These were my final outcomes from the war tunnels school trip. I chose this set of images because you can tell instantly was the subject of the photos is about because gas masks were such a big part of the occupation. I chose to keep all of the images to the same focus and style. If i was to display these images i would want them to be lined up next to each other in a trip tic style. I would like them to be displayed in the order they are next to each other with the middle image being slightly different to the others because its from a different angle and is slightly lighter than the other two images. I feel this creates contrast between the images so i feel like its not the same images being repeated 3 times. The dark to light to dark almost sandwich effect of the images creating a visual track so the audience stays visually engaged and follows the images with there eyes in the direction that i have intended through my editing.

I imported all my photos into adobe light room classic CC. So i put all my photos into a folder in my documents. Then i selected the folder and selected import. So once they are imported i will go through an editing process. Going through using x and p, p to keep the images giving them a little white flag and x to discard the images by giving them a black flag.

Then once i have gone through with the x and p. I rate the images with stars based on color, if they are in focus, if the image has a readable story behind it. So the stars ranged from 1 start to 5 stars. 5 being the best that i want to take on and edit and 1 being the image docent make the cut.

So then i refine it to all the images i can see that are all the ones i have given 5 stars. I do this so i can look at all my images and decide which ones i want to take on to edit. Comparing them so i can have a variety of different images and can put them together so they look like they are part of the same story.

The images that I have highlighted are the ones that i am going to take over and edit i chose these because they have a direct link to occupation and tell a story in each photo. So i will edit each of these photos over the develop section of lightroom CC adusting things within the image such a contrast, exposure ,white balance.

We visited the jersey archives and got a real insite into what there purpose is and why , where they sore all this information. We were given a talk when we entered for about 45 minutes just going over the role of the archive and showing us some archival pieces of interest for our project. Many of these were old identification cars and red cross letters. Something interesting that i found out is that the red cross letters they were only allowed to write 25 words to there loved ones so it have to be really breef and may of these letters wern’t deviled for months after they had been written so people really didn’t know how there family and loved ones were ok or even alive.

The were letters from a couple who were split apart because the war.

Reading these letters made me feel so sad because you can really get a first hand account of how these people were feeling even through so little words. I shows you how people still had hope and would still keep writing these letters even if there was no reply of the receiving end.

Were were then given a tour of the archive building complex shown how there archives were stored and kept away. In the archives there weren’t just records related to the war there were many other types. They just keep any sort of information they deem valuable to history. Some examples of archival pieces they keep are birth certificates, death records, law agreements, maps.

They are all coded in different cardboard boxes with boxes containing the relevant information. Each section is on a slider and can be moved to open up the next section. When you walk into each archive room there is a huge blast of cold air to blast off any bacteria you are caring on you that could effect any of the documents.

Step laders are used for documents on the top shelves so nothing gets damaged or dropped. Also the archive rooms have no widows so the sunlight cant tarnish any on the documents. Also air con is used in the document holding areas it is very cold so bacteria are unable to multiply and means none of the documents will be damaged as a result of this.

They have many items coming in daily so the sorting and filing away process is non stop for the employees at the archive. A lot of pieces they are given have to be restored meaning that trained professional will spend time fixing and mending documents that ether are broken faded or have something wrong with them.

Each section in closed by a metal real that is turned manually. The sections that are left open are ones that are being used or awaiting arrivals of new documents to go in them.

There were many ID cards from the war many people who lived and died in the war these were kept in the archive. Many people have found out long lost relatives through these archives a lot of people make use of them when retracing there family history or making family trees

When entering the different room in the archives we were given the change to look more up close and personal as some of the archives most valuable pieces and the ones that link the best with our project. We were show some amazing art works and shown that they are actually pieces that the law was written on them.

With school we are going on a visit to the sociitte Jersey archives and then in the after noon we are going to visit the war tunnels. My plan for the morning is to listen to the presentation mate any notes that i feel are relevant to my project from the presentation we were given . Take photos of the overall building and find out why and how they store all the archived information and what information they do and don’t store. Also see if i can photography some historical documents that i can use to inspire my project.

Also to look at the historical documents available and see if i can find can family or personal connections withing the buildings archives which will mean that i can expand from this later on in my project. Seeing if i can discover something about my family history that i haven’t heard about before.

For the war tunnels my plan is to take any many photographs as possible get a real understanding and feel for the place. Also to gather as much information as possible to expand my knowledge of the occupation as much as possible. Talk to historians or anyone with extensive knowledge who works there and cry and capture the whole feel of the underground tunnels and different rooms through my photography.

I wanted to create a narrative through my zine and i felt that having a tital that fitted with that would be accurate and tie the whole composition of the zine together. I wanted the font to haven a element of white and black lines to replicate that theme of structure and lineage.

I liked the look of the images being full bleed across the page rather than having a border because the white border looked to bold. It was almost as if you were looking at that more than the actual image itself it was some what distracting.

Each sheet is printed as a piece of A4 it is put together. The pages are printed double sited and many image cross over onto different pages not being next to each other which was my intention. Each page is folded down the central line of the page and then slotted in in the order i wanted each of the pages. Then laying the zine flat with the central double aged open i stapled along the spine of the zine binding it together. At this point there was execs paper from each page so when folder over the zine wasn’t one clean opening line. I used the guillotine to over come this and trimed the zine so all the pages were identical and the edge of the zine was straight and looked professional.

I chose to have the middle page black but when printed it came out this this striped effect from the printer and i really liked it it looks as if it was meant to be that way on purpose because it fits with the narrative on the caged lines.

Many of my images carry across two pages but appear in different sectors of the zine. I did this because there is this repetitive orurance of lines and images emplying the emotion s of being traped, caged and being unable to escape.

When working on my zine i didn’t start from the front cover i started from the inside out because i feel as you create a narrative with you zine the front cover will build its self and i will understand what will fit with the over all design of the zine and how i will tie it all together with the front cover.

When making my zine i experimented with the idea of lines and the concepts of how this effects the images. I experimented with both horizontal and vertical lines on my images seeing the different effects that spacing and thinness of the lines had.

When importing an image in i would first make a box the size that i wanted the images to be whether than be full bleed to the edge of the page or that be a small box in the middle of the page. Once i have done that i pressed open and opend the image into the document and then the image would appear in the box . I normal have to do a small amount of re sizing just to make sure the image doesn’t become distorted.

At this point i had a idea for the tital it had to be something to do with the lines and how the fitted with the images. I brainstormed through a lot of words Such as trapped , bared, underground, but i felt caged fitted the best. It fitted because with the occupation and the entrapment that all the islanders felt withing WW2 and how they just couldn’t escape it.

I then went on the make the back cover incorporating the black lines and the image with German phrases related to occupation.

A zine is usually a non – commercial, non professional publication, kind of like a magazine but with a twist. The main difference between a magazine and a zine is that zines are not out there to make a profit but, rather, to add
other, often unheard voices into the mix. Zines are usually made out of interest and passion and are often self-published by the writer/artist/creator. Typically zines are made using collage techniques and are then photocopied
since these are means available to almost everyone.

Zines can be difficult to define. The word “zine” is a shortened form of the term fanzine, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Fanzines emerged as early as the 1930s among fans of science fiction. Zines also have roots in the informal, underground publications that focused on social and political activism in the ’60s. By the ’70s, zines were popular on the punk rock circuit. In the ’90s, the feminist punk scene propelled the medium and included such artists as Kathleen Hanna, who produced riot grrrl out of Olympia, Washington.

A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published unique work of minority interest, usually reproduced via photocopier.  A popular definition includes that circulation must be 5,000 or less, although in practice the significant majority are produced in editions of less than 1,000.  Profit is not the primary intent of publication. There are so many types of zines: art and photography zines, literary zines, social and political zines, music zines, perzines (personal zines), travel zines, health zines, food zines.   And the list goes on and on. 

In class we were presented with lots of zines to look at and gain ideas and inspiration. These zines were typically all A5 many of them varied having lose inserts in the books. Some had pages smaller or larger than others. This showed a huge rage of diversity and ideas that i could use when creating my final zine.

Zine Plan

For my zine I want to create a flowing ascetic that can be seen on each page of the zine tying the narrative together. One idea that i though was really strong was incorporating lines into each one of my images. I thought this because a lot of my images contain vivid bold lines already such as the images with the metal grids and wires. I liked this whole ascetic of caged, almost trapped in which reflects directly back onto what life was like in WW2 because they were curfews they lived under occupation jersey was completely trapped. So i feel this will fit well with my story my images I already have got and create a real flowing story line behind the zine. When i actually get to putting the images next to each other that’s when i will be able to completely plan out how i want the images to look in coordination with each other. I want to have a mix of black and white images also images that are colored but no overly vibrant more just brown warm tones some images that I think i might use are:

All Photos from the war are in black and white. So I decided to convert some of my images from the tunnels to black and white to make them feel more authentic and of the time period. I used lightroom when trying to achieve these black and white outcomes.

Using the starting tools, I gave images 3 stars to images that i wanted to take forward for editing. This meant that the editing process was made faster and more concise because i had all the images i wanted to use in one place at one time. When using the develop tool looking a the left hand side slider bar I turned on the black and white slider. This automatically changes the image to the black and white settings the computer programme deems to be the best levels of light and dark for the image.

With the sliders I experimented pushing the light and dark to the extremes. Also using the tonal color sliders with in the setting of blue,red,green etc. I chose to try make this image look more like an xray to experiment with the different settings in lightroom and familiarise myself with them.

Working on a different image . Changing this to black and white on the automatic setting is the best way for me to have a base image in black and white to go from and then edit in the way i want so the base photo doesn’t start off to dark or two light.

Using the slider tools I edit the brightness and contrast and enhance the blacks and whites with the B&W sliders so the there is more of a contrast within the images.

With this images I was using the color sliders to work on the more finer blue purple and red tones within the image so the wall area ended up with more of a grey tone rather than a harsh bright white tone at the back.

Again this was just an experimentation with the black and white sliders seeing what it was like when I push the sliders opposite ways to what i would normally have them . This gave the image an almost cartoon effect which i do like but it doesn’t really fit with the style of this project with images looking more older fashion. This looks more like modern pop art.

With is image I changed all the setting myself rather than setting it to the black and white default settings. I felt that in this image the great at the back was getting lost in the picture and I wanted to change that so it is more noticeable.

In this image I made the alterations i wanted to so the back ground great is more noticeable. I did this by slightly editing the exposure and the the white sliver upping these each a tiny bit. This also had an effect on the stairs so where the white was there was more of a reflection being shown from it. Also the lines of rust running down are more defined. You can see each individual strip a lot clearer.

I decided to change my approach with this image and see if cropping the picture will give a different impression or effect. Using the cropping tool i lined up the box to where i wanted my image to be cropped. I wanted to make sure i included in my crop the 3 main focal points of the image ; the stairs, the grid at the back and the light corner of the wall.

When cropping the image i found that it looked good but i felt like the story in the image is lost because you cant see the full stairs going up to the grid hatch. Also i felt like you couldn’t tell really what the image was about and it looks more like a modern art conceptual piece rather than a historical recollection photo shoot.

With the school we visited les Landes bunker side we were given a tour off the whole under ground bunker systems by Tony Pike a local historian. He has been working closely with an extensive team to restore these under ground tunnel systems. We were the first school allowed to go and see the restoration and given an insight to what it was like back in the times of the war.

We got took look at the old ammunition reals and bomb towers that had be restored to there former glory. When restoring the bunker system they tried to match it as close to the original system as possible from the materials used to the colors of the paint used on the walls. I found the iron strains up to the main outdoor gun very interest the contrasts of the bright white with the rusty orange iron stairs.

When in the tunnels we looked at a-lot of entrances and exits many behind bars. These images for me out of the whole shoot i did seem to be the most powerful. The give of strong connotations of entrapment, imprisonment and occupation. The strong structure of the iron gates with the glowing light from outside makes the images have more context because it shows the cliché “there is alway a light at the end of the tunnel” or even that not to lose hope as many people tried not to do through the gruelling years of occupation of the war.

When walking through the tunnels there were rooms were they had sent up recreations of what the tunnels looked like being built and occupied. These rooms when you walked in were so silent, it almost felt like you couldn’t speak out of respect. It gave a sense of realisation to how harsh the conditions were and how much struggle the people had to deal with. I tried the make the candle the main focus of my images because of the element of respect lighting a candle for all the people who lost their lives in the war.

Also in the tunnels there were many authentic artifacts that were restored and put back in their original places in the tunnels. Many images are also displayed in the tunnels showing exactly what they looked like and the area looking like through these historical documents.

When we went to society museum jersey we were introduced to may historical jersey artists. They were the leading forefront in jersey photography thought the occupation. I have chosen to do some background research on them and there photographic techniques to give me a better understanding of photography in this time period. So that my work can have a real feeling of the time period behind it.

Henry Mullins

Henry Mullins was part of the circle of photographic pioneers at the Royal Polytechnic Institute, Regent Street, London where the first photographic studio in Europe was opened in 1841. The first record of his professional practice is in Edinburgh in 1843. Mullins arrived in Guernsey in summer of 1847 and settled in Jersey the following year.Mullins’s productivity was matched by the technical standard of his work; qualities that are exemplified in the richness of the portraits of Victorian islanders preserved on the pages of his photograph albums. There are 9,861 images from Henry Mullins available to view online.Henry Mullins was by far the most prolific of the first generation of Jersey photographers in the mid-nineteenth century. He produced thousands of portraits of islanders between 1848 and 1873. While numerous photographic studios opened across the town of St Helier in the 1850s and 1860s Henry Mullins continued to be the photographer of choice for leading members of Jersey society and successful local and immigrant families.

William Collie

William Collie started his professional life as a portrait painter. He moved south and is recorded as living in St Helier, Jersey, before 1841, where he had a portrait business. He became one of the earliest photographers working in the Channel Islands, operating from Belmont House, St Helier, until 1872.William Collie was probably the first photographer to use Fox Talbot’s calotype process in Jersey and some of his previously unpublished photographs featured alongside those of Fox Talbot in an exhibition at the Musée Dorsay in Paris in 2008 of the first photographs taken on paper in Britain from 1840 to 1860.Collie was not merely a provincial studio portrait photographer. In the late 1840s he made a series of calotype portraits depicting ‘French and Jersey Market Women’ which were well received by the photography critic of the Art Union (1 June 1847). These studies were later exhibited at the London Great Exhibition of 1851.

Thomas Sutton

Thomas Sutton is a very important figure not only in the story of local photography, but also in wider photographic history. Sutton had a workshop and studio in St Brelade’s bay from 1848 until it burnt down in about 1854.A prolific author, Sutton wrote a number of books on the subject of photography, including the Dictionary of Photography in 1858. In 1859, Sutton developed the earliest panoramic camera with a wide-angle lens. In 1861, Sutton created the first single lens reflex camera. Sutton was the photographer for James’s Clark Maxwell pioneering 1861 demonstration of Color Photography. He also produced the first photographic publication of the island – “Souvenir de Jersey“, from which this image is taken.

Emile Guiton

Emile Guiton was born in Jersey in 1879.  He was a very active member of the Société Jersiaise – curator of the Museum, on the Executive Committee, joint honorary secretary and editor of the Annual Bulletin.  Emile Guiton was a keen amateur photographer and practised throughout his long life.  He experimented with colour at the beginning of the twentieth century in “Autochromes”.  His subjects include the recording of archaeological excavations and he was one of the few people in Jersey permitted to take photographs during the German Occupation of 1940 – 1945.  Emile Guiton also recognised very early on the importance of collecting photographs, both as a valuable social historic resource and as interesting artefacts, an archive of one thousand three hundred German Occupation images was compiled by Emile. That archive forms a large part of the images we will be exploring today.