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Bob Le Sueur Interview – Raw Notes

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Bob Le Suere: –

19 When German’s Arrive, 24 when Jersey Liberated.

  • Morning of German’s Arrival (1940):
    • July 1st 1940 – Air Raid on the 28th June, German planes over the island that morning.
    • Lived Victoria avenue, was woken up by German Planes, looked out the window of sloped roof, recognised them as German bombing planes.
    • 2 Parachutes dropping out of plane, not human beings, long cylinders falling. The cylinders contained a message addressed to commander and chief of command forces of Jersey
    • There was no commander, “the island could not possibly be defended”, not worth any military value.
    • 6am – heavy bombing raid in rotegam (Dutch/Belgium/Luxemburg)
    • Population of 2 islands combined – 100,000
    • People in England did not know about the bombing in Jersey,
    • Governor and wife left island when the cylinders arrived, whoever found messages gave them to bailiffs
    • They had 24 hours to surrender, the island would be carpet bombing, would lead to absolute hell.
    • Bailiff, did not want to surrender without authority, London told them they could not help and to stay at the post and do the best you can – only instructions given.
    • Bailiff summoned emergency sitting of the state future laid in hands in deputy of St Saviour, voting is unknown, no one voted to not surrender. 
    • Bob at royal square, apprehensive, propaganda and mew outlets discussed German’s myths (believed everything they rad), area of royal square corned off for workmen, Bob asked a work man what was happening he replied “no idea mate”. 2 woman in front of bob “when this is all over we must hurry back home and barricade doors” – a lot of women would be raped before nightfall (did not actually happen) – negative atmosphere before Germans actually arrived on island (tense)
    • Got everyone to stand in line for Bailiff announcement, screaming orders to get into line and order – takeaway chaos. Everything destroyed when pidgeon popped on man who was giving orders pork pie hat (official piece of clothing) – released into laughter, psychological heaven sent moment in time of extreme apprehension

  • St Helier:
    • Terrace houses very similar, built in the time of Willian the 4th. House number 7, two floors up, apartment shared by two young men. They sheltered Russian prisoners.
    • German’s fortified Jersey strongly, than any part of defensive war Hitler was constructing from Norway to Spain. Wanted to hold onto the island for a naval base at western end of British Channel, would have been renamed to German Channel
    • Not enough labor to do all the work on the island, so Nazi’s bought in forced labor from different countries( ie Spanish Men who took refuge in France) – built fortifications in Jersey, were paid and not physically ill treated. (Holland, Czech Slyvacia, Russia) 
    • Slav Race (Slavine race, Pole etc) they were taken as slaves, not paid, they were considered as subhuman, treated in horrid ways – highly political time (racism).
    • “People in every part of the world are extraordinarily alike, with basic human values” – Bob
    • One Russian, coming home from school (15 years of age), saw German trucks at end of street, men disappeared into buildings. The boys where hurdled into trucks and taken to the train station, and were sent to Jersey, stayed in camp on 5 mile road. No contact with parents. 
    • One Russian sheltered by man in the apartment noted before, shared rassions with the Russian, got an illegal identity card to get Russian rassion book/ identity card. – If card lost had to go with a sob story then given new card. 
      • Older man was Russian student, studying Jersey Cow and get stuck during the occupation, hid the idea that he was Russian, so did not tell many people
    • Young men had frequent parties for Birthdays etc, 
      • September 1944 when they would be a gas supply, end of a way of cooking (only could cook on open fire) a day of despair, but the two men celebrated the fact that they could use the gas stove for today, optimistic views.
      • Make a party go:
        No guess has eaten a square meal for 12 months then serve calvados, distilled cider (110%), straight start to party. The Russian got hold of alcohol before the party started and fell to the floor kicking legs, bellowing at the top of his voice songs, a platoon of German soldiers below. Two people pulled down apartment windows and gagged Russian Man to keep him quiet. 

  • Liberation:
    • Islander’s knew the day was coming, not sure when though.
    • No  Gas supply, middle of January (1945), had a party, bring your own food. Islander’s were very hungry due to the lack of food supply.
    • Crystal set radio, hidden around households, found out Berlin Fell April 30th, May 1st important labour day in solvient union.
    • Understood Hitler was dead, JEP one sheet of paper two sides, England news one side and German on the other side, on this day newspaper announced Hitler’s death.
    • May 7th, week after Berlin Collapse, told to take effect when war finished in Europe officially ended, German’s out of control, all arms had to be laid down one minute after midnight on May 8th (making it technically may 9th.).
    • 7:14am (9th) surrender of whole island signed on deck of Birtish destroyer on St Peter’s shore.
    • Bob’s Story – with two girls from the office. They cycled to noirmont point, his bike tire broke (sound like pistol shot), two people flung themselves to the ground as they thought it was a gun. Two soldiers turned with rifles towards him, did not fire though, thought he was going to be killed as island was being liberated. German soldier laughed.
      • His friends waved at Bob as they cycled to the pier to watch British destroyer.
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Environmental Photography – Home Sweet Home – Photographs

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Within the photoshoot I took my subjects into the environments which they can be found in the most, as well as placing them in locations to which they are comfortable and found the most. In this photoshoot I tried to keep the atmosphere relaxed, doing this allowed a more naturalistic representation of my subjects in their natural environment, giving an accurate representation of their personality. In addition, I also used artificial lighting found around the house, which would naturally be on when the subject is in that room, however I did set up some lighting to ensure the face of the subject was fully lit, and created a home and welcoming atmosphere.

Edits:

First Edit – Flagged
Second Edit – Star Rated
Third Edit – Colour Rated

Colour Edits:

For my colour edits I chose photographs, in which the artificial lighting was manipulated for effect. To start off I began by adjusting the photographs by correcting the white balance, adjusting the white, blacks, contrast and structure. Then using the radial filter, which allowed my subjects face to be the main focal point of the image. It allowed me to adjust the background of the composition, allowing my subject to be illuminated and centre of attention

Black and White Edits:

For my black and white edits I chose photographs, in which the artificial lighting was naturally darker and was the natural lighting within that environment in the house. To start off I began by adjusting the photographs by correcting the white balance, adjusting the white, blacks, contrast and structure. Then using the radial filter, which allowed my subjects face to be the main focal point of the image. It allowed me to adjust the background of the composition, allowing my subject to be illuminated and centre of attention

Above, I believe is my top outcome from the photoshoot, due to the technical and visual elements the photograph holds. Conceptually, I was showcasing my brother in his room, where he spends a lot of time alone. To me it was important to not only capture him but also the background behind him (taking inspiration from Michelle Sank) as it helps to develop our understanding of his personality. Visually, the composition of the frame is kept simplistic. I wanted to create a sense a space, through the position of my subject within the frame, clear use of the technique rule of thirds. In addition to the formal element of space, I also wanted to showcase form, and shape, which is clearly presented to the layout of the frame and the background. In this photograph, the subject is located in the foreground, and the background is the layout of his room, which allows a slight narrow depth of field to present within the work, suggesting a slightly raised aperture. Technically, the shutter speed is kept quick due to no intended blur and the subject being still. For this photograph I slightly raised the ISO, for an artistic purpose, in order to create a slight bit of noise, helping to emphases a homely atmosphere. Having this ISO works in cohesion with the warm, soft artificial lighting which was used, as well as the sunlight ISO which helped to emphasise the warmth, which creates the homely and welcoming environment.

Evaluation:

To evaluate I believe I have been able to successfully explore environmental portraits within my home environment. I researched and gained a connection with my subjects allowing an accurate representation of my subject’s personality and how their natural environment describes them. I produced some successful photographs, which showcase my ability to use different camera settings (ie adjusting the ISO to gain noise for effect), as well as further experimenting and using the different tools within Lightroom, to develop my photograph for effect. To conclude, I am happy with the general aesthetic of my work and the final outcomes produced. It also shows further exploration into this form of documentary photography, from my previous work where I looked at gender stereotypes in the early 20th century.

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Environmental Photography – Home Sweet Home – Planning

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Environmental Photography:

Environmental photography is a form of portraiture, which illuminates the environment and settings of the subject and presents their identity. It is common for a photograph to spend time with the subject in order to form a connection with the subject, in order for an accurate portrayal of the person. Within the time spent, the photographer will ask about hobbies and interests as well as getting a clear understanding of their home life, and favourite aspects and elements of their course. Within this style of portrait photography the aim is to tell the story of the subject within that one photograph, which is achieved by having the subject have rapport with the camera lens

In previous work I explored environmental portrait photography, in the style of Arnold Newman, were I looked at gender norms in the in the early 20th century. I explored this using my grandparents as my subjects and used different elements of their home life to showcase these gender norms. The photoshoot and edits were successful, thus making it an area to reflect back on and use as inspiration for another photoshoot.

Environmental Portrait – Arnold Newman

Planning:

This time around I will be conduction another photo shoot, using the methodology of environmental portrait, but exploring my personal home life. I have taken inspiration from Alex Soth to produce my imagery. My artistic aim is to capture my home life in the most naturalistic way, showcasing the natural environment of my family, as well as the day to day tasks they complete. To do this I will be using my DSLR camera alongside a tripod, to get stable landscape photographs. My camera settings will differ based on the lighting and task conducted by my family.

Mood Board Showcasing Soth’s Photography:

Understanding My Subjects:

  • Philippa Healey – Mother
    • 49 Years old, Female, wedded to Martin Healey
    • Philippa works full time at JCG Prep as the manager of Little Leopards, the after school day care/holiday club. She has worked with children for a long period of time, and works from 9am-5:30pm.
    • At home Philippa enjoys reading, playing games on her phone, as well as spending time with her children, husband and two cats. Not only this her and her husband, do house chores within an evening to ensure the house is always at a good clean standard.
    • Philippa’s favourite room in the house is the conservatory, which overlooks her garden. The room attracts a lot of light, and you can often see her spending her weekend on the sofa in the room, absorbing the nature and her book. Philippa is a calm, active and kind hearted person.
  • Martin Healey – Father
    • 52 Years old, Male, wedded to Philippa Healey
    • Martin works full time as a pension manager, and has been within the finance industry for most of his life. He works 9-5 Monday to Friday, but can often be seen doing a lot of over time, due to his position within the company.
    • At home, Martin enjoys spending an evening on the computer, reading the news, on facebook, playing games and watching youtube. He also enjoys spending time with his children in the lounge in the evening, were they watch different programs.
    • Martin enjoys cleanliness within his home and makes his home appealing to all sense, importantly smell. He enjoys buying new smellies and placing them round the house, to give the building a set smell and atmosphere. Martin is an intellectual, funny and strong minded person.
  • Sam Healey – Brother
    • 22 Years old, Male, In a Relationship
    • Sam has recently completed his degree in social sciences were he obtained 2:1 giving him a BA(Hons) qualification. He has now successfully managed to obtain employment, which he has been in for the past 2 years.
    • At home Sam enjoys, singing, flying planes and causing chaos in the household. Sam’s favourite room would be the study or kitchen, as he can be found spending the most time within these rooms. Sam is a bubbly, lively human being who is fun and adventurous to be around.

Having lived with my subjects for the past 17 years of my life, I can say that I fully understand their personality and the love towards certain environments within their home. All three family members love to be around one another and embrace all aspects of family life, as well as having some independence in their life.

Action Plan:

After exploring the traits of my family and understanding their personality, on top of observing their favourite environments within the house. I am going to conduct a photoshoot were I capture family life within the Healey household, in the documentary style of photography, environmental photography. I will capture each person’s individual personality in their natural environment, as well as capturing the three personalities at once, showcasing a change in the individual self to meet the needs of the people they are with.


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Jersey War Tunnels

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The Jersey War Tunnels are a reminder of the occupation of the island during World War 2. The War Tunnels are one of many fortifications that the Germans built on Jersey. The tunnels were blasted out with gunpowder and handtools, and then covered with concrete. The hospital was dug into a slope, so that it would drain naturally. Its location within the hill also ensured that the temperature remained constant throughout the year. The tunnels were originally constructed as an ammunition store and artillery barracks but the Germans converted them to a casualty clearing station as D-Day drew nearer. Today The Jersey War Tunnels are an exhibition dedicated to how the occupation affected the islanders and the island. Areas have been restored to show how the hospital looked during the occupation.

Final Outcomes
Food shortages on Jersey were relieved by the arrival of the Red Cross ship SS Vega, bringing food parcels to Jersey. Before then, substitutes had been used to replace everyday foods for instance seawater had to be replaced with salt.
Everyone in Britain was given a gas mask to protect them from gas bombs, which could have been dropped during air raids.
During World War 2, you had two choices when writing a letter: handwritten or typewriter.
In order to build the Jersey War Tunnels, a huge workforce was needed and this was supplied by the Organisation Toft. More than 5,000 slave labourers were brought over to Jersey. The men were treated harshly and known to have died from disease, malnutrition, accidents and exhaustion.
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 sets. A number of individuals risked imprisonment by making their own sets and spreading news.
At 3:00pm Winston Churchill gave the most famous speech of his career. The Prime Minister announced the end of the war in Europe and the “unconditional surrender of all German land, sea and air forces in Europe”. While the islanders cheered, he uttered the words, “our dear Channel Islands are also to be freed today”. Flags and decorations sprang up.
Evaluation

This series of images show a narrative of the typical objects that could have been found in a household during World War 2. Most of the images are still life because of the inanimate subject matter depicted. The sequence of the images tell a story of what it must have been like to be a citizen in Jersey from the beginning of World War 2 until Liberation Day.

The first five images are in the filter B&W punch to represent the German Occupation in Jersey. The images have high contrast between black and white making the photo very sharp. The B&W filter represents life in Jersey during the German Occupation where the people were oppressed and suffering without sufficient resources. I decided to edit the majority of my images in black and white to emphasise the historical yet cold atmosphere during the Occupation. The filter also helps to showcase the negative impact war had on the citizens of Jersey.

For my colour edits I produced two final outcomes. The last two images are in colour to represent Liberation Day in Jersey which took place on the 9th of May. The UK flag is depicted in both images to represent the freedom of the Jersey citizens.

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Jersey War Tunnel’s Visit

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Information:

The Jersey War Tunnels was built during the Second World War to withstand air-raids, but soon turned into an Emergency underground hospital. Created through forced labour and over 5,000 slaves, the tunnels is over 1,000 meters long and 50 meters deep, creating a large area to protect the German Soldiers and those injured during the war time. The War Tunnels is now a tourist attraction, allowing guests to explore the underground network, as well as personal stories and different events which occurred during the war. The theming of the attraction is cleverly done in order to transport guests back to the war time, and give them a first hand experience as to what life was like down there. Another mentionable aspect of the War Tunnels, is that they were never completed, leaving whats called ‘the unfinished tunnels’ these tunnels are still on display and creates an atmospheric and immersive experience to guests.

Mood Board Showcasing Stock Images of The War Tunnels, outlining expectation and inspiration for what to capture.

On my trip to the War Tunnels, I explored the different rooms, showcasing the different stories and events, allowing me to gain a more personal understanding of the war. Using my camera I tried to capture these stories and environment in order to present a visual and creative representation of the tunnels.

Planning:

The War Tunnels are a set of tunnels, which informed me that the lighting was going to be dark, this lead to me raising my ISO to high setting, and have my shutter speed adjusted to let enough light in dependent of the room and the lighting in that room. I used a manual focus which allowed me to explore with my depth of fields and aperture. In some photographs I experimented with flash photography, however these outcomes where less successful. I intend to capture photographs at all different angles allowing a different perspective on the objects to be showcased within my image, creating an ascetic towards my images.

Editing:

First Edit – Flagged
Second Edit – Star Rating
Third Edit – Coloured

Black and White Edits:

For my black and white final outcomes I decided to use a wide variety of photographs, which I believed clearly showcased the true nature of what life was like living in the tunnels, and during the second world war. For these images I started off by turning them into black and white, which then followed on to me adjusting the shadows, lights darks, structure etc, in order to create a historical and cold atmosphere within the imagery. I believe that my four black and white outcomes work well together, complimenting one another, using the formal elements and composition of each frame to create a negative viewpoint, reflecting the negative impact the war had on people’s lives, as well as the negative impact of the war tunnels. In addition, all four images showcasing different camera techniques which showcase my competence to experiment with a camera and create successful outcomes.

Colour Edits:

With regards to my colour edits I produced two outcomes, one which is more successful then the other, needless to say the show further exploration with my material I produced. The top image uses a technique called ‘colour splash’ which allows the whole photograph to be in black and white except one are you chose. In this case I kept the flag in colour as I believed it showcased the theme of freedom and liberation, emphasising the impact the liberation of Jersey had. The photograph uses rule of thirds, and clearly showcases different formal elements as well as clear camera techniques, such as wide depth of field. On the other hand, the image below, type righter, is not as successful, due to lack of focal point it has, as well as I feel that the lighting has a sense of warmth, which ruins the cold and negative ascetic previously created in my work.

Evaluation:

To evaluate, I believe I have produced successful outcomes which showcase my competence with using a camera and the different settings, as well as being able to creatively edit my photographs in order to produce successful outcomes, with an ascetic with is on going within my outcomes. I have been able to further explore Jersey’s history, and produce imagery which clearly showcases the environment of the war tunnels as well as personal stories, creating clear contextual and conceptual references within my work.

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The War Tunnels:

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I decided on my final images, and the below images are the final images after editing in Photoshop:


In Photo-shop, I was able to use the following techniques to produce the final images:

In the above 2 images, I was experimenting with the width of the boarder around the gas mask, and to do so, I used the brush tool to draw outlines of different widths. I also experimented with the softness of the outline, originally working with a hard line, and then moving towards a softer outline version. In this image, I was attempting to make a distinction between the background and the gas mask. The concept of this image was to show how, during the war, conflict and violence became a common part of life, and to do this, I made a distinction between the gas mask, and the teacups and kitchenware placed directly next to it. By arranging the gas mask and familiar kitchen ware together, it can be established that fear of an enemy gas attack lay around every corner, and nowhere (not even the safety of home) was safe from the threat of violence. This image merges the two opposites together (fear and safety), and in editing an outline around the gas mask, it draws more attention directly to the mask itself, and also disconnects the mask from the rest of the image. In doing so I am able to make some distinction between the kitchen ware and gas mask, hopefully drawing more attention to the fact that these 2 things should not be seen as normal together, and yet also presenting the fact that in reality, they were.

The 2 images above are examples of the colour editing I worked on in the below image. I used two different layers when it came to editing this image, the first image including the background, and the second layer including the soldier in the foreground. I reduced the saturation of the background in order to give it a more somber tone, reflective of the reality of conflict and war, and in order to contrast this, used the layer on which the soldier sat to heighten the saturation, showing contrast between the background and the individual soldier in the foreground. As a concept, I did this because I was attempting to reflect the reality that all soldiers during the occupation were individual people too, with hopes and fears, many of which did not want to leave their families in Europe to come and occupy Jersey. I chose a single soldier and made him easily distinguishable from the rest, regardless of his own insignificance in terms of the whole image, because I wanted to convey the idea that all individuals, German and Jersey, were people that were individually affected by the impact of the war/occupation, and should not all be grouped together as “enemy” or “friend”.

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Jersey archive

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Jersey Archive

The Jersey archive-located on Clarence road- is where all of Jersey’s history is stored and preserved, which contains collections recognised by UNESCO.

“The Archive is the Island’s national repository holding archival material from public institutions as well as private businesses and individuals. “
-Jersey archive website

Materials from private individuals as well as public institutions are stored in this location. The archive can be used to do things such as tracing family history, and learning further about Jersey during the occupation.

The archive contains many things such as occupation registration cards, Images from the Jersey Evening Post, hospital records, will and testaments and even textiles. The archive’s highest priority is the preservation of documents. Documents are carefully placed in acid free materials and kept in the correct conditions. Although collecting and preserving history is very important to the archive, they also want to make the archives accessible to the local and worldwide community which is why their collections are also online.

The role and purpose of the archive

The role of the archive is to help protect and preserve Jersey’s history so that residents and other people interested are able to learn more about the island’s history. This is important since remembering history is how societies learn from their past mistakes, learn and grow. The archive’s purpose is to give people a clearer understanding of why things are the way they are today, through teaching and providing knowledge of what happened in the past.

“Researchers can use archive resources to trace their family history, the story of their house or street and to find out more about the German Occupation of Jersey during the Second World War.”
-Jersey archive website


Occupation registration cards

In December 1940, it was announced to the Jersey people that anyone over the age of 14 had to be officially registered under the Registration and Identification of Persons (Jersey) Order, 1940. This was put in place to control and restrict the movement of Jersey people during the occupation.

“The Archive holds over 31,000 registration cards of those individuals who lived in Jersey during the German Occupation. Each registration card contains personal details, such as name, address, date and place of birth, maiden name and occupation. The cards also include a passport sized photograph.” -Jersey archive website

These cards showed details of islanders living under the occupation, such as their picture, address and family details. Every islander was given a card and the Nazi authorities kept an official set which is now stored at the Jersey archive, after being kept in the bailiff’s chambers for many years after the occupation had ended.

“At first things weren’t too horrendous on the surface of it…it wasn’t until the Germans demanded that everybody be registered under the ‘Registration & Identification of Persons Order, 1940’ that things took a turn for the worse”– source

Each card was accompanied with a blue form that contained extra information that was not on the card, such as any physical peculiarities and any military service experience. Children who were under 14 had their names written on the back of their father’s cards.

The German soldiers required everyone to carry these registration cards as it meant they were easily identifiable if stopped by troops and also since the place of origin was readily available, it became easy to deport those of English origin back to England at the end of the occupation.

The cards were updated regularly and details were added if people had more children or if they moved address. As soon as children reached the age of 14, they were promptly issued with their own card.

Many of the Jersey occupation registration cards have been listed by UNESCO, which means they are registered as they have important cultural or historical significance.

Research: Harold Le Druillenec

Above you can see the registration card of Jersey Resident, Harold Le Druillenec. The card tells us that he was born in St. Ouen, which is in the North West of Jersey. Mary Isabelle Le Druillenec, who was born on 15/05/1938, is registered as his child on the back of the card. Below you can see his blue registration form showing that he was British, a school head master, married, had black hair and green eyes.

After researching Harold further I learnt that him and his family had a very interesting backstory. Harold had a sister named Louisa Gould, who hid a Russian slave worker in her house during the occupation named Feodor Burriy (nicknamed Bill) in 1942. Since Harold was an educated man, and a teacher, he taught Feodor how to speak English along with his siblings. An informer later reported them to German officials and Harold, Louisa and their sister Ivy Foster were taken to German court where they were accused of assisting an escaped prisoner.

This is the image that Louisa Gould had on her registration card.

Harold was found not guilty, however was imprisoned for 5 months since the Germans discovered a radio while searching for Feodor in his home. Ivy Foster who had taken Feodor in for a short time, and also sheltered a different prisoner was also sentenced to 5 months. Louisa was sentenced to 2 years in prison. Ivy avoided being sent to France with her brother and sister after a doctor at the Jersey General Hospital forged papers stating she was too ill to leave the island. Harold was sent to Belfort while his sister Louisa was sent to Ravensbruck, which was a concentration camp for women close to Berlin. This is where they saw each other for the last time.

Here we see an image of Louisa playing with her 2 sons;
Edward Richard and Ralph Harry.

Before he was sent to Belsen, Harold spent time at Neuengamme. In 1945 while being transferred to Belsen, he had to spend 5 days on a cattle truck. He was at Belsen for another 5 days, then finally the camp was liberated by British soldiers. Harold was 1 of 2 British men who survived Belsen concentration camp. Harold later testified in the Belsen trial where he gave evidence on how he was treated during his time there:

“I do not know if I shall succeed in giving you an idea of what life in Belsen was like on those last five days. I would like to point out that we suffered from, firstly, starvation, absolute starvation; secondly, complete lack of water for some six days; thirdly, lack of sleep, a few minutes sleep near the burial pits was occasionally possible; fourthly, to be covered with lice and delousing onself three or four times a day proving absolutely useless. If one sat inside the hut or outside in the yard one was covered within five or ten minutes. Then the fatalistic attitude among the prisoners towards what the end would certainly be – the crematorium or the pits.”
–Harold Le Druillenec, Belsen Trial.

The belsen trial was held in Luneberg in 1945 where 45 camp guards were accused of war crimes. Harold had to relive his terrible experience again after not being fully restored to health after his time spent there. Harold needed very serious hospital treatment after his experience at the camp.

“In the two previous camps there was an attempt made at cleanliness, although the atrocities or sadism in the other camps were worse than Belsen. I think I can fairly describe Belsen as probably the foulest and vilest spot that ever soiled the surface of this earth.”

–Harold Le Druillenec, Belsen Trial.

Harold’s sister Louisa fell ill soon after leaving Jersey, and was taken to the gas chamber in Ravensbruck in 1945 where she died.

Memorial dedicated to Louisa Gould opposite St Ouen parish hall

The POW Feodor Burriy was never found by the Germans and continued to be sheltered by another islander Bob Le Sueur who in his 20s spent the last year of the war moving Feodor from hiding place to hiding place, along with 7 other POWs. The first time Bob went to Louisa’s house, she told him “Bill” was French, as she had taught him to speak English with a French accent, however it was clear to Bob that he was not actually French.

“One night Bill got so drunk he crouched down and started a ­Russian song and dance routine.”


–Bob Le Sueur in an interview with the Mirror

Feodor was a talented artist, and sketched many pencil portraits during the 2 years he stayed with Louisa. Strict control in the soviet union meant that Feodor wasn’t able to contact Bob again until the 60s. They finally met each other again in 1992 when Bob travelled to Russia, after the USSR had collapsed meaning travel restrictions were not as strict. Feodor then returned to Jersey in 1995 for the 50th anniversary of Jersey’s liberation. 3 years later, he died at the age of 80.

“…he agreed to come and as the plane landed the pilot ­announced he was returning for the first time since 1945. All the passengers burst into applause.”


–Bob Le Sueur in an interview with the Mirror

There was also a film made which is based on Harold, Louisa and Ivy’s story that was released in 2017. The script was written by Louisa Gould’s great niece, Jenny Lecoat. Bob Le Sueur also helped with the script. George Lawrie, who’s an extra in the film, is the great great grandson of Louisa Gould.

“It took a year to research it and two years before it was picked up”

–Jenny Le Coat in an interview with the mirror

watch the trailer here.

“Having lost one of her sons serving in the Royal Navy, she explained to a friend, “I had to do something for another mother’s son.”

– Source

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Photo assignment: “home sweet home”

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For this assignment I will be taking environmental and candid portraits within the home.

An environmental portrait is an image taking of someone, where their surrounding is important as it contains information or clues towards someone’s personal story.

A Candid portrait is an image taken of people when they’re unaware. Unlike environmental portraits, the scene is not artificially set which means that this photography style is used to capture natural, raw moments.

Larry Sultan

Larry Sultan (July 13, 1946 – December 13, 2009) was an American photographer from California. He taught at the San Francisco art institute and at the California college of arts.

“I love making pictures, even if most of the results are lousy.” – Source

His book “pictures from home” was published in 1992, and is a collection of images he took of is parents in the 80s.

“The demands of my project and my confusion about its meaning, is the wish to take photography literally. To stop time. I want my parents to live for ever.” – Source

Candid photography photo shoot

Plan:

After looking at Larry Sultan’s work, I decided I also wanted to photograph family. I chose to photograph my dad as he is my closest family member meaning I can get a realistic representation of him. I chose to photograph him as I know that he has multiple varied roles in the house and I thought that it would be interesting to see the contrasts. I do not plan on intentionally creating scenarios, instead I plan on taking images of him doing things naturally that I think I could photograph in an interesting way.

1st selection of images- I flagged the images that I thought were the best from my entire photo shoot.
Here you can see all the flagged images.
Next, I colour coded my flagged images with green being the best photos, yellow being the ok images, and the red being the ones I didn’t think were very good.

Edits:

To edit these images I used a very similar approach. I increased the contrast slightly in order to make the subject stand out more,and I increased the vibrancy on each image in order to bring more colour to the selection of images.

Technical: I took this image using manual focus so that the hand was very clear, and the background slightly blurred. I used a shutter speed of around 1/250, and flash to brighten the scene,
Context: I took this image of my dad while he was in his home office.
Visual: It is clear that this image was taken from an unusual perspective as were able to see a side view from behind the subject. The background is filled with books and stacks of paper making it clear that it is an office environment. we can also see a faded tattoo on the subject’s hand.
Conceptual: I think that this image is very interesting as we cannot see the subject’s face, however we still see some elements of their personality through the background and through the tattoo.

Daniel Meadows

Daniel meadows was born in Gloucestershire, England on the 28 Jan 1952.

“As a photographer, my principal subject was – and remains – the British people,” – Source

From January 1972 he rented a barber shop in Manchester and invited people in to have their portraits taken for free. He team out of money in two months but had gained good experience. In the 70s he became interested in becoming a teacher and was invited to help teach documentary photography at Newport college of art and design.

“I’m not interested in celebrities, just ordinary folk.”– Source

Environmental portrait shoot

Plan:

After looking at Daniel’s work, I like how he took images of people who weren’t as personal to him. I plan on taking images of one of my friends in their bedroom as I feel it is a personal environment to them and it allows us to see elements of their personality. This shoot with be slightly more staged as I will need to position the subject in order to get successful environmental portraits and the subject will be more aware of my presence.

Here are all the outcomes from the shoot.
Here you can see the images I flagged s part as my 1st selection
Next I colour coded the images based on how successful I thought they were

Edits:

To edit this image, I increased the contrast as there are a lot of different colours in the images on the wall, and I wanted them to stand out. I also increased the highlights and decreased the white. All this combined helped the white balance look more appropriate and it also helped add more colour to the photo.
Although this does not show the subject, it allows us to learn about them since it shows their interests and what sort of images they like.
To achieve the outcome below, I increased the contrast slightly to make the green and black look more prominent amongst all the white. I increased the highlight and white in order to make the overall appearance of the photo appear brighter. Decreasing the shadow helped make the image less dark.
I think that this image is successful as it shows the subject’s passion. It is clear from this picture that the subject is a dancer or enjoys dance as we can see a sign referring to the activity and because we can also see a trophy to the left which may have been dance related.
to begin, I slightly increased the exposure because I thought my image looked slightly dark. I then increased the contrast in order to make sure the image didn’t look over exposed. I then increased the highlights so that the picture looked brighter, and I decreased the shadow to make sure the overall aesthetic of the photo was bright.
To begin with, this image was slightly over exposed due to the excess light coming in from the window. To fix this, I decreased the exposure until I felt the picture looked balanced. I then increased the contrast so that all the colours in the photo didn’t look washed out amongst the white background. To make sure the room looked clear and bright, I increased the whites and the highlights. One aspect of the image I really wanted to capture were the fairy lights. However since it was still very light outside I was not able to capture the slight yellow tint they were emitting. Because of this, I increased the temperature to a point where I felt it looked quite natural and as it it was due to the lights. This was important for me to capture as I felt like it makes the image look more homely and cosy, and less cold and clinical.

Technical: This picture was taken using portrait mode, and the exposure time was 1/30.
Context: I took this image of a friend in their bedroom.
Visual: In this picture we see a subject in bed. The image is very bright and the background appears very white and clean. On the bottom Left hand side of the image we see a photo frame with an image in it, and 2 plants. Behind the subject we can see an image wall which resembles a mood board.
Conceptual: The main concept of this picture was to try and capture the subject’s personality. The picture frame on the side does this as it shows the subject’s friends. We can also learn a lot about the person through the images they chose to display on their wall. The fairy lights also add a homely warmth to the image.
AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, Uncategorized

Jersey War Tunnels

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Tunnel entrance

“Hohlgangsanlage” are a number of tunnels that were constructed around Jersey during the occupation by slave workers from all over Europe. Hohlgangsanlage (shortened to H0) translates to “cave passage installations” which the Germans intended to use as storage spaces to protect troops and their equipment. Although they are all quite large, every tunnel, excluding HO5, remains uncompleted. Jersey law states that landowners own everything beneath their land until the centre of the Earth, meaning that all the tunnels are privately owned.

“The true story of life in Jersey during the German occupation. The hardship, the heartache and the heroism, in the words of the people who were there. “

–Source

H08, which is The Jersey War Tunnels, is the only tunnels that is open to the public without needing permission from the landowner. It was opened in 1946 and operates as a museum.

Images

Edits

To get the result below, I decreased the exposure in order to make the image darker then I increased the contrast in order to make the colours stand out. Increasing the highlight and whites allowed the white of the newspaper to stand out. I increased the shadows in order to make the black shadow on the wall to stand out and make the image look more dramatic.
I deceased the exposure to make the image seem darker, and I increased the contrast in order to make all the different layers on the picture stand out amongst each other. I increased the vibrancy and the highlights in order to make the colours in the image stand out.
AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, AO3 Record Ideas

Exploring Family Archive – Percy G. Newman

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Percy Newman:

Percy Newman was born in 1915, in Abercorn Crescent, Harrow, Middlesex. His home life as a youth was considered normal, he lived with his mother and father for the majority of his life. In 1940, he married his love interest, who was his next door neighbour throughout childhood, they where married for two years until Percy sadly passed away, during the war. During their two years of marriage, they conceived a child Margret Newman (my Grandma), who was only 4 months old when her father passed away.

After talking with Grandma, exploring her father’s passed. I asked her about memories with her father to which she replied “I do not remember my father at all.”. She has kept all the documents below for all her life, in memory of her father who she never really met or got to know. These documents are “precious” to her, as it is the only thing she has left of her father, allowing her to have a basic understand of the life he lead and the type of personality he had.

At age 24, when the Second World War broke out, At this time he was  a member of the ground engineers and worked on the instruments inside plane’s. He worked on fixing war aircrafts to ensure they were ready and fully working, to be used to attack the apposing enemies. However, on documentation he was falsely recorded to be a pilot for these aircrafts, and the documentation can be seen below.

Although he worked for the British Army, he did not die because of the war. Him and two others were killed after a collision between a motor lorry and a coach near Welton on Wednesday 27th May. Alongside this collision 6 other men were seriously injured but did not die. This event hit the local papers shortly after, and the extract can be seen below. On top of this, I was also able to see my Great Grandad’s death certificate which certifies the date and way he died and other personal details about him.

Below is the only picture on record of my Percy with his wife, and his only child Margret Welling. This photograph is one of Grandmas most cherished items as it holds a lot of meaning and sentimental value to her. The happiness found on the couples faces as they look down upon their child, shows ho much care and love they had towards Margret, and the thought that she has no recollection of him, only begins to show the importance of the image.

I then sifted through the other photographs within the archive and selected the photographs, which I think clearly represent his life. The images include, picture of his daughter growing up, pictures of him and his wife, pictures of him at school, and a photograph of his funeral. The photographs hold a lot of value not only to my Grandma but also to me know, as I understand the life my Great Grandad had, who I sadly could never meet.

Looking through these images allowed me to explore my family history which I did not know much about, and informed me that my family has links to the war, which present the themes of occupation and liberation, as well as nicely fitting in with other work which I have produced where I have looked at Jersey’s different archives.