On the 4th June 2019, we went down to the jersieise societe where we got an introduction to our A2 course and the history of the German Occupation in the Channel Islands.
Firstly, we got a brief history into the photographic archives, in what they store and keep. After this we worked in small groups going through a selection of images in boxes from the archives by different artists, then we had to pick up to 10 images which we wanted to used. these are the images I picked:
Our 3rd task was to create a story with a selection of images we got given, our group decided to pick 3-4 images per theme and then put them together. This is what we came up with:
After this we went into town on a photo shoot to take images corresponding to the German occupation in St Helier.
The German occupation on Jersey started early in the war. This was just after the British government demilitarized the island. The Germans began taking Jersey at the end of June not knowing that it was demilitarized they bombed and shot lots of different sites on the island injuring lots and killing a few. Later, on the 1st of July, a German officer spoke to the people of the island and ordered immediate surrender.
After this, the Germans took Jersey and stopped news being streamed from the mainland by outlawing crystal radio sets, many risked their lives and created their own radio sets to get the news about how the war was going. Fuel was becoming more scarce and other vehicles such as bicycles were only available for use by people connected to essential services.
The occupation of Jersey lasted for five years from 1940 to 1945 and the Nazi rule was stopped by the 9th of May 1945, with the Second-in-Command for Guernsey, General Siegfried Heine signing the instrument of surrender on behalf of the German command on the Channel Islands. After this, he was ordered to immediately remove all German flags and ensigns from each of the channel islands.
A photo album is a book/ series in which an individual has collected images for through years in order to create a memory. They are usually displayed in a book form and images A5 size i usually displayed.
For my independent study, i will be looking into my own family photo albums as a type of archive. I will share my experiences of looking through the albums to see if they work the same way as a private archive works. As an extra, i will also look through my personal photo album of my friends to see if they give the same effect.
Image of my family photo album…
While looking through the family album, it was clear that the images were kept in case type pages in order to prevent fingerprints on the images, this gave a feel of importance as it made the images seem precious. It was also seen that all images were printed out as visual copies. Each page contained one image on each size which was a A5 shape. This allows us to be able to see the photo without being distracted by other ones, and again adding to the feel of importance. Looking at images from when i will little didn’t bring back any memories as i was too little to remember my image being taken. However, when looking at images of my little brother when he was a toddler brought back memories for me which i forgot existed, showing that images do in fact bring back memories.
To extend looking into photo albums i also analysed my mother while she was looking through the same photo album as i was and her reaction was a lot more personal as she is the one who had made the photo album while me and my brother were growing up. The images allowed her to look back on the past and remind her of all the memories which she made for me, herself and other family members.
Example images..
Due to my mum getting a lot more feelings while looking back on the album she made herself, i also decided to do the same thing a look through the photo album i made for myself which includes both family and friends.
I found that my photo album more of a casual feel to it because of the A4 sized images which allowed for 5 images to be displayed per page. The images were also in clear cases to prevent finger prints. Looking back at the memories allowed me to be visually reminded of elements in my teenage life as well as giving me memories which i can share with my friends due to the images rejigging my memory.
Pages from my album
In conclusion, i found that the way personal albums work compared to archives are very different and a lot more casual. As archived images are kept in cold rooms where you have to wear gloves to touch the images, it showed that the clear cases and personal images which we have at home are a lot more family friendly as they are allowed to be touched without gloves and don’t need a daily temperature check. However, this experiment also allowed me to realize that archives are all around us and they will always be a way of keeping images and it doesn’t matter how much technology is introduced. It has also been proved that they are both the same type of archive.
As a photography section we went on a visit to one of two archives that we have in Jersey, we learnt how this archive have been collecting and restoring photos and documents from WWII as it is a big part of the Islands history.
The Photographic Archive of the Société Jersiaise contains over 80,000 images dating from the mid-1840s to the present day (with around 36,000 images from the collection being digitally transferred onto the Société’s online archive) and is the principal Jersey collection of nineteenth and early twentieth century photography. On the 9th of May 1840 photography; in it’s early development, was introduced to Jersey. Just nine months after first being publicised in urban centers of England and France.
Proceeding an introduction of the roles of the archive we were shown folders of photos which had been preserved and kept which had then been given to the archives of WWII photos and documents. Some of these included photos of the streets of Jersey and some officers which were located, but there were also books of the different coastal areas within Jersey with detailed drawings and notes in where turrets were placed and the vicinity in which the guns could fire under threat. There were also notes made about the local landscape and the way their were shaped.
I thoroughly enjoyed the visit to the Société Jersiaise archives, as it allowed me to gain a wider knowledge and understanding of archives and how they keep and restore their photos and documents.
We went down to Societe Jersaise to experience using the archive. We looked at images taken by the Germans from the occupation and practiced creating a narrative with them. We practiced how to order photos from the archive which was looking up their reference number and writing it down on an order form with a description. Then during our lunch break we had a task to take images that connected to people, place and objects to do with the occupation.
Archives are used as a source to help preserve things which people want for later in life and they are partly the product of this human desire not to forget the past. Archival organisations collect and preserve materials for the use of the public. They keep records of many forms including correspondence, diaries , financial and legal documents, photographs and film. Most state governments, schools, businesses, libraries, and historical societies maintain archives for different reasons. Individuals and organisations are constantly storing information about their personal and business activities and archives identify and preserve these documents so that they last many years. Photographs are very valuable for providing a vision to past lives and events and they are representing the truth. Therefore photographic archives are also helping to build knowledge and not just decide the truth on past events.
The local Societe Jersaise was formed in 1887 and is a photo archive which contains over 100,000 images dating from the mid 1840s to the present day. It is the principal Jersey collection of nineteenth and early twentieth century photography. This particular Archive explores the archaeology of jersey, history, ancient language and the conservation of the environment and is one of the only in jersey which holds images which go as far back as the 1840s, making this a very important part of Jersey’s history. The collection offers a detailed visual record of developments in Jersey landscape and social history throughout the photographic era leading up to the present day.
Archival photographs help to provide history, knowledge and power as well as being resources for news, documentary, advertising and anthropology. They are also very valuable for contemporary photographers as they can use photographic archives as the main subject of their work and then can work and re-examine and interpret the histories which they convey, overall making archives becoming the foundation to rethink what happened.
The Societe Jersaise provide information presentations about collections helping to broaden knowledge of the public and show how images are preserved. The archive images are shown to be kept in boxes, sealed in a carefully watched temperature room which they keep very cold of avoid fingerprinting on the photographs. When being shown images the presenters wore cotton gloves for extra protection and the images were kept in plastic seals showing how precious and how well handled they have to be.
David Bates text explains how museums use archives in order to display a particular cultural or historical moment in time.
A photographer who i took interest to was Ernest Baudoux, originally from France, Baudoux worked in Jersey from 1869. He and his son had a business in Jersey which he sold to a young photographer John Stroad from London. Some of the business he sold ( many of his glass-plate negatives) were attributed incorrectly to the youngster and the Photographic Archive ‘ Societe Jersiase’ now have a plan to identify the 3000 images in their collection. The Societe Jersiase Photographic Archive contains a collections of 1385 negatives by Baudoux and 12 of these negatives are exhibited here. His first trace of photographic practice in Jersey was in 1869, the trade directory in Jersey Almanacs. Not much is known about his photographic career in France before Jersey, however we know that he took many landscapes, studio portraiture and architecture while in Jersey. His first project in Jersey which he produced was a panorama of St. Helier which seemed to indicate a desire to survey the town. The photos he produced do not join up precisely but the image he produced was the quality of the full plate size (20.3 x 25.3 cm). The panorama shows the architecture of St. Helier in lots of detail.
His panorama
This landscape image is a representation of the type of work Baudoux produced while in Jersey. The image represents Jersey as being a very small society due to everything being very close together, there is no destruction in this image, representing Jersey as being a safe place with wealthy houses. This panorama allows us to compare in this day in age what St.Helier looked like then and what it looks like now. This is an image which is stored in the Societe Jersaise Photographic Archive.
When photographs were first coming out they were stored in archives, however this has changed due to new technology. In this day the internet and availability of a camera is a lot easier and has encouraged the speed and quality of images to rise. Now people store images on their phones and laptops instead of in a photo archive and they publish their images on social media platforms. Although new technology has improved photography, it has also caused problems along the line. Due to storing images on phones, they are easily lost due to people not properly backing up their phones, hard drives and laptops. Not many people tend to print their images in this day and age. However, photo albums are still kept by a percentage of the population to ensure they do not loose important family images which is similar to the role of a photographic archive.
Jacques Derrida is a French Phiosopher who described ‘archive fever’ as a contradiction at the heart of the idea of conservation. Conservation is a possibility of forgetting. Because the human memory is limited, photographs have become a different idea of remembering with the desire to return to something beyond the capacity of conscious memory. Human memory is a complex matter which is not easily reducible to simple binary opposites like past , present and future. Documents, texts, images ad objects are reliving the human brain of forgetting and remembering things accurately.
Overall, Archives have proven to have different purposes and they help to value contemporary artists that can be used for public reasons. It is said that the memories can still belong to the photographer/ author in a way due to it being their work and it reflecting a personal side of their lives. Using archives has helped to develop my personal study due to me having an interest in comparing the past to the present, which archives allow us to do. This discovery is going to push me to look more into archives.
The archives hold a variety of work open for the public to view, study and use in their own personal work. This is just a few of the services which they offer at the archives.
Documents relating to the history of Jersey
Family papers and correspondence
Authors’ manuscripts and research notes (e.g. Philip Ahier, G.R. Balleine, William Davies, E.T. Nicolle, Joan Stevens, Marguerite Syvret)
German Occupation contemporaneous diaries and reports, Biberach Camp register, German military plans of island defences.
Ephemera, including entertainment programmes
EXPERIENCE AT SOCIETE JERSAISE:
The overall experience at the archives was very informative yet interesting at the same time, we started of with a small introduction to the archives and what they were all about, giving a brief history and the intended purpose of them. We then proceeded to do various activities relating to the occupation and the archives, we were able to choose a variety of images for out own personal use which can be seen down below. The sheer size of the archives is huge and is a very useful resource for students and the public alike who want to explore more about the occupation and want to see a photographic resources.
PHOTOS I CHOSE FROM HE ARCHIVES:
IMAGE ANALYSIS:
HOW IT FOLLOWS THE RULE OF THIRDS:
Below I wanted to demonstrate how the image follows the rule of thirds by placing a grid on top of the image. We can very clearly see that the man, who is the focal point of the image falls within the top third of the image, drawing the eye upwards and paying the most attention to him.
TECHNICAL:
In terms the technical aspects of the image, the photographer who took the image, due to the technology available at the time would have been using a tripod, or supported camera in order to take the image. 1940s camera development stalled somewhat due to an austere period for everyone whilst the world went through the upheavals of WW2 and economies hauled themselves out of the subsequent difficulties. Camera styling wise, the black body with chrome top started to be popular, aluminium tended to be used at the end of WW2 for entire cast bodies when it was used at all, 35mm was firmly established but cheap cameras persisted with the 120 or 620 format. The waist level finder, so common up to the 1930s, vanishes from camera designs. The folding camera’s heyday has ended and the view camera takes the lead for the everyday snapshot camera. Wood is now a thing of the past and the 1930s Leica styling influence is taking hold.
VISUAL:
Judging from the nature of the image, the photo has very much an environmental style feel to it due to the man looking out into the distance. The focal point of the image is the tone, the eyes of the viwer are lead up the tower and onto the man who is looking out to the distance. This has a very distinct historical feel to it due to the presence of the man in his military uniform. Furthermore the tower which is pictured was purpose built for the use of being able to look out for potential danger coming from overseas. The overall image is also very geometrical in nature de to the tower which has a very clear pentagonal shape and the fencing in the front which creates a sense of repetition, this is further created through the presence of the rectangular windows I the top third of the image. The viewer also mainly focuses on the top third of the image as this is where the subject is situated. As this is a black and white image, it can only be judged purely based on the tonal differences. As it is a bright and clear day, the shadows aren’t too impactful and there is only a minimal tonal range.
CONTEXTUAL:
During World War II Nazi Germany constructed a considerable number of fortifications in the Channel Islands which form part of the Atlantic Wall. The Channel Islands were amongst the most heavily fortified parts of the Atlantic Wall, particularly Alderney which is the closest to France. In Jersey, the fortifications include Hohlgangsanlage tunnels and artillery batteries such as Battery Moltke and Battery Lothringen.
The most distinctive new structures the Germans built were the Marine Peilstand (MP) towers that they used to search for targets at sea. The Germans had intended to build nine towers, but only completed three. These towers are round and have five or more floors with observation embrasures, as well as defensive embrasures. MP1 is part of Battery Lothringen, MP2 overlooks Corbière lighthouse and is now known as the Radio Tower, and MP3 is part of Battery Moltke. The design of the towers inadvertently and somewhat ironically reflect the Bauhaus movement of Modernist architecture (1919-1933), a movement that the Nazis had tried to suppress.
CONCEPTUAL:
Even though the exact photographers who captured these images are unknown, there are a variety of images which have been collected and stored in archives all across Jersey. Whether that be personal or public, there is a variety of imagery which captures the Jersey occupation. Another archival facility is the Channel Islands Occupation Society (Jersey branch) was set up in 1971 with the intention of investigating the period of the German Occupation of the Channel Islands and to maintain and preserve sites of special interest such as the German fortifications in the Island. Subsequently the Society has been placed in charge of the maintenance of a number of bunkers and has undertaken substantial research into the Occupation period in the Channel Islands.
