Yaniv Waissa is a photographer who was born in Haifa, Israel in 1978. His work deals with rebuilding and replacing the old with the new in Israel, gains a layer of meaning by virtue of the political context in which it is being made. Wherever he goes he examines the relationship between man and nature and the, sometimes absurd, connection and constant tension between past, present and future. Yaniv Waissa creates an intimate atmosphere in every frame and puts his personal feelings, emotions and nostalgia into it. Everywhere he goes he recognizes a personal memory that can ignite a collective memory of the viewer.

Zine Analysis: Beit Hakerem

The Zine that I have chosen to look at and analyse by Yaniv Waissa is titled Beit Hakerem (translates to either ‘house’ or ‘village’), after the area of South West Jerusalem that the photographs were taken and produced. I have chosen this Zine and also this photographer to look into as I feel upon first looking without analysis the zine works well and is fluid and follows obvious pattern. As well as this I feel that I can link Wissa’s subject matter to mine in that he is documenting places of the past and ones that are significant to him personally.

Format, Size and Orientation – Design and Layout

The zine itself is in an A5, portrait format. It is small and compact and the photograph used for the front cover uses a wrap-around method where it bleeds and covers onto the back into one double page, landscape image at full bleed to the very edge of the page. This is effective as the largest, and only full bleed photograph used in this zine.

The design and layout inside the zine has all the photographs as landscape, all with a white boarded edge, none of the images apart from the one used on the cover are full bleed. This is effective as on the pages where there are two images, one on each page, there is spacing between the photographs and they don’t start to merge together.

For the layout of the pages Waissa uses only two layouts – either a half image on each page across a double page or a full double page spread with each having a white boarder. This is effective as there are only two displays that have been chosen, it gives senses of simplicity.

Rhythm and sequencing

For the rhythm and sequencing we can see that Waissa is using the only two display choices and produces a sequence and rhythm with the photographs. Towards the middle of the book we have a sequence of two double page with 2 photographs each and then one full double page image, towards the end it then goes to one double page with two images to one full double page spread, it creates a bit of difference while only having to use two design and format layouts adding to the idea of simplicity. It creates a rhythm and sequence instead of jumping between layouts which would have made it make less sense and not show any narrative which can be helped by the rhythm and sequencing.

Narrative and visual concept

The zine follows a narrative of images that we can see and follow, we follow the smaller images showing the urbanized sides of the town, the brick and concrete, the visible man-made elements. Each larger image, however, follows and shows the natural side, the overgrown vegetation covering and hiding the buildings and streets. The last photograph in the book shows a half page display of a bit of a further away image, it is taking in the whole town through the trees rather than close to specific buildings. From this we could take and think of ideas of the narrative being about a journey through this town showing it in small snapshots and ending and closing on an on look of the place as a whole. For me, personally taking and looking on the photographs I feel that Waissa is showing a narrative of the journey and overtaking of the natural world on this landscape.

Title and cover

The title and the cover of this zine I feel work well with the layout and aesthetic. The inside of the zine shows a very simplistic layout and rhythm which is effective as it maps and mirrors the simplicity of the front cover and the title. The cover image bleeds across to the back cover in one large double photograph, one that reflects what is going to be inside. The photograph includes a path and suggests the walking journey that the photographer has gone through while taking the images. The title very simply ‘Beit Hakerem’ is the name of the area of Jerusalem that the photographs were taken and adds to the aesthetic of the zine.

Images and text

The only elements of images and text being used together in this Zine is on the last double page spread. As well as this page including the institutional information for example the websites and publishers, it also includes contextual information on Beit Hakerem, it explains some information surrounding the area historical of the reasons it was built and reasons for its naming, and also how it has changed and what it has become. I feel that it is an effective choice to have it at the end on the last page of the zine, as it lets the viewer create their own ideas and feelings before being given any information that may effect the way that they first initially feel. It allows the viewer to create their own ideas initially and then they are able to go back and re look with a bit more information contextually on the place and the photographs and allows them to generate more ideas and feelings.

Paul Virilio was a French cultural theorist, urbanist and aesthetic philosopher, who was born 1932 in France. According to two geographers, Virilio was a ‘historian of warfare, technology and photography, a philosopher of architecture, military strategy and cinema, and a politically engaged provocative commentator on history, terrorism, mass-media and human-machine relations .

Paul Virilio was born and raised on the Northern coast of France. The Second World War created a big impact of his city, and his own life. His city was bombed and held captive by the German Navy. In 1958, Virilio conducted a phenomenological (he science of phenomena as distinct from that of the nature of being.) where he looked at military space and bunkers built by the Nazi’s during the Second World War.

In ‘Bunker Archaeology‘ the urban philosopher and cultural theorist turns his attention- and camera- to the ominous, yet strangely compelling German bunkers from WW II that lie abandoned on the coast of France. These ghostly reminders of destruction and oppression prompt Virilio to consider the nature of existence and war, in relation to both the Second World War and contemporary times.

I find Paul Virilio’s work quite interesting due to the almost silent feel that the photographs have and the stillness involved with them. I find them to be quite haunting and I feel that them also being in black and white with little to no human figures in them plays a big part in creating this sense about the photographs.

Below the photographs shows a bunker left and half buried in the sand with little to nothing left, it’s not right in the foreground on the photograph I feel this is good as it creates a distance between the viewer and the bunker by having it in the middle of the image, it is also sitting towards the right third of the photograph and this works well for moving the eye while looking at the photograph. This I feel works well as it creates an almost physical distance but also we know there is a time distance between the onlooker and these structures. In the background we can see the remains of another bunker and I feel it is effective to have it in shot to show that this bunker was not the only one that the Germans built, but there were many in one place. The use of a black and white tones is effective as it creates a different feel compared to if the photograph was black and white. For me I personally like the way that Virilio has photographed this bunker as it is half in the sand, for me personally it is saying something about how these structures will disappear from sight, this one for example will eventually be covered by sand or sea, however they are still there and what happened and what is left isn’t so simple to just get rid of.

I would hope to bring some of what Paul Virilio has done with his work into my own with the ideas of having a still image and the black and whites contrast as I feel this is an effective feature when generating these types of photographs.

An archive is a collection of historical documents and or records that are there providing information about a place, institution, or group or people, or a major historical event.  For example; The Occupation of Jersey.  Archives include documents and records but buildings and historical sites can also be protected and preserved through the archival societies.  Archives are used to preserve history and information and allow more understanding and knowledge into history from institutional points of view via legal documents and governmental or military documents as well as a private or personal insight via diaries or personal financial documents or personal photographs. An Archives purpose is to act as a link to the past and it’s some of an archives main objectives will be to preserve the historical artifacts, sites, documents and photographs so that they aren’t lost or forgotten.  They allow the new generations to be able to connect with the historic pasts of their area of living wherever that may be.

The archives act as repositories as they are a reliable and relevant source of evidence to events of the past.  They act as repositories in the way that the information in the archives will be sectioned and split away into sub sections and relevance, for instance all archives surrounding the occupation will be filed together in each of it’s different forms eg Photographic archives.  They act as repositories of cultural memories as they will have social and cultural connections to the place they belong to, they show how social and cultural constructs have changed and shaped our cultures, places and people around us.

Photography can act in a double role with the archives as they can be used for a scientific purpose or a documentary purpose, these types of photographs will be created with the intention of being informative with what they show, they will be clear and easy to read and understand as their purpose will be to inform and show something.  Photography can also be produced for personal uses, such as family and personal photographs or in an artistic way where the meaning and context may be a little unclear and harder to interpret as it’s not produced to be clearly informing about something.  This is how photography can act as a double role within the archives as it can prove scientific purposes showing clearing what was going on and being informative of what life was like and what was going on and then photography on the personal level can show private insights to the small lives of people or what culture was like if it’s being produced in and artistic way.

David Bate’s text talks about how museums will use archives and the collections they have of artifacts and documents to create displays of a particular historical moment or culture.  Museums aim to create a story he states that items ‘are often chosen from a vast repository aiming to construct a particular story’.  In the beginning of the text Bate’s beings discussing the British Museum and how it’s first official photographer was employed in 1854 to document it’s artifacts. Fenton was taking photographs of the museums interior, the aim being to create an impression of how it was to see these objects in the Victorian era.  The photographs were said to ‘evoke a “pastness”’ which shows the effects of the photographs with how they are suggested to create an ‘atmospheric space’ and a ‘kind of silence’ this is suggesting that the photos are creating an aura around them, like an invisible barrier between the present looking back into the past. 

A key artist also mention in David Bates work is Louise Lawler, her photographs feature artworks in private homes, public museums or auction houses and other key institutions.  Her art is there to show how art is contextualized or de-contextualized by their environments. Lawler’s work casts a ‘keen anthropological eye’ with ‘visual framing’.  Her work is showing something around the behind the scenes of the artifacts, it’s giving it a different view or say of how it gets presented for people of the public to look upon.

Another key artist is Susan Hiller, Bate’s talks about her collection ‘Dedicated to the unknown artists 1972-6’ it is a collection of three hundred post cards all around the coast of Britain.  Each postcard presents an image, variously hand-tinted and black-and-white, several of them are paintings.  The pictures become part of the archival display of how culture sees itself, ‘repeated over an iconographic trope’.  Hiller’s work is very powerful and yet silent and is showing something surrounding the culture stored in archives.

For my own personal studies looking into archival material will help and push me along and can enrich my personal study as the topic of the Occupation of Jersey is something that really changed and developed the way in which the island itself worked and the landscape as well as the people who lived on the island and the attitudes they had.  We can see clearly demonstrated on our island the physical impacts of the occupation from the bunkers and war tunnels and other fortresses that had been built, it is from the work of the archives that we still have these buildings and reminders of history of what has shaped our island to this day.  I feel that looking into the other archival material will help as it can give an in-depth insight into what happened and what went on.  It can give a personal aspect and I feel it helps to put into perspective exactly what went on , for example diary entries or newspaper clippings as well as photographs that were taken to document the occupation as well as personal ones kept by families.  

Archives have developed and changed as the world has been changing, we now have access to the internet and have the ability to store things in such a wider manner via computers and phones.  Many people will have similar to their own personal archives by having phones and social media where they are documenting their lives and keeping their own personal photographs and storing them.  Archives have developed to be preserving historical facts and times of places and societies and mass institutions as well as personal archives of people and families.

In conclusion, archives can serve a key role in a photographers work and in preserving parts of cultures and places.  They provide a link and connection to the past and help us to understand things in a clearer manner that have happened before.  Archival material helps to create a narrative and a story to show and understand a time, for example this one being the Occupation of Jersey, the bunkers together with the photographs and diaries as well as letters can help us to create this narrative story of what was going on and what happened.

Website for Societe Jersiaise — https://societe-jersiaise.org/

The Société Jersiaise is a learned society in Jersey that was founded in 1873 in the manner of similar county societies in the United Kingdom for the purpose of:

• The Publications of Local History
• The encouragement of the use of French, the official language
• The study of the ancient local dialect
• To archive, as far as possible, the conservation of all prehistoric and historical sites
• To found a library, mainly historical and archaeological
• To collaborate with other societies with similar aims

The Société continues to fulfill these objectives, with two important differences: because it can no longer be said that French is the official language the encouragement of its use has been dropped and, secondly an important addition to the aims is the study of all branches of the natural history of the island and publication of the results of fieldwork in these subjects. Publications of a Bulletin Annual (Journal) commenced in 1875 and an annex to the society’s second annual report for 1876 drew attention of members to the importance of a number of subjects including ‘Recording in permanent photography local prehistoric monuments, buildings and ruins’. The Société Jersiaise realised its aim of opening a museum in 1877. By 1878 a museum had been formed. In 1893 the Société moved to No.9 Pier Rd, which continues to house the museum. The Société is a registered charity funded through subscriptions, donations and legacies.

With the practice and collecting of photography already identified as priorities these activities were continued as significant part of the Société’s museum and library opperations. Multiple interests in the medium of photography, as a method for research, as documentary and scientific records and as an independent art form are actively maintained by society members to present day. These patterns of development, established over more than 140 years, have resulted in the accumulation of a photographic archive which is remarkable in it’s insular context.

Our Visit

On our visit to the Société Jersiaise we sat down and were talked to buy two people who work within the archives, one being specifically from the photographic archives. We had opportunities to look through some of the photographs that had been taken throughout the occupation, some included photographs of documents and signs produced throughout the occupation, others of military buildings e.g Bunkers and also air raid shelters, others included photographs of the people and the islanders as well as German soldiers. It was all very interesting and helpful to see the evidence and visuals of what had happened to the island during this time and gave some good insights into what archival and documentary photography is like and about.

we sat down and were talked to buy two people who work within the archives, one being specifically from the photographic archives. We had opportunities to look through some of the photographs that had been taken throughout the occupation, some included photographs of documents and signs produced throughout the occupation, others of military buildings e.g Bunkers and also air raid shelters, others included photographs of the people and the islanders as well as German soldiers. It was all very interesting and helpful to see the evidence and visuals of what had happened to the island during this time and gave some good insights into what archival and documentary photography is like and about.

As well as getting to see the photographic evidence we also had the ability to look through the printed versions of the Green Books, produced about significant points across the island, usually having some military value, these included maps and plans as well as photographs which all happened to be very detailed. This was useful and an interesting insight into the other ways the Société Jersiaise and the Archives are preserving the history with not only photographs but also pairing them with documents produced.

Below shows some of the photographs that I found in the archives at the Société Jersiaise:

For our project looking into the Occupation of Jersey we will be looking into and exploring the effects and the aftermath as well as the impact and history of what occurred on the island. We will be doing this by looking at Landscapes, People and Objects. Each being able to tell a different story and generate a different set of images and outcomes.

The German occupation of Jersey began one week after the British Government had demilitarised the Channel Islands fearing for the safety of civilians should there be any conflict. On the 28th of June the German airforce, not knowing of the demilitarisation, bomb and machine gun multiple sites on the island. A few days later on 1st July 1940 General Richthofen, The Commander of the German Air Forces in Normandy, dropped an ultimatum from the air demanding the immediate surrender of the island. White flags and crosses were placed in prominent positions and later that day Jersey was occupied by air-borne troops under the command of Hauptmann Gussek.

German Command: Under the occupying forces, one of the greatest hardships was the lack of news from the mainland after the Germans had outlawed the use of radio. A number of individuals would often risk imprisonment making their own sets and spreading frontline news. In the months following D-Day, as the allies regained control of France, the source of supplies fuelling the island was now no longer available.

Fortress Island: Hitler order the conversion of Jersey into an impregnable fortress island. Thousands of slave workers from countries like Russia, Spain, France and Poland built hundreds of bunkers, anti-tank walls, railway systems, as well as many complex tunnel systems. F

Victory On the Horizon: The German command were defiant and no reference to surrender was entertained. Despite the nonchalance of the German occupying forces, which were still officially recognised, Jersey’s preparations for liberation began to take noticeable shape. In June 1944, the Normandy landings marked the initiation of ‘Operation Overlord’, the invasion of northwest Europe by the Allied forces. By 7 May 1945, the German army had surrendered and the end of the war in Europe was announced. In June 1944, the Normandy landings marked the initiation of ‘Operation Overlord’, the invasion of northwest Europe by the Allied forces. By 7 May 1945, the Germany army had surrendered and the end of the war in Europe was announced.

German Surrender: The front page of the Jersey Evening Post carried Jersey’s first confirmation of the Allies’ victory in Europe, and islanders were informed that Winston Churchill would broadcast the Nation’s first official announcement that afternoon at 3.00pm. Crowds began to gather at various locations to hear the announcement that would declare their liberation. Islanders waited patiently amidst the heavy air of expectation. 

Liberation: At 7.15am on 9 May, on the quarter deck of HMS Bulldog, Second-in-Command for Guernsey General Siegfried Heine signed the Instrument of Surrender on behalf of the German Command of the Channel Islands, effecting their capitulation. On completion of this, General Heine was then ordered to “immediately cause all German flags and ensigns now flying in the Channel Islands to be lowered”.