Archives are a collection of historical documents in any media, such as letters or photographs that keep information and meaning for future generations to learn about the history of a specific place or subject. The Société Jersiaise is a Jersey-based archive and was formed in 1873. They published their annual report named ‘Bulletin Annuel’ in 1875, and finally opened their museum in 1877 due to their sudden growth of interest in 1886. The main aim for the The Société Jersiaise was ‘Recording in permanent photography local prehistoric monuments, buildings and ruins.’. The group focused on collecting already-existing images of Jersey life and landscapes, however this expanded to the group then developing their own photographic documents as a method of research after photography arrived In Jersey in 1840, which still remain in the archives presently, 140 years later. Currently, the archive contains over 100,000 documents and photographs from the mid nineteenth century up until current times, these documented images allow current generations and generations to come about Jersey life and architecture, aswell as the practice and process of photography in the past and how that process has changed over the years. In terms of archives in a broader context, we keep archives ourselves in the form of photo albums on our phones, and physical albums such as family albums that have accumulated over the years. Our personal archives allow people to understand us as individuals with representations of our personalities, friends, families, hobbies and our lives in general. The Société Jersiaise does this on a much larger scale with an archive of what it was like for generations living in Jersey.
Albert Smith is one of Jersey’s earliest and well-known photographers to have his work contained in the archives. After leaving his previous photography career in Waterloo, Smith moved to Jersey and opened his new business on New Street in 1892, where he stayed for almost 40 years. He opened and closed multiple businesses in St Helier and his last studio on Broad Street, which he operated until 1931. Thousands of Albert Smith’s photographs are contained at The Société Jersiaise in the form of glass plate negatives which display his work that focused on portraits and Jersey wildlife. Out of nearly 3,300 photographs contained at the archive, almost 2,000 of these were taken by employees hired by Albert Smith, and a small amount taken by Smith himself. The last images taken by Smith’s business that are contained in the archive are dated from the mid to late 1930’s, with photographs of The Battle of Flowers and the opening of Jersey Airport. These images by Smith and his company allow for an understanding into life in that time, and historic milestones celebrated within Jersey during this time. The method used to take images by photographers in the 1800’s included using a portable camera obscura to expose a pewter plate coated with bitumen to light, however the method of salt paper plates started being used, meaning presumably this was the method used by Albert Smith and his company. Smith and his company contributed greatly to The Société Jersiaise archive as the majority of kept images have been provided through the research of his company, meaning photographic context from this time period is made easily accessible and understandable.
https://www.theislandwiki.org/index.php/Albert_Smith
This image by Albert Smith depicts his family in the year of 1893, Smith used the method of “glass plate negatives” in his work around this time, so presumably this is the method used in this image. The method of “glass plate negatives” involves spreading a flammable liquid, collodion, onto a glass plate. It was then placed into a bath of silver nitrate which turned into a photosensitive silver iodide. The process of exposure and processing had to happen immediately before the plate dried to receive the best results. Images produced like this allow us to understand how photographic processes have developed overtime with the developing of technology and knowledge. Earlier images like this focused more on process rather than composition, which is why this image has a simple composition. There is an extreme contrast in the photograph due to the black and white method of film photography, which is seen especially between the black clothing and the pale complexion of the faces.
Linking back to the question, archives can be seen as repository of knowledge in multiple ways. Firstly, photographic archives give us visual evidence of life in Jersey in the past few hundred years, with architecture, fashion and the overall style of photography. Furthermore, these archives also allow us to gain knowledge of early photographic methods, such as wet plates, salt-paper prints and the earliest methods of the camera obscura. On the other hand, photography was only made accessible for high-class citizens as the process of photography was expensive and the knowledge of the science behind the processes was needed in order for the images to be developed properly. Because of this, we have mainly have access to only the insights of the life of the high-class and there was little representation of the lives of lower-class citizens.