To get a better understanding of the Occupation, Jersey Heritage kindly allowed us to borrow some object from their collection to photograph.
The best way to photograph object is by placing them on a table top and with a continuous background. Documents can be photographed by placing them on top of a table and photographing from above.
Image one:
Context/Concept:
Food shortages were common across Europe during WWII and despite rationing, people often went days without food. By December 1944, Jersey was short on food, fuel and medical supplies. The SS Vega first arrived in St. Helier on December 30th 1944, bringing with it much needed Red Cross packages. While the SS Vega sailed from Lisbon, its packages were from Canada and New Zealand. Without the Red Cross packages, many islanders across the Channel Islands would have starved to death.
Visual:
This image shows an open Red Cross package along with two bandage tins and an emergency rations tin. The objects are arranged as if the three tins were inside of the Red Cross package. A red background can also be seen.
Technical:
I took this image using an aperture of F/16, a shutter speed of 1/2 seconds and an ISO of 100. The objects were placed under soft lighting, with a soft box on the left and an LED light on the right. To give the image a red background, I placed two pieces of red A3 paper under the objects, concealing where I’d joined the paper to created a continuous effect.
Image Two:
Context/Concept:
During the Occupation, radios were banned to prevent Islander from receiving news about the War from Britain and France. All radios were to be confiscated, however, many Islanders hid their radios or even built their own crystal radio sets (as seen above).
Technical:
To take this image I again used an aperture of F/16, a shutter speed of 1/2 seconds and an ISO of 100. Soft lighting was also used from both the left and right and two black pieces of A3 paper used as a background.