Lightroom helps you import, organise, manage and find your images. Lightroom is a photo management and photo editing combined into a single tool.
I started experimenting with Lightroom by using my images from the Battery Moltke photo shoot. The steps below show how Lightroom is the best manipulation software for the selecting and editing process of images.
Noirmoint is a headland that is based in St Brelard, Jersey. It is part of the Islands war memorial as it commemorates part of the German occupation. Within this part of land lies bunkers where some of the German’s were based and where they held fire arm, the bunkers have an exceptional strong frame of concrete which have been left undisturbed for many of years
The following images are from the trip;
Jonathan Andrew:
To fill the time during slow winter months, photographer Jonathan Andrew decided to follow through on an idea that he had a few years back: he started photographing old WWII bunkers. Based out of Amsterdam, he already had several to work with close-by, but as the project has received more and more media attention, he’s taken the time to travel all over Europe, adding more beautiful, haunting bunker images to his portfolio.
Perhaps even more interesting than the subject of his photographs, however, is how he captures them. Using a converted medium format camera, he takes 6-14 minute exposures, firing off a broncolor flash as many as 60 times to properly light the scene. In a sense, he uses a very pure form of light painting, using the technique not to actually “paint” anything, but to recreate studio quality lighting conditions on-the-go. They don’t always turn out properly on the first try, but as he’s done more of them, he’s managed to perfected his technique down to a fine art, and the results speak for themselves. In a sense, he uses a very pure form of light painting, using the technique not to actually “paint” anything, but to recreate studio quality lighting conditions on-the-go. They don’t always turn out properly on the first try, but as he’s done more of them, he’s managed to perfected his technique down to a fine art, and the results speak for themselves.
At first I found attractive the geometry and shape of these structures (…) It was as if they were still on guard, and no one had told him that the war was over” – Jonathan Andrew
Battery Moltke in an uncompleted coastal artillery defense system located in the North West of Jersey in St Ouen. The sight contains bunkers and gun emplacements that were originally designed in order to protect St Ouen’s bay in case of an attack which the Island was under the occupation of Nazis.
one of the original guns can still be seen there today, and could originally be rotated to fie in any direction
The Channel Islands occupation society preserves and operates a few of the bunkers as museums, however the exterior sites remain available to see at all times.
The channel islands occupation society is an organisation made up of volunteers that study the occupation of Jersey and Guernsey and seek to raise awareness of this in order to educate the public on World War 2, and the effect of it on the Channel Islands. The CIOS manage many German fortifications and archives on both Channel Islands. The Jersey branch has operated since 1971.
We began our morning by meeting a member of the CIOS, who began by telling us the history of the sight. We then went on to see the gun emplacements, where we were told that the original gun placed there was actually French. After learning about the artillery and how it’s purpose was to defend the coast, we went on to view the main bunker that had been turned into a museum type attracting filled with many artifacts and information. The underground bunker had many different rooms. We were able to see things like original objects from the occupation such as radios, typewriters and even newspapers. The most interesting thing I saw was were the Red Cross food parcel packaging that the islanders received by the end of the war.
After seeing where the soldiers operating in the bunkers would sleep, I then went on to see a memorial dedicated to all the forced workers brought to the channel islands. Here I learnt that may polish, Russian, French, Jewish and Spanish republicans were forced to work in Jersey for the Nazi officers in order to build the bunkers. In this section of the bunker we could see a figure who was meant to represent a forced laborers, surrounded by a lot of rubble. This was especially interesting because it allowed you to really be able to empathise with what there people had to go through, an how difficult it must of been for them to have their freedom stripped away from them.
After we had finished looking around the main bunker, we then went on to see other fortifications that were still standing around the same sight.
Goudal is a French artist who has graduated from the royal college of art in 2010 with an MA is photography. She is currently living and working in Paris. She often works directly with landscapes, sometimes inserting photographic backdrops into a scene then photographing it. She is also known for making video work that is linked to the themes within her work.
“Fiction meets reality in her photographic work” – cercle
This series photographed between 2013 and 2014 shows science fictional architecture in landscapes. From the mood board it’s clear to see her documentary like images in this series almost look like an illusion. During this project she had used traditional photography and a physical form of manipulation since she created architectures out of paper and placed them in real landscapes. All of the images are in black and white which helps bring out all the dimensions of the figures. All the images are also taken on a landscape setting, which helps all the images in the series complement each other. This photographer is useful to look at since throughout my project i will be photographing bunkers and sites similar to the one sin her images, and looking at these photos has helped me to understand the importance of framing and angles when capturing these types of architecture.
Photo Montage:
Photo-montage is the process and the result of making a composite photograph by cutting, gluing, rearranging and overlapping two or more photographs into a new image. This can be done by halving or quartering similar images,arranging the segmented images in certain ways can results in one subject composed of several photographs, eg. a face composed of several faces stuck together to still resemble a face. Sometimes the resulting composite image is photographed so that a final image may appear as a seamless photographic print or be further manipulated on computer software. This latter technique is often referred as “compositing”, and in casual usage is often called “photoshopping”. Montages are often assembled by cutting out people, features, colours, patterns, objects or pieces of text to create a new image.
Moodboard:
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My Response:
Archives are places that contain many historical images and documents. They preserve things in order for the public to be able to view, compare and learn from the past. However, as time goes on archives are beginning to change in order to keep up with current technology. Theorist, David Bates, has referred to this by saying that “no longer are photographic archives merely filled with dusty piles of boxes” since “digitisation of photographic images online has also generated new networks”. This is a positive change as having digitized versions of images and documents, makes them more accessible to more people. However, this also means that people may not apricate it as more since there is minimal effort involved in acquiring these materials.
Archives can be used for research and knowledge. Since the images and documents are old, they can be analysed so people in the modern day have an insight to how the world would be. This is especially useful for research photographers since it allows them to be able to see physical images from years ago, which means it is possible to contrast and compare images from today. They’re also important to have since It is important to keep things that happened in the past alive in the modern age, as it is important that societies learn from their past errors, archives play an important role in this as they keep memories prom the past preserved in order for people to see.
Archives are repositories of past memories since they provide evidence that people can use to examine the past, in a way where they can understand it. For example, One of Jersey’s archive’, Societe Jersiarse, is a local archive that contains many images and documents of Jersey’s history. This specific archive is very important as it allows people to look at local history, images an documents. Without the preservation of local history, local knowledge may not have been as well known. Thanks to organisations such as this archive, local people can easily access information about their past which can help them to understand their heritage and understand why things are the way they are.
In archives I believe that photography can play a double role. This is because the images are used for both scientific and historical research and also for artistic purposes. Obviously, the images can be used to research society and the past so that societies are able to know more about the history of where they’re from so they’re able to be more culturally aware, but they can also be used for more creative outlooks. Our project for example, allows us to experience learning the whole historical knowledge however, it also allows us to express it in a more creative manor since we are not confined to solely research.
Louise Lawler is a photographer that is mentioned in David Bate’s text. She is a photographer who from the late 1970s onward, photographed many works of other artists. she focuses on photographing the environment surroundings of featured artworks. Her work demonstrates how images can be contextualised and decontextualised with and without their surrounding areas.
Another artist mentioned by Bates is Tracey Moffatt, specifically her series “something more”. This series depicts a desire to leave her rural life behind, for city life. As you can see from the series below, most of the images show the figures staring at the woman whom appears to be in deep thought in most of the images.
Looking at Archival material would be very useful in my personal study. Since my project will of course be based around the occupation of Jersey, I think it is really important that I refer back to original images of the time period so that my project can be more accurate. referring to the original images will also help as it will give me more of an insight into my local areas that have a lot of history behind them that I otherwise would not really know about without archive images and documents. It will also give me more of an understanding of how society acted at the time, which would really allow me to have a more in depth view into the thoughts and feelings of jersey people which allows my project to have more of an authentic touch to it. I feel that looking at this material will also help me to be more empathetic to the people of Jersey’s situations during this time. This means that my project will hopefully have more of an emotional touch, which would make it more successful as it will trigger a more emotive response in my audience
Our trip to the Jersey archive, Société Jersiaise, has already been very helpful when it came to getting my project started. Being able to physically see and touch images taken during the occupation has helped me develop an appreciation and deeper understanding of what happened. It has also helped with the accuracy of my project, since I am now aware of certain locations in Jersey that have a special historical significance, which will enhance my project as I will be able to explore different areas of the island by picturing them. This has also helped me appreciate the history of the island that I grew up in since prior to this, I had minimal knowledge on the occupation.
Researching and being able to physically spend a day in an archive has taught me how important it is to preserve things that depict and explain our history, as they key to understanding how our society is in the modern age, lies in what has happened in the past. I have also learnt really important aspects of Jersey’s history which is very important as I now feel more confident in proceeding with the project since I have underlying knowledge of Jersey during the occupation, which I gained from viewing images and reading documents. I have also learnt the importance of exploring local history because it can teach you a lot about the way you grew up.
“The Société Jersiaise was founded in 1873 for the study of Jersey archaeology, history, natural history, the ancient language and the conservation of the environment.”
– source
The Société Jersiaise is a Jersey archive which preserves Jersey’s history. Amongst many objects, they house many images that depict Jersey’s occupation during WW2. In the archive you can find many images taken by both German soldiers and Jersey people.
The Société was founded by a group of jersey individuals who were keen on jersey’s history and wanted to make sure it was kept. The Société then grew to include the founding of a museum, and the purchasing archaeological sites in order to preserve and present them. Some sights now owned by the Société Jersiaise are La Houge Bie and La Cotte de Saint-Brélade
Images to the right are from the Société Jersiaise archive.
Our day began with a presentation where we were told some background information on the archive, such as when it was founded and some of the important Jersey photographers who’s work are in the archive.
The archive was formed in 1873, and in 1877 they announced that they had aims of opening a museum. The archive contains over 100,000 images from the mid 1840s, to today. Since Britain and France were both known for the development of photography, Jersey (located between the two) has a rich history in photography. On the 9th of May 1840, photography arrived in Jersey, and the archive contains works by photographers such as Thomas Sutton and William Collie.
We then spent the majority of the time looking through many collections of images, both from the archive and private collectors, from the occupation of Jersey.
We were able to see many photos taken by both Jersey and German photographers, which was very interesting as it meant we were able to see two different perspectives of the occupation.
After choosing our favourite images, we then recorded the reference numbers so that the archive were able to provide us with the digital version you can see in the gallery to the right.
Next, We spent some time learning about narratives. A narrative is the idea that a group of images are able to tell an audience a story. We were given a selection of copies of archive images so that we were able to attempt our own narratives in groups. This was a helpful task as it aided me in realising that sometimes, less images may be better than more. Below is the narrative that my group produced:
Next, We walked around Jersey’s town centre in order to take images of things to do with the occupation of Jersey.
while taking images around town, I decided to go to some locations that I had seen in images at the archive. Below are the archive images, compared to the images I took.
The archives in Jersey hold a vast range of images taken during the occupation of Jersey during WW2 (1940-45). The Société Jersiaise studies the history and archaeology of Jersey, and hosts archives that contain documentation and photography that reflects the life and work of those living through the occupation of Jersey, from both allied and axis perspectives. Over 360,000 images can be found in the archives of Société Jersiaise, and many of these images are vital to documenting and remembering the lives of those living through the occupation, and how the invasion of German forces changed not only the lives of inhabitants, but also the impact they had on jerseys natural environment due to the development of military forts, such as bunkers and artillery fortifications along the coasts of Jersey.
We were given a brief history of the archives, and we were shown the influence of photographers such as Ernst Baudoux, who was a photographers working during the late 19th century (when the archive was first constructed). The archive was explained to be an important place in which images from throughout Jersey’s recent history are collected, in order to preserve them which allows for the different generations and landmark events (such as wars) to be reviewed and remembered.
During our trip to the Société Jersiaise, we were able to experience and look into a wide range of archived images, depicting the occupation from the perspective of the German soldiers and officers. The following is a series of images that I took on the day:
The experience at the archives allowed us to get a better understanding of the occupation and how it affected Jersey in multiple ways, from a more personal perspective. The images, when placed together, tell a narrative of the occupation of Jersey, from when it was first invaded in 1940, until its liberation in 1945. These images are all extremely important to preserving the history of Jersey, and they allow us to recount the events of WW2 and the occupation, and remember how life was affected by the invasion for the thousands of inhabitants of the island.
During our visit to the archives, we were asked to create a narrative using the photographs available. This task was used to get us to think about the structure and layout of a series of images (a skill useful in our bunker archaeology project). In doing so, we were able to form a relatively coherent story, using the layout of images to depict a timeline. Our group opted to show the progression of the invasion of Jersey in a more literal sense, moving from the sea to the coast, and continuing inland. We also split the photographs into further sections, showing groups of images as soldiers, artillery and civilians, to further emphasis the divide between the groups on the island during the occupation. The following is the final result:
On a day out for a photography trip, we went to Batterie Moltke in St.Ouens, and visited the German sites built across the coast. This included bunkers and gun emplacements which were used in the war. During this time we were taken on a tour where we learnt the history of these places and were shown pictures taken back when the second world war was still happening in Jersey, which was an interesting experience.
About Battery Moltke:
Battery Moltke located at Noirmont Point on the Channel Island of Jersey and was built by the German army in 1942.
French Guns from 1917 were re-used by the Germans and placed there. They were placed in open concrete posts and were able to defend St. Ouen Bay. They were also able to engage targets on the rest of the island.
In August 1944, the alarm went off in the gun battery when the British destroyer HMS Onslaught, in process of attacking a German convoy, came within range of the battery. Along with 3 other gun batteries, the Germans opened fire and HMS Onslaught withdrew.
After the war, the British dismantled the guns and threw them out over the cliffs. They have since been restored and are on display today.
Contact sheets of photos taken at Battery Moltke:
Using Lightroom, I took these images and went through a selection process to see which images I would be willing to use for the theme.
Process:
The first step o my selection process is that I go through each image one by one and flag them. The images which are marked with the black flag with the cross means that i’m not interesting in using it, while images with the white flag means that there is a chance that I could use them at some point. I’m doing this to just narrow down my options to find my final few images which i’m sure that I will use.
The second process I went through is that I rated the images which I flagged white, with starts going from 1 to 5 on how much I like them. I mainly used 2 and 3 stars though, and didn’t rate the ones which I didn’t like. I then went and colour coded them, with the colour yellow meaning that I might use it and with green meaning there is a big chance I will use it.
With the filter functions, I can separate the colour coded images. So when i want to see my images which are colour coded yellow or green I can turn the filter on and make my selection from that.