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.

In December 1940, the Germans who occupied Jersey the summer before released a decree that ordered ever person over the age of 14 to register under the Registration and Identification of Persons (Jersey) Order, 1940. This resulted in all inhabitants of the island over the age of 14 being issued with a registration card, which included photograph of the owner, their address, name and other personal details. Children under the age of 14 were recorded on the back of their fathers card. The purpose of the cards was to provide clear identification of an individual if they were stopped by a German official, gave occupiers a rounded consensus of Jerseys population, and assisted in identifying and deporting certain individuals based on their nationality. Below is a selection of some of the registration cards given to people living on Jersey during the occupation:

The stories of the people who owned the above registration cards can be found in the Jersey War Tunnels, where some of their stories have been documented, and photocopies of the registration cards are available to look at and keep. Their stories reflect only a handful of the stories available from the German occupation, all of which tell a different tale of the struggles the people of Jersey endured under the strict rules and regulation of the Germans during the occupation.

Michelle Sank was originally from Cape Town, South Africa. But she later decided to move to England in 1978 where she could present her images and they could be viewed as a social documentary. Her work has been set around social and cultural diversity. The photos I have chosen to look at are Sank’s project called Insula. In this project she has photographed people in their day to day environments or places which best describe her models. Her images are simple yet captivating but they have a deeper context behind them, which I like. These are a few of her images I like;

From all of her images this is my favorite image from her project, Insula.

Technical; This image is in portrait style, where the man is centred in the image. The lighting is very bright, this is due to the fact of the white wall he is sat in front of emphases the light and by the looks of it the lighting has come from the rooms natural lighting and I cam to this decision because of the shadows that have been created are soft and are coming from a downwards direction . The image is balanced nicely with all the light colours, so it is not over exposed and the man is focused on in the middle of the image.

Visual; The image is almost monotone, with the colours in the image all nearly black and white. Looking at the image, on the right hand side of the image the wall is bricks which gives the image a different texture instead of it being all smooth there is a wall that is rough, which makes the image more interesting to look at. The image is also satisfying to look at due to the fact of the man sitting in the middle of the image and the straight lines on the floor.

Contextual/Conceptual; This man was photographed in his home and in this background to show off the success he has made through is surroundings he is photographed in. Along with the smart clothes he is photographed in, suggests he is successful and plays an important role in a business.

Francis Foot was born during 1885 in Jersey Channel Island. He began working as a gas fitter, but shortly after starting he was fascinated by photography and learnt he would be able to make a living off it. His family went on an brought anther shop in Pitt Street, where he would be able to work on his photographs and develop as a photographer. Many of Foot’s images have family members in them, this made him create an archive for his family, where he was able to document peoples existence, actions and show individuals growing up from his family. His work has a personal touch too it, as he is presenting to society, the evolution of his own family, it is almost as if he is paying tribute too them, with all the different photos of them all. Not only has foot taken portraits but he has also documented events happening around the island during his time.

When analysing one of Foot’s images I went through different stages and picked the image apart;

Technical; The image is taken at a direct on approach, capturing the ‘models’ face on. The lighting in this image is all natural and has come from the sun, but you can see that the ‘models’ have been placed in the shade, this may of been because the photo was too over exposed in pure sunlight, or maybe foot just preferred out the features could be outlined in the image in the shade. Within the image you can see a deep depth of field as the children are close up towards the lens then you have the background behind them going on a far way back. Whilst having the deep depth of field, the focus remains on the children, with the features of them being sharp and accurate.

Visual; You can see the image is in black and white, and that the white is very bright, it almost looks over exposed. But as the children are dressed in white, it makes them stand out of the surroundings they are being photographed in. The image does look very 2D as you can’t see much shadow. There are 3 young children stood in the centre of the image wearing white, they are related to Foot.

Contextual; The image is there to show what the children looked like before they grow, its a photo showing the beginning of their timeline. It is also there as a document of their existence. Foot took many portraits of his family members so this is just another image of family. The images he took where during his time as his family grew and is photographic ability improved, these photos are also reminders for him and his family whenever somebody passes, they still have the images of them.

Conceptual; The idea behind this photo is too document these younger children in the photo as they grow up, it is showing their existance and what they began looking like. There could be many reasons behind why Foot took many of photos like this, it maybe so the family can keep memories about individuals forever and family members can be shown and taught about them when they pass, it is like they are keeping them alive even when they do pass. You can see the photos are personal to foot, as they are all images of his family, he is creating an archive for his family by documenting different images of them over many years.