and contextual details based around each images, this idea could also relate to the concept of fabrics and how they will have different conceptual and contextual meaning. This could be seen through the representation of the abstract images that will be seen through the up close textured images that could be produced. In addition, it is of course essential to link back to my original title of the project, this also gives me the oppitunity to use different types of lens in this case the possible use of a macro lens which will add the best detail and therefore lead to the highest possible quality of images.
After looking more deeply back at my project in terms of the photo book I created it was evident that I could go deeper and create more innovative images that would help tell the story that I was initially trying to portray to the audience. Although I am pleased with the outcome of my book what I take most from the book is learning to look at things and narratives in a more abstract way which allow for me to get better overall outcomes and images with a more interesting approach and avoid stereotypical responses. Within my final project I can see both positives and negatives with the outcome of the images and the overall investigation which essentiially I will need to look back at to remind me what I need to improve on when I go forth to improve. Firstly, considering more contextual factors related to my artist investigations this will allow me to get a further and deeper understanding about the creation of the images opposed to just a more simple over views; this therefore would lead to a more in-depth understanding when carrying out one of my photo shoot as I will have a clearer approach and will be able to reflect this into my own work, hopefully creating a more abstract and unique pieces. Secondly, branching out from the topic, within dancing there are the stereotypical responses and understandings that people have, but in order to create the best possible outcomes I need to go further and consider taking images that make people really think about what I am trying to capture whilst still relating to the movement of dance, this will help me produce and overall more competent set of images that are more conceptual perspective. Finally, I will show a clear development of ideas and how I came about them showing my train of thought. This is important as it will shows the development which is key for the thoughts and findings behind the image giving more contextual aspects.
ACTION PLAN
In order to this I need to investigate and study more artist that I believe to show a different perspective and will help me create a different approach to my project t based around the movement of Dance. This is an important step to do as it will help sculptor me to work towards a different type of view and perspective. In addition after looking at more artist I will create a series of more photoshoot that I will begin to develop and evaluate which will then further lead to an improvement on the next shoots. Along side these points it is key to also consider the type of photography I will be participating in whether it relates to realism or modernism or even pictorilsm, as it will help show me the genre I am trying to project and demonstrate to the viewers. As well as looking at images in terms of technicality, visualisation, conceptual and contextual aspect of images which will help understand and dictations the next outcomes.
In response to the anniversary of the Liberation of Jersey, we created an extract within the Jersey Evening Post to showcase out work to the public, and to allow for an in-depth discussion to occur regarding the impact of the occupation and liberation on Jersey’s residents, it’s scenery, and its history. In order to do this, we forwarded our best work to be included in the newspaper, the following images are the ones I selected from my occupation and liberation project:
This image was inspired by Rafal Milach, and I chose to include this image, as I believe that the symbolism of the children being trapped in a maths object, while being surrounded by bright colours accurately represents the entrapment of those during the occupation, with the danger being so close to home that they were unable to escape and simply had to adapt to their situation as best they could.
I also selected this image based on the bold contrast between the light and dark areas of the book and newspaper, and the harsh studio lighting which documents the image in a realistic yet eye-catching way. I believe this image allows for the viewer to see that the memory of the occupation of Jersey has survived all of these years, and what was once someones life, is now seen as history.
I included this because I believe it is my most powerful image. I believe that this image presents the damage caused to innocent lives by the occupation of Jersey (and WW2 in general), and how it impacted the lives of so many, while those that initially occupied the island were able to continue their lives as normal. I feel like this peice stands out, and therefore I included it.
the newspaper was an amalgamation of all Hautlieu Photography students work, and therefore the work was all compiles and put together into a booklet within the JEP. The final result of the paper can be seen below:
Overall, I believe the newspaper was a success. It has allowed for our class to come together and share our experiences studying and learning about the liberation and occupation of Jersey, and also brings the subject to light for the public, who are able to view the outcomes of our study through the images, which themselves present a structures, sequences story of the occupation and liberation of Jersey.
