Ernest Badoux

Born in France in 1828, Ernest Badoux worked in Jersey from 1869 to 1887, later joining and working with his son. A grand total of 13085 photographs are available in the Société Jersiaise’s archive, mainly portrait work (his speciality) but also featuring landscapes of the island. Badoux can be described as the “first significant chronicler of island life” through the means of photography.

He often used the chromotype process (carbon printing) for his images, which adds a sepia-tone to the portraits and their subjects, and makes the photographs more expensive to produce but of higher quality.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The portraits themselves are excellent examples of the fashions of the period, as the subjects would have worn their best clothes to the sittings, showcasing their wealth and social standing. For the children, this meant fancy dress most of the time including sailor outfits for the young boys, which showed how influential Jersey’s maritime industry was during that period. the facial expression of the subjects also reveals more about the practice of photography during that era, as they were most often pictured as being stern and not particularly happy. This was due to the need for them to be very still in order to have a clear and sharp picture, meaning holding their pose for a far longer period of time than nowadays.

These people would all have been fairly wealthy, to be able to afford such a high quality and professional portrait and the fine clothing that they wore, and much can be judged about each person’s life from each image. However, the majority of them are photographed in what appears to be a studio, with the same plain background and furnishings, the exception being the photograph in the bottom right corner, of Miss Allix on her horse.

PHOTOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS-

This image is an example of the “chromotype” method of photography that Badoux often use, which can clearly be seen by the sepia colour palette and the higher quality of the image as a whole. This image in particular was not labelled with a name so the subject’s identity is unknown, but we can guess from the context that she was wealthy, and from her wedding ring we can see she was married. the subject is centered and the portrait is a half-body posed type of image. There is clearly a fake background hanging behind her, which is simple and not overly distracting, which draws all attention to the subject as the main focal point of the whole image. She is facing the camera, however is looking just off into the distance, and her expression is plain and neutral, due to the long time it took to take a photograph in those days.

LINKS-

https://www.theislandwiki.org/index.php/Ernest_Baudoux

https://societe-jersiaise.org/photographic-archive

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

WILLIAM COLLIE took portraits of working class people in Jersey. He used the Fox Talbots calotype process and was the first in Jersey to do this. Collie had a worked in Belmont Road and Bath Street from 1850 till 1878. WILLIAM COLLIE was born in Skene, Scotland in 1810 and started his professional career as a portraiture painter. He was one of the earliest photographers in Jersey working Belmont House. He mostly took portraits of those in the Jersey and French market. Most of WILLIAM COLLIEs’ work can be found in the Jersey arhive.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The image is in black and white and has a large range of tones, from dark blacks, in the hair and on the dress, to light whites, on the dress and in the background. There are many textures with in the image, such as the cracked wall in the background and the intricate lace designs on the woman’s dress. In the image there are some negative space, which is the background, this blank space makes the foreground, the women, stand out better. The position of the figure in the image is slightly off center and creates an interesting feel to the image, as normally portraits are taken of the figure dead center. COLLIE took portraits of working class people in the French and Jersey market, so contextually this photograph links to this. The lady in the image may be in the market playing cards with her friends. Or was lady approached by COLLIE and asked to pose with the cards. No one will ever know, but it is most likely COLLIE took photographs of her while she was playing cards with her friends. The concept of this photograph is to capture working class people in a place that relates to them.

I have planned a photoshoot which links to WILLIAM COLLIE.

I followed the plan that I made and decided to use my Mum for this task. I positioned her in the garden, as mentioned before, because she loves being in the garden therefore making it an environmental portrait. I also chose my mum because of opportunity reasons; she was readily available to me and because I find she has such interesting character which shows through her tattoos especially.

I edited these photographs first by cropping them, so that my subject was the centre of attention and that no other irrelevant objects could be seen. I feel like this made the image a lot prettier and satisfying to look at.

To finish off my editing, I used many different tools. Firstly, I used the blur tool to defocus the background a little more so my subject was even more the centre of attention than before. I then levelled the image to how I preferred. After, I increased the vibrancy and the saturation of the image to make it look warmer and more appealing to the viewers of the image. Also, to make the flowers stand out a bit more. I also increased the sharpness of the image to somewhat improve the quality and I also used the dodge tool to brighten up some areas.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Definition of the word ‘Love’:

1. An intense feeling of deep affection.
2. Interest and pleasure in something.

These are both dictionary definitions and do not describe or accurately represent how we feel about someone (or something).

It is argued that there are 8 different types of ‘love’:

• Agape — Unconditional Love – Often referred to as the ‘highest’ form of love. It’s given without any expecting a reward or something in return.
• Eros — Romantic Love. – The most primal form of love experienced in each person. (displayed through physical affection)
• Philia — Affectionate Love. – Love without romantic attraction. It occurs when both people share the same values and can respect one other.
• Philautia — Self-love. – Recognising self -worth and attending to personal needs.
• Storge — Familiar Love. – This is naturally occurring between parents, children and best friends. It’s love built upon acceptance and deep emotional connection.
• Pragma — Enduring Love. – This matures over many years between a couple that puts equal effort into their relationship and has both commitment and dedication to one another.
• Ludus — Playful Love. – The immature and early stages of intimate love.
• Mania — Obsessive Love. – An unhealthy obsession with another person, leading to codependency. Usually found in insecure individuals who need their partner to find a sense of self-value.

Below I’ve presented a mood board of images I feel represent this theme. The photos show different kinds of ‘love’, ranging from familial love to altruism and individuals’ loyalty to a partner or organisation.

For example, Chloe Jafe’s image from ‘I give you my life‘ (pictured in the middle) represents the commitment and dedication these women from Japan have towards their significant other. The large tattoo “irezumi” these women have denotes their allegiance to the Yakuza, an international crime syndicate, which ultimately makes them outlaws to society due to the stigma of tattoos in Japan.

Additionally, Alec Soth’s portrait (pictured top left) from the series ‘Songbook’ depicts a man in a dance pose, perhaps representing his love and passion for the art form.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Henry Mullins started working at 230 Regent Street in London in the 1840s and moved to Jersey in July 1848, setting up a studio known as the Royal Saloon, at 7 Royal Square. He found many islanders willing to pay half a guinea to have their portrait taken by him.

He was especially popular with officers of the Royal Militia Island of Jersey, who would often have portraits taken, as well as their wives and children for the more senior officers.

An advertisement in the Jersey Times of 5 June 1849 states that “Portraits are taken in groups of two or three, or the single figure, or bust, and of various sizes, even small enough for a ring, the charge for which is reduced to one half of that in London, viz: 10s 6d for the portrait complete. Instruction given in the Calotype, Energiatype, or photographic processes, and proficiency guaranteed for a fee of five guineas”.

below are the contact sheets from my latest photoshoot ‘a portrait of someone you love’ -candid and environmental

• 

• 

• 

a portrait of someone you love- environmental and candid

who?	dad and misty the dog
where?	gronez castle
when?	just after midday
how?	using my panasonic camera with a tripod
why?	to capture my dad and the dog in a scenic spot