SELECTION

EDITING

All of the photos are edited similarly to match the aesthetic of my zine, but these are my three favourite edited photos. Above, i lowered the shadows to draw focus and add detail to the cracks and edges in the rock face. The photo below i lowered the exposure and added a more blueish hue to the sky which overall gave a eye catching colour contrast between the rocks and the horizon.

Colour plays a big part in setting the mood in photography. I edited my photos with an underlying hue of blue and green to add emotion and help create a narrative. blue is often associated with a sense of calmness and safety, whereas green creates a sense of tranquility and vibrance. It’s nature’s color therefore i used it in my editing as the photos are of natures landscape and erosion of rocks over time. Paired together, green and blue are cool colors that form a refreshing combination.

This photo is my favourite my 16 edited images – my attention goes straight to the pool in the middle, then to the tower blocks and manmade horizon in the background – a contrast from my top photo of the sea, the change in setting shows the difference between a natural landscape vs. an industrial landscape, and the impact mankind has had on nature. The tower blocks in the back helps build structure in the photo as they are in a set of 4 which catches the viewers eye, and the darker colours compliment the buildings by adding narrative.

InDesign Settings for the Zine:
Create new document
width: 148mm
height: 210
pages: 16
orientation: portrait
columns:2
column gutter: 5mm
margins: top, bottom, inside, outside: 10mm
bleed: top, bottom, inside, outside: 3mm

Image Selection:

I started by making a new zine document in InDesign using the settings above. I then went into Lightroom and went through all of my photographs from the “My Rock” project. I wanted my zine to be about the rocks around the island of Jersey, which is why I chose 4 different locations (La Cotte, La Motte, L’Etacq and Gorey) and about 4 images for each location to present in my zine.

My Images:

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Societe Jersiaise Images:

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Possible Zine Layouts:

Layout 1:

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I like this layout because it uses all of my images and clearly shows all 4 locations, however, it also feels like there is too much going on. The pages of the zines are full of images which makes it a bit complicated and not as simple as I wanted at the beginning. Each page has a text in either the right or left corner which informs the viewer where the images were taken and why. I think this is a nice touch but it also clutters the page and the position of the text is inconsistent on each page which I don’t like. The title for this zine is “Around Jersey” which is an okay title because it truthfully says what the zine is about, but it’s also boring. I feel like the back cover should also be something more than just a black image because it makes the zine look unfinished. Even a little story/poem on what the zine is about would look nice at the back to make it more interesting.

Layout 2:

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I like this layout more than the other one because it looks simpler and it’s not as cluttered. I think the black and white images makes the zine look more well put together and not as distracting. I managed to use more or less the same images I used in layout 1, which I’m happy about, as well as a few new ones because I wanted the theme to be the same and I didn’t want to change it last minute. I took away the text from each page that informed the viewer about each location because I thought it was bit too much, but I will definitely use it again in a different project because I really liked it. I kept the back cover black because I couldn’t think of anything and added the text “my rock” all over it in grey because that is my title. I changed the title to the name of my project because I thought it would be easier and more fitting.

Analysis of photobook:

Digital photobook images:

‘Help’ Essay:

Whilst analysing Daniel Butt’s photobook, I noticed that it was very detailed and showed a good representation of how mental health is represented within photography. He ended up referring to his title which was ‘How can something that doesn’t physically exist be represented through photography?’ throughout the essay, linking it back to his key photographers and answering this hypothesis effectively. He explains that he is going to explore the subjects and techniques that display things that don’t exist through camera changes and multiple exposures. The way he highlights these areas is he provides context behind other photographers such as Leif Sandberg. He provides an in-depth analysis of the photographer and how he effectively showcases things physically not existing within photography. After providing an analysis, he presents his own photography in response to the artist and links back to his question within his title. He also takes the approach of linking Sandberg’s work to that of the ‘Vanitas paintings’, indicating that they display “the transience of life”, similar to what Sandberg showcases.

Throughout the photobook, Daniel Butt has included images from Leif Sandberg to showcase how he is able to display a link towards his hypothesis and mentions that his images focus on emotions and one in particular was regarding the topic of a cancer scare. Sandberg’s images are very unsettling and look to be very blurry, messy and have possible images overlapping with one another. Butt showcases his images and suggests that he wanted to “show the duality that can sometimes be seen within people suffering from mental health issues, both in the literal aspects of not being able to physically see what is going on inside people’s heads, despite what they’re feeling, as well as how people try to hide their emotions in order to seem stronger.” At the very end of his photobook he compares his image to that of Sandberg’s and suggests that his images are a lot cleaner with his overlapping images compared to Sandberg’s messy, anxiety-filled imagery. Butt also includes a bibliography at the very end of his photobook to display areas he took inspiration from for his essay.

Grade boundaries: E=1 D=6 C=9 B=11 A=14 A*=16

My mark: 16/18

Grade: A*

How do archives function as repositories of knowledge?

Archives are a place in which public records or historical materials (such as documents) are preserved, or in the case of photography a place where “old” photographs are held to preserve them. They are often funded privately but sometimes receive help from the public. They are created in order to record the history of a place, topic, or time in history; for example, we visited the Societe Jersiaise Photographic archive to look into the history of the island, more specifically the archaeological features such as previous excavations and other findings with relation to the islands. These institutions serve to give context to the way things are today- which is important because with things like photography, without context photos are almost meaningless. These collections of documents and photos can be interpreted in certain ways in order to convey an idea of understanding and knowledge of the time in which they were taken. Societe Jersiaise was founded in 1873 for the purpose of “publication of local history”, “the study of the ancient local dialect”, and “to achieve the conservation of all prehistoric and historical sites”. By being able to understand through the use of the archive, it allows us to understand why things on the island are a certain way, as well as allowing us to predict/anticipate the future of it as we can learn from important mistakes. For Example, leaving potential archaeological sites of interest such as burial chambers to be eroded by the sea when they could have been studied, a sad reality that happened to Green Island. Looking more broadly into archives and things that I keep that could be considered personal archives are e-tickets of events that I have attended, as well as posters of line ups and images and videos that I have taken to look back on.

The Photographer I have chosen to study in relation to the essay question is William Collie, Collie was born in Scotland in October 1810. Collie’s work featured in Society Jersey’s Archives consists of 157 images. An Image in particular that stood out to me when researching Collie was his image of a Jersey Market Woman, one of the earliest photographs printed on paper taken in 1847, It is thought that Collie was most probably the first photographer to use Fox Talbot’s calotype process in Jersey. Although these images have been ‘copyrighted’ by the Royal Photographic Society and are unable to be viewed on the Society Jersey Archives website, they can be viewed in person. Collie had to use one of the early photographic processes of salt printing to produce these images on paper. The salted print process was a revolutionary, direct, negative to positive photographic process invented by William Henry Fox Talbot in 1839, which allowed multiple prints to be created from a single negative. However, depending on the precise process used, it can result in extremely light-sensitive prints. Without photographers such as William Collie’s work being stored in archives, studying and understanding historical processes would be a lot more difficult. From studying his images, we can learn more about Jersey in the times he was photographing, as well as photographic processes throughout history.

In my process of researching William Collie his images of Woman in a Jersey Market really stood out to me. The images were taken around 174 years ago in 1847, which I find remarkable that they are of such good quality from that time period. Collie was a pioneer of the photographic processes which lead to printed photography, and his series of images of Jersey Market Women are calotype portraits. Calotypes are the original negative and positive process invented by William Henry Fox Talbot; the calotype is sometimes called a “Talbotype.” This process uses a paper negative to make a print with a softer, less sharp image than the daguerreotype, but because a negative is produced, it is possible to make multiple copies. The image below in particular looks as though it was taken outside with natural lighting, however the way the image is printed it has made it a lot darker than what the image most likely looked like on the camera. In spite of the image being printed very dark and monochromatic, there is still a lot of bright contrast in the image with the white brick wall featuring in the background and the white details that are more obvious on the bottom half of her dress she is wearing. One thing I like about this image is that although the woman in the image is the focal point, she is not entirely centred which makes the image more interesting to look at, as it also draws you into looking at the details and information that can be seen in the background. The basket on the wall in the top left of the image breaks up the brightness of the wall behind the woman and fills the image well.

In Conclusion, archives are a great source of knowledge and provide evidence of activities which occurred in the past, they tell stories, document people and identity and are valuable sources of information for research. Without archived images we would find it a lot harder to piece together historical moments in time. One could argue that photographic archives store some of the most important pieces of history and are massively important in proving historically important events happened. Whilst writing this essay I have reflected on how images from the past have and still can in the future help me develop my own photography style, I think that looking back on images from the past greatly helps me with deciding which kind of images I like and dislike and the style of images I want to take as a photographer. Something that I could do to develop my own photographic project around St Helier Migrant communities is photograph people in Jersey Market, in a similar style as William Collie has done and compare the images of people who work and/or frequent the market to Collies images that only featured woman in the market.

Images Used in My Zine

Below I have included some galleries of the images that I used in my zine, this is to show that all of my photographs do work together, and this helped me see which images which I liked the most and which were linked in the most with my zine and the context of its story versus its final outcome.

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This was important as I can visualise what all of my images look like together before putting them into InDesign or printing out my photographs to experiment with. This helps me think about which images look aesthetic together, and others which contrast each other.

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Title Experimentation

I have included some examples of me experimenting with my title, included the title words itself and then other aspects such as the font and arrangement of the typography on my front cover. I think it’s clear what style of fonts look best with the image in the background of my front cover. In this case I think that

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I think that these titles are okay but probably not good enough to put on the front cover of my zine, this is because I think the words are good, but the text doesn’t look aesthetically pleasing enough to be on the front of my zine, its only important because it’s the first thing you see when you look at my zine, creating a first impression of my work.

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There I have selected the words that will be in my title, and I have demonstrated that I have experimented with the font and size of the title of my zine. this is important as certain letters look better with specific fonts. I think that the final font and size I selected looks good on the front of my zine as the white writing really stands out being in the centre of the darker image.

Process of Creating a Zine

Below I have created a first draft at my zine, this may be changed in the future when analysing my final zine, and when I do the final analysis of my work. This was a good opportunity to use many different of my best images from all of my photoshoots. To create the first outcome of my zine I used a software called InDesign, to use this we set up the zine template and then imported our photographs into the app. Using Ctrl+ D to place the images on top of the outlines for the images, I then altered the size of the photographs so that they would fit the way I wanted them to.

I have selected this as the front cover of my zine as I think it’s a good example of an eye-catching photograph, with the wide variety of colours present in this image means that contrast is created as the flowers and bow are filled with vibrancy and then the bench is dark brown, along with the plain grass background. This means that attention is drawn to the front cover of the zine, making people want to look through it.

The left section below is an example of how this image would have a white boarder and the bleed would be kept to the set 3mm, whilst on the right side there is no bleed to the photograph. This means that the image fills the page to all of the corners of the page, creating different affects for each side of the pages. I have arranged my photographs this way as it draws the viewers attention into the middle of the page, with their being the same features within both of these images it means they compliment each other well.

I have selected this as the 4th and 5th pages of my zine as I think they provide a break, as the double spread contrasts with the separate images previously. Furthermore, the warmer tones throughout this image means that it creates a balance of a variety of different tones throughout my zine as its good to creates a whole piece that links well together whilst still linking to the task. However, this image has been taken from my Plemont photoshoot so I’m not sure how well it links well being placed here in my zine.

This is my favourite pages out of my whole zine, this is because they the images link so well, they are from the same locational shoot at La Hocq, many components throughout these images are the same, such as the boys as the texture and temperature of the sane, making them look very aesthetic together. I have placed the landscape image first as it breaks up the composition from the double page spread before, and the second image filled up to the bleed of the page means that there is more attention drawn to the first image.

I have purposefully kept lots of white space on the left hand side of the page as my last pages were very cluttered, and the white space after that means that there is a balance between page 6 and page 5. I have placed the photograph of the boat afterwards as it links to the image before and creates the effect of my story by still using plainer images yet still trying to link them together.

In my opinion, these two images compliment each other well, being rocks from different locational shoots means that there is a clear difference between them yet them still link well with the theme and story of my zine. They have been placed in this way as there is huge white space in order to provide a break from the very busy double page spread images before, this is in further attempt to create a flow throughout the zine. I like that one of the images is filled with colour and one is monochromatic because that means there is lots of texture in the two pages.

The composition of these images is the most apparent part of these two zine pages, as the negative space means that more attention is drawn to the right side of the page. I think that the colours throughout these two pages means that they make for an aesthetic layout. I have placed this kind of display here as it creates balance throughout my zine, as creating a zine that is too busy and filled with too many large images distracts from the quality of the individual photographs. My favourite aspect of these images is the flow of colour, as there is green tones flowing from the left to the right image.

This is one of my favourite images that is placed throughout this zine, as the quality of the photograph meant that I thought it would look better as a double page spread rather than a smaller image. This is amongst 3 of my double page spreads throughout this zine draft and in my opinion, this is the most successful as it has a dramatic feel to it, meaning lots of attention is drawn to the image just through monochromatic editing, as it enhances the textures throughout the image.

I have selected this as the back page of my zine as I think that it links nicely with the first page of my zine, as of course they are going to be connected when I print my zine, as the front and back page are from the same photoshoot, this means this is the end of the story and means that the narrative of the story is over, I also think that the front and back pages contrast each other very well.

Research –

A zine is a small book which grew in popularity during the early 19th to 20th century through the amateur press but grew in popularity through the 1920’s and 1930’s due to the rise pf the popularity in the science fiction fandom. These zines consisted of adapted texts/images or self-published work, originally political but have since changed to appeal to anyone’s interests, which have been created by a single person or a small group of people which are the recirculated in to the public for others to see. They can consist of a variety of creative ideas such as poems, archival materials, drawings, interviews, poems, comics, etc. I think that zines are good ways to spread an image or tell a story because they aren’t long but they let your creativity flow throughout them on what you want to raise awareness of or tell to other people. Here is some more information on zines.

Mood board –

Below is a mood board which I constructed by taking photos of zines that appealed to me in class which I think that I could take inspiration from when considering how to craft and visualise my own zine. I think that this is very helpful for me and I will start by making a mock up zine of my initial idea then expanding on this and seeing if I likes my original idea/s.

These are different examples which I have looked at to help me gain some ideas for my zine that I will create. I really liked the idea of doing a passport to show a journey that you take throughout the photos, giving an introduction on the first page with a picture on the right hand side with a symbol on the opposite side. I also liked the bright coloured zines with brighter fonts, as it is simplistic yet effective because they contrast well against the black and white photos. There was also a zine which consisted of poems and I think that this could be quite effective when telling a story but I am unsure of how well it would work with an idea of a passport, which was my original idea. The last one, similar to the passport, takes you on a journey of what the future could consist of and then the 2nd and 3rd page included a photo which spans across 2 pages, stopping midway which I like because it isn’t overwhelming by taking up the whole page and it is just enough which I think could be nice.

My ideas –

• Passport structured zine.
• Coloured visual journey with black and white pictures.
• Using archival materials throughout, showing the change in scenery over the years.
• Using poems to add another level of personality, nature based/beach based.
• Black and white photos, similar to you make up the colours in which you think will be in the different places as if you are using a paintbrush in your mind.

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Story and Narrative –

For my zine I wanted to create a story that you follow throughout, below are some ideas of words/sentences which I have used to give me some creative inspiration of how I want to layout and develop the design of my zine. I will apply some of these words/sentences throughout my zine as I think it will be a good way to narrate and guide people through it.

STORY: What is your story?

Describe in:

• 3 words: Path, gloomy, textures.
  

• A sentence: A path that guides you through different textures while being overlooked by the gloominess of the day.
  

• A paragraph: The day is bleak and gloomy but their is a path, a path you follow. You don’t know what to expect but you have to believe it will be worthwhile. There are rules that are unspoken. Your imagination is your guide and it can flow as creatively as you want but you have to remember this experience is for yourself, no one else. The rocks hold different textures, and the objects tell numerous stories, it’s up to you to decide what that story may be. As no one can make that decision for you.

NARRATIVE: How will you tell your story?

Examples:

• Images > new photographic responses, photo-shoots of objects…
• Archives > images from SJ photo-archive, found imagery…
• Texts > experiment with typography, key words, poems…

Still life is a genre of art that depicts common and usually inanimate objects, both natural and man-made, within a work of art, the style beginning with a Netherlandish painting of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Still life artists choose and arrange objects such as fruit, wine, utensils, skulls, flowers etc to their liking before painting their unique composition, having full creative freedom over the colour palette, ambience and size of the painting. The objects within each painting often allude to something bigger, creating a deeper meaning within each piece, usually related to religion and life, [i.e: skulls represent mortality, candles represent the passing of time etc] making each piece compelling to look at. This is referred to as ‘Vanitas’ and is used to remind the viewer of their own mortality through the different symbolic objects within each painting, showing how pointless and meaningless each object is without the value placed upon it.

Still life became popular with photographers in the early 20th century, causing a lot art photographers to emerge [such as Baron de Meyer who took soft-focus images to be taken, allowing his photos to look like drawings] which allowed 2 different styles of still life photography to develop over the years: ‘found still life’ and ‘created still life’. Found still life photography would include taking images of places/objects as they are whilst created still life photography involves organising everything in frame until the desired composition is found and photographed.

A famous still life photographer whose work links with the Vanitas style is Guido Mocafico, an Italian photographer with a unique and intriguing style. His work tends to use a lot of snakes but he has taken an array of images that are composed in the Vanitas style, especially in his series ‘Nature Morte’. It is clear in his work that Mocafico carefully plans his compositions, ensuring each object is carefully placed and balanced to his liking which also allows the softer lighting to accentuate parts of his compositions, causing the shadows to overpower most of the image without underexposing it. Mocafico also has an interesting use of colours as he his images look as though they’ve been tea-bagged due to the different beige-tan shades he uses, however, he tends to add a pop of colour by adding 1 or two vibrant objects which definitely enhances the image as a whole.

One of the most famous still life photographers is American photographer Olivia Parker [born in 1941]. Her work looks very similar to paintings due to the techniques she uses to photograph each object. Her use of shallow focus allows her close-ups to really stand out against the backgrounds. In her more recent photoshoots, the colours are rich in saturation due to her use of light, making the objects within each image look artificial and unreal.

To further develop our project: My Rock, we visited Le Hocq and walked down the beach towards Green Island, where we took photos of both the smaller objects and the wider landscape that surrounds those areas.

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Contact Sheets

Below are the images I took on my phone as my camera ran out of storage

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Editing Process

To start my editing process, I uploaded my images into Lightroom and went through the images using the ‘Pick’ and ‘Reject’ function to narrow my selection down.

Next I went through my selected images again and used the star rating function to select what I considered to be the best images out of my original selection.

These are the images from my phone.

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Final Images

These are the images I considered to be the strongest from this shoot after finishing the selection process.

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For this photoshoot in particular, I wanted to put a focus on making the images more lively and vibrant, to do this I simply upped the ‘vibrancy’ and ‘contrast’ to varying amounts on each photograph to make it stand out.

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Here I made black and white versions of each image. While that does go against the colourful aesthetic I was going for for this photoshoot, I still think the lines, shapes and tones on these images make for interesting compositions when black and white.

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Evaluation

I found this photoshoot to be very enjoyable to do (taking the photos and visiting the Société Jersiaise) and edit, and I am happy with the images I came out with. I was able to get close-up images, as well as more traditional landscapes, which gave me a wide selection to pick from for the final images. My Final Images mainly consist of close-ups with interesting lines and shapes, the subject matter consists primarily of rocks and seaweed, which will hopefully give my zine a consistent theme. The Final Images I got from the landscape images all depict some form of rock with a dramatic sky, which offers a nice contrast to the other close-up images.

What didn’t go so well was that my camera ran out of memory (because I forgot to clear it beforehand) and so I had to use my phone’s camera. While the images from that were still good, it caused some delay with the creation of this blog post. I will make sure that I am properly prepared for the next photoshoot.