We used Adobe InDesign to create a photo zine of our photography throughout St Helier. We set boarders on the pages to make the images symmetrical and even, and imported out best edited photos from the shoot into the program. I then selected photographs that fit together well to be presented on each page, without over packing the page and cramming photos in. I decided to have some pages with one full image, these images were usually the clearest with high contrast which had a larger impact on the viewer. Other pages had smaller images with up to 2 photos on a page and 4 images on a double page spread. I chose my cover image because of the contrast between the two sides being white with highlights and the other being dark with shadows in the background. I also liked this image because the subjects stayed in the same position that they were in before we walked by to take photos, showing a glimpse into another persons life.
Here are the final pages of the zine screenshotted on Adobe InDesign.
Societe Jersiaise Photographic Archive was created in 1873. It was formed to record local photography for prehistoric ruins and buildings. The Societe Jersiaise Photographic Archive has been collecting photography for over 140 years. The archive holds the knowledge and history of the past through images, but most importantly is displayed the context of the photographs, because without context we can not know the full meaning of the photographs. They are a repository of local information and knowledge and social memory. We can learn so many things from analysing images in the archives, we can work out how areas and society as a while has developed through the years by looking at pictures of the same location from multiple different years in chronological order. For example, Fort Regent. We can find images from as early as the 1890s of when the fort was fairly new. From here we can look in the archive for images from every decade or so since to see how it has changed. Through the archive, we can also look at how photography has changed as a whole, such as how photographers take images, but also the quality of the photos and the new photographic and development technology that has been invented and used since the start of the archive. All of us keep our own personal archives in different forms. Such as an old photo album with physical printed photos in from the past. Or they could be kept in a digital archive, such as in digital folders on a computer, or on a phone. These smaller archives can show an insight to your own life and acts as storage for memories and events that have happened in the past.
Henry Mullins is a photography pioneer who has a big impact on photography in jersey. Henry Mullins originally worked in a studio in London in the 1840s. He lived at 230 Regent street but moved to jersey in July 1848. Here he set up a studio at 7 Royal Square, this studio was later known as the Royal Saloon. He was initially in partnership with Mr Millward, unfortunately there is very little information online about Mr Millward. By the following year, he was working independently in his studio, and he continued to work alone in this studio for a further 26 years. Although he was based in his studio, the ROYAL SALON, in Jersey, for a brief period in the 1860s he worked in London too. But evidence from his collection which is now held by Societe Jersiaise Photographic Archive, he was much more successful in Jersey where he worked most of the time. He found lots of willing sitters in Jersey prepared to pay half a guinea for Henry Mullins to take their portrait. He promoted this as ‘one half of that in London’. The archives helped us gain all this knowledge because of all the Henry Mullins portraits that it has kept in good condition for us to analyse, acting as a repository of knowledge.
Early photographs in the Societe Jersiaise Photographic Archives were taken in very different ways to how photos are taken today. One method is film photography such as the image above. Film photography is when the photographer takes photographs on thin, transparent strips of plastic called film. One side of the film strip is coated with a gelatin emulsion that contains small silver halide crystals, which determine the contrast and resolution of a photograph. This is what will effectively make the image appear on the film after capturing it. Silver halide crystals are light-sensitive. The more light they’re exposed to, the more exposed and less detailed the image will be. This usually means the contrast of the photo will be decreased and the highlights of the image will be blown out. When taking a photo, the camera lens quickly opens to expose the film strip to an image that’s being magnified through the lens. This creates an imprint into the silver halide crystals and creates a latent image. The latent image can be developed into a negative, which is projected onto light-sensitive photo paper to create the final photo. Images such as the one above show how this process was used to take photographs a long time ago and how popular it was back then. The archive shows a distinct period where most images in that time frame were film photographs. This means we can use the archives for knowledge about the different types of photography over the years and the process it took to create these images.
We can use the images held in the Societe Jersiaise Photographic Archive to learn from the images of the past. We can learn about how photography has changed over the years by looking at the different things that were photographed, the way that they were photographed, how they were taken and what was used to take them, the development of cameras over the years and how the quality of pictures has improved from when the archive was first created. We can also use the archives to gain knowledge on our social history, a branch of history that emphasizes social structures and the interaction of different groups in society. This can be found specifically in street photography where within the images different groups of people are seen interacting and the areas where different groups of people lived. For example, the archives will tell us when the photograph was taken as well as where it was taken. This means that we can determine what groups and classes of people lived where in different time periods. The archives can help current photographers by inspiring them with how life was like in the past, such as re-visiting locations and photographing them, framing them the same as an image taken 100 years ago, to see what has changed and compare the two images. In conclusion, the archives are a repository of knowledge that can be extremely useful to photographers and also historians who would like to see a freeze frame of what life was like in the past.
For this family archives section of the summer task, I had to find some old photographs of my relatives. To do this I visited my grandma who has old photo albums from the early 1900s with photos of my ancestors. With these, I scanned a few into digital copies to save, here is what I found:
These photos are the ones that were the clearest and the best to edit/alter.
I chose the images above to edit, below are the results:
Edit 1:
– Identity block; I think this edit creates a sense of mystery within the image because all of the subject’s eyes can not be seen, creating an almost creepy and uneasy feeling.
Edit 2:
Here I edited this image in the style of Thomas Sauvinwhere i cropped out two parts of the subject and swapped them over. This process is simple creates an interesting effect.
Edit 3:
I edited this photograph in the style of Carole Benitah where she sewed string over the subjects’ faces and let the loose string hang over the rest of the image, again masking the identity of the people in the photo.
This shoot pairs with my second shoot focusing on the area closer to my home, but I take a more abstract and meaningful approach. I displays how the area can seem completely different depending on when you visit, some days it can be busy with children out having fun, where other days it can seem like a ghost town. These images will be displayed in pairs to show comparisons between the two.
Raw Image Contact Sheet
Plan and Process
For this shoot, my plan was to use a tripod to keep the frame steady and consistent throughout different shots. I took an image of empty space with no subjects in the frame, I then photographed one subject in multiple different places within the frame, without moving the camera, My plan is to edit these images in photoshop to make the subject appear multiple times in one frame. This is to symbolise how busy and also empty areas of the local community can be.
Editing
In photoshop, I cut out parts of different images and aligned them so the subject appears multiple times in one frame.
Final Image pairs
Favorite Image
This is my favorite image because it is the most seamlessly edited. This photo also caught my attention because of the colourful backgroung and texture of the wall ehich brings more life to the image.
This shoot focuses on the area closer to my parish, showing the variation of how people live, their beliefs and the good/bad aspects of this area.
Edited image contact sheet
Favorite Image
This is my favourite image because it symbolises the activities that bring communities together, yet also displays the wealth and lifestyle of people in this area. The broken and worn basketball hoop has natural earthy colours from the moss, which goes with the earthy brown colors of the wall it is leaning against. To further enhance this earthy feel I colour corrected the image while editing it to have a yellow/brown hue. I think that this gives the image almost a relatable feel because nothing is too bright and crisp, making the hoop feel used, showing that it has helped bring the community together.
For this first shoot i focissed on street/candid photography, local businesses along with the consistent architecture of the community buildings in my parish.
When editing these images, especially for the architecture photographs, I created a big contrasty between the highlights and the shadows to create a more dramatic image.
Edited images Contact Sheet
Favourite image
This is my favorite image because it shows a successful, busy local business within the community. The warm colours from the natural lighting make the image more inviting to look at. I also like the candidness of the image with the man and his bike unaware of the camera, along with the people in the shop.
For these next three photo shoots, i have imagines myself as a photographer for my street, neighbourhood, town or city. And that I have been commissioned to create a sequence of photographs celebrating the spirit of this place and its people. I will be limited to 10 pictures in total. Make a larger body of images, then edit these down to just 10. Arrange in a sequence or collage that makes sense as a final set of images.
Shoot plans
My plans for these three shoots are to approach three different areas and aspects of the community around me. The first shoot will focus on street/candid photography along with the consistent architecture of the community buildings in my parish.
My next shoot will focus in on the area closer to my parish, showing the variation of how people live, their beliefs and the good/bad aspects of this area.
My final shoot will pair with my second shoot focusing on the area closer to my home, but I will take a more abstract and meaningful approach. I will display how the area can seem completely different depending on when you visit, some days it can be busy with children out having fun and other members of the community everywhere, where other days it can seem like a ghost town. These images will be displayed in pairs to show comparrisons.
For this shoot, I walked around most parts of the French/Portuguese quarters. I took many photographs of the community, where they live and their local businesses.
Best edited images contact sheet
Favourite Image
This is my favourite image because it shows the similarities within a community and how many people within it have similar interests and can get along. Such as these two people getting along and posing for the camera mid-conversation.
I like this photo because of the high contrast from the shadows adding depth to the image. This is shows in the garage where the light on the motorbike fades to black as it gets further away and deeper into the room. I also like the texture and patterns on the walls behind both of the subjects, it adds variation to the image making it less flat.
For this shoot, I walked around the Millennium park area and other parts of the French/Portuguese quarters. Here I photographed French/Portuguese shops, businesses and workers, as well as areas and evidence of a sense of community within the sector.
Edited Images Contact Sheet
Best image
This is my favourite image because of the candid aspects of the photograph. The worker is busy unaware of the camera, along with the person in the background glancing over at the camera wondering what is going on. The bright red letter boxes along with the reflective vest contrast to the earthy and natural colour of the surrounding buildings. This image used an aperture of f.9 with a short shutter speed to compensate for the bright natural light at the time. I also like the perspective that the photo was taken at, it creates lines leading down the road in the background that add depth to the image.
The exhibition states; ‘Every Jersey resident has an immigration story – whether their family came here 500 years or five years ago. This exhibition explores some of these stories and the ways in which immigration has shaped and influenced the Island we know today.’
The town area of jersey is split into different quarters, the Merchant Quarters, the French/Portuguese Quarters and the British expats/ wealthy residents
I took my first photoshoot around the French/Portuguese sector:
Here I photographed many small shops and cafes with French and Portuguese owners and often selling French/Portuguese food. I also found many people of Portuguese background working together as a community in shops, cafes and other areas like construction and painting.
Seeing these different communities inspired me to research my background and find out my heritage. I found out that up to my great grandparents I am fully Jersey/Jersey French with my surname (Jeanne) being a Jersey French name. I used Archive and Collections Online to find this out and where my relative are from.
These different sectors and communities give the island diversity, and this is originally from immigration throughout the centuries. A detailed map of immigration to and from Jersey over the years can be found on this Jersey Migration Map.
