Essay Writing sources –
Find 3-5 literary sources –
Harvard System of Referencing
Bibliography:
Bate,D. (2015) Art Photography; Tate Publishing
London
How to incorporate a quote inside my
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> David Bates said; ‘That photography would be simply an aid to art’. (Bates 2015; 23)
I have learnt a lot of skills whilst looking at the topic of occupation and liberation. It has been a good topic to study and work on as its allowed me to do more research on an event which changed the lives of so many islanders during that time.
My favorite part of this has been the studio photo shoots, as each photo shoot has been different, with capturing images and the presence of Joan to setting up objects to try and capture their age and value. I really enjoyed the color backdrop as it added a sense of obscurity and mismatch to the ancient objects.
To carry on this investigation further I will explore the idea of occupation and liberation, and the subject of bring separated from the outside world. I liked the personal study as it allowed me to study and explore WWII which I have never done so intricately and i enjoyed studying this topic.
I was really happy with most of the outcomes that I produced from the topic of , I really enjoyed the photo shoots from going to Noirmont to photographing Joan.
Personally I liked the final products more from my Noirmont photo shoots more than the rest of my other photo shoots as I was able to really over edit them which created a weird atmosphere, where as in the other photo shoots I kept them as close to the original image as possible which really showed off their shape, dimensions and general feeling as you could see different textures of the objects.
During school and lessons I went into the studio and set up some objects ready for a photo shoot. This was fun and interesting as the objects I was handling were old therefore the texture was different to an object from this year.
I photographed a wide variety of photos from old newspapers and magazines to a helmet and a crystal radio set.
I did 3 photo shoots within the studio, one with papers and documents, one with the objects, and a third photo shoot with the objects but with a colored background.
Here are some of the photos from my document photo shoot.
Now here are a couple photos from my object shoot.
Here is my final set of images from my object shoot but with a color background.
After looking through my photos that I took of Joan I took my best images and edited them so I could see how I could improve them to get them at a better standard.
Here are some of the original photos from the shoot I did with Joan Tupley
I really enjoyed doing this photo shoot with Joan, as she had a lovely, caring yet resilient character and she purveyed this through the way she held herself and posed towards the camera.
Joan Tupley was a young girl in World War II when the Nazi German soldiers came to Jersey with the aim to occupy the Island. She came into Hautlieu to talk to us about what life was like on island during this time.
Joan was only 6 years old when the occupation took place and changed life on the island. Joan was an only child who lived with her mother and father. Before the occupation movement happened, Joan recalls the island spreading white sheets and cloths around, to show the Germans that they were no threat. She remembers hearing the planes soar overhead, scouting the island, being an only child, Joan couldn’t enjoy this experience with a sibling, so she sat in an open field with her best friend watching the planes fly over. When suddenly her mother called, telling them not to sit out in the open field, so they Joan, her friend and Joan’s- mother all sat in a privet bush watching, the low flying planes. She says she remembers hearing, what she now knows were the sounds of bombs going off, which the Germans had dropped on the tractor and farm vehicles, thinking they were troop transporters.
Joan’s childhood house was along the North Coast at Les Platons, which was later a very popular place for the German fortifications and gun placements. When the Germans arrive in mass and started occupying, they fortified the island by having barbed wire and mines placed around the coast of Jersey.
Everyone on Island had to have a ration book, so that they could spread what little food they had over the weekly period. Joan explained that the weekly ration for butter was 4 ounces for a male/father and 5 ounces for a female/mother. She explained how her mother had registered as a farmer so that she could get extra rations.
Due to the shortage of food and rations during the occupation, islanders turned to using substitutes for the simplest of things such as tea and sugar. To make tea, they turned to parsnips, where they’d chop the parsnips up and cook them to dry them out, and then boil them and use the broth type water afterwards. Then for the sugar substitute they’d use Beetroot, to make beet sugar.
Listening to Joan, opened up my views on the occupation, she explained whilst life was tough under these living conditions, she personally believed that it was fair, Live life by how they wanted and by the rules, then you were treated fair. Listening to the endless stories amazed me as I was hearing about things for the first time, and it just opened my eyes more on what living was like during the occupation.
As a class, we visited the Jersey war tunnels to take some photos of the war time memories.
I enjoyed this trip because it allowed me to look at these memories, and saw what it was like living on island during this time. I enjoyed taking photos here, as it allowed me to use a range of different skills and techniques in order to get the best photos I could.
Here are some of the photos I took at the War tunnels.
I really like the way that these photos came out. I kept all the photos original and didn’t edit them as it shows off their textures and the atmosphere of the pictures.
Throughout the War Tunnels I noticed that some of the information boards had one word above them, after photographing a couple, I liked the outcome and realized that I could use them to add on top of photos or use them as my own little montage and put them together with photos to represent the words.
I really like this photo I took at the War Tunnels, as it almost represents ‘A light at the end of a tunnel’ feel to it, with the fore and mid ground being not as brightly lit, and the end of the hall being brightly lit up with the iconic figure of Winston Churchill and the Union Jack wrapping round to the end. This photo really symbolizes Liberation and is one of my Favorites.
I also really like this photo as the main part of the image is the type writer which has a main light being shone onto it, and the rest of the desk having parts of the main light being reflected off the type writer.
What is the role of an archive?
An archival institution such as Jersey Archive are legally constituted entities responsible for identifying, managing and preserving the integrity of an institution’s official records of long-term value.
This means they can be responsible for preserving old documents such as maps, constitutional laws, photos and letters. Keeping them in an immaculate condition so that they can still be recognizable for centuries after being taken in.
When we visited the Jersey Archive, we looked at documents and war memorabilia, this included; letters from the king pleading for people not to get the death sentence, World war identification cards and letters sent from islanders to loved ones and family members off island. After doing some of my research prior to my visit, I found out that they currently hold 300,000 images and documents.
Within the family history collection, the archive holds books, family trees, indexes of baptisms, marriages, burials and censuses. This outlines the extensive amount of files that the archive has on different family history. Having archival material available to the public, allows us to gain a better understanding of that set period of time and explore the past and our family history. Another aspect of Jersey’s archive is the extensive archival material they hold on the German Occupation, WWII. Within this aspect of the archive, they hold, letters from the Bailiff, German Register Cards, German ID cards and items from the Law Officer’s department.
During our visit to the archives, we visited one of the holding rooms where we saw loads of old documents and images. When you first walk in there is a pocket of air blowing downwards and out, I learnt that this is in place to prevent any bugs from entering the vaulted rooms, which could eat the valuable paper documents and spread larvae, and ruin priceless objects.
The Jersey Archive allows family members to look at their jersey ancestors and the life they may have lived. With their birth, marriage, death and divorce records, you can really find a lot of information on ancestors and the heritage you may not have known a lot about.
On June 30th 1940, the Channel Islands went to a massive change when Nazi German soldiers came to the island, with an imminent task. To take over and occupy.
With the occupation of the Island happening one week after Jersey was demilitarized for the safety of the islanders, to show that the locals were not a threat. The start to the beginning of the occupation began with Operation ‘Green Arrow’ with the German Air Force doing a fly by, bombing farmers trucks and containers mistaking them for military personnel carriers.
Under this period of occupation, the islanders of Jersey saw a massive transition from freedom and liberty, to a changed world, with curfew hours a changed currency and rationed meals. Jersey became an isolated place, with the Germans re-militarizing it. The island seemed to get smaller, with the German soldiers placing barbed wire along the cliff paths and setting mines the small island became a fortress.
With this 45 square mile fortress just off the coast of France and only 273 miles away from the South of England, Hitler demanded that the island was to be fortified. Thousands of Slave workers from countries which had already been taken over, Russia, Poland and France. The slave workers were forced to work tirelessly to make, the anti tank sea walls, Bunkers, Gun placements and railway systems. Some workers were killed in the process from exhaustion, there have been stories of tired workers falling into area which were getting cemented and being buried alive. The fortifications which were made, was a big plan for Hitler’s ‘Atlantic Wall’. Some of this can still be seen around the island today, especially around St. Ouens.
With all radio, and devices which could be used to gather information from outside of the island was banned and confiscated by the Germans, the islanders created crystal radio sets, and would hide them in their houses, wishing for the day that the war would be declared over.
By the 7th May 1945, the German army had surrendered and the end of the war in Europe had been announced. Much to the Islanders delight, with the week leading up to the 6th of May, news had been spread that Hitlers fall in Berlin had begun.
When the Island had been declared liberated, it seemed that the whole island had gathered in town to throw a party and celebrate. When the army came to liberate the islanders, town was lit with smiles and laughter and delight, handshakes and hugs were exchanged between everyone. The HMS Bulldog landed in Jersey and delivered extra rations for everyone to enjoy.
At 3.40 pm the Union Jack was suspended from the balcony of the Pomme d’Or hotel, and to this day when we celebrate Liberation, at the same time on the same balcony, a Union Jack flag is suspended.
During my last blog post I showed the non-edited and original photos that I took whilst up at Noirmont.
In this blog post I will be showing my edited and manipulated versions of those photos. Whilst editing the photos, I cam up with a theme that would help with the idea of a display with the photos. My theme is old bunkers ans war effected areas of jersey, but the photos are edited with bright colors.
Here are some of my ideas that I came up with.
I came up with this idea to present my photos in this way. because I have been known to edit my photos in a wild and over-exaggerated way. I like this because I can take gloomy and even boring photo, and turn it into a piece of modern art.
Whilst editing in this way, to get that over-exaggerated look, I am in no way trying to belittle or make a mockery of the difficult time Jersey went through in World war II.
I really like the way that these photos have turned out, because it took myself a while to find the right editing tools, and exposure settings to make these photos look good. For this project I think I m going to carry on to use this type of editing for my final project as I like the way they turn out, but also like the way that they contrasts with the doom and gloom with the subject that this is based on.