Francis Foot was born in 1855. In his early years he was a gas fitter, but he later developed an interest in photography and so much so that his family purchased a shop in pitt street, where they represented UK record retailer HMV. The logo is still painted on the exterior of the shop today. He then went on to have 4 children, George, Stanley, Dora and Reg.
Francis’ photography was published as postcards and many of his images and films have been curated by the Societe Jersaie Archive for historical purposes. His video portfolio provides video of aircraft landing on the beach in St Aubins bay, St Helier Harbour and Shipwrecks around the island
Below are some examples of Francis’ work
The Smith family, Taken around 1909. A traditional family portrait which features themes of hierarchy due to the arrangement of the family. The assumed father of the smith family sits central, With his son next to him and daughter in front of him sat on the floor. His wife sits aside his son whilst the members standing in the backdrop could either be extended family such as aunties cousins etc, Or could be maids and servants that are essentially considered part of the family
The weighbridge taken from pier road, Much different from the waterfront known by all today. The row of buildings opposite the sea wall are today a major financial hub as seen in Lewis bush’s work below. This image is particularly important in terms of historical change as this image was taken just a few years before the idea of land reclamation came into play and started to be developed upon.
Contemporary Artist Study: Lewis Bush
Lewis Bush is a British photographer whom recently did an arch isle photographic residency In Jersey. he is 31 years of age. However he started life on a very different route to photography, Working as a consultant researcher for the United Nations AIDS/HIV Task force, Tasked with researching potential cures and solutions to the AIDS/HIV Crisis. In 2012, Bush decided to focus on his own photo graphical works and projects, and one of his main focuses was to draw attention to various invisible powers throughout the world and photograph them and what they entail.
Lewis was recently in Jersey as part of the Archisle International Photographer in Residencey project, Where artists from all over the world spend a 6 month period in Jersey curating projects with an insight into island life whether that be past or present or even future. Bush created a project named “Trading Zones” which focused upon the finance industry in Jersey and the power within it. Bush found that the power of the finance industry could either positively ro negatively affect the lives of many millions of people and therefore set out to photograph this unapparent power at work.
Bush takes quite an interesting approach to the project, By using architectural drawings and building plans throughout the project, Highlighting various Sectors within the finance industry and many metaphorical features of it
Bush’s Work
In this image, Bush has curated aerial photographs of offices opposite liberation bus station. He includes the companys and corporations occupying the buildings as well as the branches and divisions of such companies. I personally like this image as it gives off a sense of dominance in terms of the amount of financial office space and it also has a military observational aesthetic to it, with the listings of the buildings and the aerial imagery This image depicts many corner structures of various financial offices/ Buildings, Such as the RBC building and Nat-west International bank. Bush is good at highlighting that some of the offices, Such as the one in the top right, are actually historical buildings that have been modernized and brought into present day by the inclusion of Glass and steel girders to give the building a modern and professional lookAnother interesting piece of work from Bush is this Image of a public telescope on ST Catherines Breakwater. The image is titled “Hong Kong, 9896km”. This image is powerful in representation of the international influence of Jerseys finance sector as the Island has ties with many banks and industries within Hong Kong, itself a major finance capital. What is more interesting is the telescope looking out to see, Almost as if it is making contact with and directing the viewer towards Hong Kong as this image was taken on Jerseys east coast
