1. Write a book specification and describe in detail what your book will be about in terms of narrative, concept and design with reference to the same elements of bookmaking as above.

Narrative

• 3 words

Friends, Family, Identity

• A sentence

A visual transition through time starting from my parents when they first came to the island and ending with myself as well as my friends, picturing friendship on the island.

• A paragraph

A photographic journey of island life which will begin with showing my parents when they first came to the island in the 1990s, how they developed friendships which turned into family. This will lead to my life of being brought up around friends and creating my own friendship through island life.

Design

Paper and ink

For that paper that will be in my photobook, I think the most fitting colour would be black as I plan to include still life images into the surrounding spaces of some of the photos that I include. Have the paper black will make the editing a lot easier and I feel that it will also give a more neat and tidy look to the final product. I also think that black will make my images stand out more as there is a contrast between the colour in each image and what will be the background colour.

Format, size and orientation, binding and cover

I want my photobook to be landscape as I feel that it will be most fitting for the photos I want to have in my book, I will have a hard cover with no dust cover as I feel that it will take away from the photos I would like to display at the front and back of my book. For the front and back cover I think that I will experiment with different collages, I have some ideas on what images will be featured on the cover of my photobook, mainly of my mum and dad, I am also deciding if I should include some of my own photos which have been taken for this project.

Title 

For my photo book I have decided to name it Inisfáil, which is an Irish word meaning ‘Island of destiny’. I believe that this name is fitting for my book as it is about the development of family and relationships on a small island like Jersey.

Editing and sequencing

For my editing I am taking inspiration from Carolle Benitah as well as Borthe Piontek, they both used manipulation techniques to help tell deeper story to their images. They both did this by hand, using physical objects to help make adaptations but I will be using photoshop. There will variation between each image but will all be linked by colour or the way I have edited the photographs.

Images and text

Throughout my photobook there will be a mix of archival images as well as photographs which I have taken myself for this specific collection. Some of my photographs will be editing in different styles which I will try to include features to make sure that they are all link and make a cohesive sequence. My plan is to make the images show a story through time and how living on an island like Jersey can disconnect you from family but also help you make a new one through friends that you meet along the way. In my photobook I hope to add some text on empty pages, I am going to try and get quotes or special massages that parts of my family say often or really like. I feel that this will help make a more structured and supported narrative behind my photos.

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Photosculptures are three-dimensional art sculptures are works of art that present the dimensions of height, width, and depth. They occupy physical space and can be perceived from all sides and angles. Traditional types of three-dimensional media, like sculptures and reliefs, are some of the oldest examples of 3D artwork.

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History of Photo-Sculptures

The process was invented and patented by French artist (painter, sculptor, and photographer) François Willème in 1860. He took a series of photographs from around a subject and used them to carve a likeness of the figure. Contemporary photo sculptures are obtained through a process of 3D scanning and 3D printing.

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Photosculpture Mood Board

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Artist Reference: Robert Heinecken

Robert Heinecken was an American artist who referred to himself as a “paraphotographer” because he so often made photographic images without a camera. Heinecken was known for appropriating and re-processing images from magazines, product packaging, or television. In the late 1960s, he also began cutting up popular magazines such as Time and Vogue and inserting sexual or pornographic images into them.

He would place his collage publications back on newsstands in Los Angeles to be sold to unsuspecting buyers. In the 1980s, he created several series on American news television that involved photographing images on the television or exposing the light of a television set directly to paper to create what he called “videograms.”

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Inspiration

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My main point of inspiration from Robert is the way in which he cops and rearranges his images before placing them onto 3D-shaped “canvases” such as the one shown below. I plan to print out an image of the coast taken from my photoshoot at Le’Tacq and fuse it onto a piece of foam board, which I will then cut u into smaller pieces to rearrange. This will create a puzzle-like piece similar to the one shown below.

Photography zines are a tool that photographers can use to tell a visual story, inform an audience about a specific topic or issue, showcase and advertise a new idea or just create a preview of an ongoing project. Zines were originally called fanzines, alluding to the fans who made them but not to be confused with magazines as photo-zines don’t include nearly as much text- if any). Zines often have specific yet simple layouts in order to take the viewer on a journey or portray a story through the photos within. Images will be thoughtfully and specifically laid out in order to anticipate and or guide the path your vision takes when you first view the page.

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Example – Time Only Moves In One Direction,
By Chris Black

This specific zine was published by Village bookshop and Gallery (a small independent Leeds-based organisation) which source self-published and small-press zines from artists around the world. This is an example of how zines are an example of a sort of rebellion from smaller artists against big publishing/ printing companies as zines require significantly fewer resources to make – giving the power back to smaller artists.

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Photo-Zine Moodboard

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My Zine

Based on the zines I have viewed through my research, I am planning to keep the main precipice of my zine simple- featuring mainly bold landscape shots. However, I will be altering the images slightly to create a more abstract theme throughout as personally I found a lot of the zines I came across to be slightly boring upon first look. I will be using techniques such as warping, color splash, and duplication along with adding borders/frames to certain images.

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Over the Winter holidays I plan to conduct at least two photoshoots, more if weather permits.

PHOTOSHOOT #1

Sun and nature orientated- images during “golden hour” and good weather (focus on warm tones). People in nature, mainly focusing on Sam Harris’ images as inspiration for this photoshoot: concentrating on colours. Photographing flowers and leaves plus staged images of people in nature unless situations permit candid images. Collect objects/leaves/flowers to press in scrapbook. Possible experimentation with fisheye lens (if not possible will experiment on photoshop with fisheye-style editing)

PHOTOSHOOT #2

Night orientated- beach at night, drives, mainly focus on blue/cold tones- Olivia Bee will be main source of inspiration for this. Experimentation with underwater/around the water images, might be a bit cold in the sea so for this photoshoot may have to find an alternative. Collect objects/leaves/flowers to press in scrapbook.

PHOTOSHOOT #3

In my room, candid images of people hanging out (on drives, at mates houses, in curi, everyday activities) Collect objects/leaves/flowers to press in scrapbook. I would also like to experiment with producing images differently, including ripping images and also using chemical processes

Michael Marten – Sea Change

1. Research a photo-book and describe the story it is communicating  with reference to subject-matter, genre and approach to image-making.

This photobook focuses on comparing the difference between the tide being in and out in coastal areas. The story it tells is about how a landscape can change in the space of 6 hours, and how landforms can be cut off by the tide.

2. Who is the photographer? Why did he/she make it? (intentions/ reasons) Who is it for? (audience) How was it received? (any press, reviews, awards, legacy etc.)

Since 2003 Michael Marten has travelled to different parts of the British coast to photograph identical views at high and low tide, six or eighteen hours apart. His beautiful and surprising photographs reveal how the twice daily rhythm of ebb and flood can dramatically transform the landscape. One aspect of what makes these photographs so compelling is the fascination of comparing each pair of pictures, spotting what has or hasn’t changed. The contrasting views play with our sense of depth and perspective, and show how subjective is our perception of landscape. The result is a substantial document capturing the variety of the British coastline, a portrait of the maritime landscape that makes visible in a dramatic new way the ebb and flow of tidal waters.

3. Deconstruct the narrative, concept and design of the book and apply theory above when considering:

• Book in hand: how does it feel? Smell, sniff the paper.

The book feels sturdy and doesn’t really smell of anything.

• Paper and ink: use of different paper/ textures/ colour or B&W or both.

The pages are made of card which makes it seem more professional. The photos are all in colour.

• Format, size and orientation: portraiture/ landscape/ square/ A5, A4, A3 / number of pages.

The paper size is A4, and the orientation is landscape. There are 125 pages

• Binding, soft/hard cover. image wrap/dust jacket. saddle stitch/swiss binding/ Japanese stab-binding/ leperello

The book is hard cover

Title: literal or poetic / relevant or intriguing.

In my opinion the title of the photobook, “Sea Change” can be interpreted as both literal and poetic because the photos show the sea changing, but there is a poetic style to the title aswell.

• Narrative: what is the story/ subject-matter. How is it told?

The story is about how the tide can change the landscape of a beach in a few hours

Research a photo-book and describe the story it is communicating  with reference to subject-matter, genre and approach to image-making.

This photobook focuses on the photographer’s parents through a mixture of text and photography, creating an emotional piece of work as Sultan writes about his parents and his time with them, focussing on the mundane conversations that usually link back to his photography. The book itself is a visual memoir that uses a mix of documentary and staged photography to portray his parents American, suburban life.

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Who is the photographer? Why did he/she make it? (intentions/ reasons) Who is it for? (audience) How was it received? (any press, reviews, awards, legacy etc.)

Sultan made the photobook as “the institution of the family was being used as an inspirational symbol by resurgent conservatives. I wanted to puncture this mythology of the family and to show what happens when we are driven by images of success. And I was willing to use my family to prove a point.”

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Deconstruct the narrative, concept and design of the book and apply theory above when considering:

The photobook has a hardcover with an image indented and glued onto the hardcover and uses two different types of paper inside; the typical glossy photography paper that’s found in most photobooks and a different type of paper that feels just as thick but isn’t glossy – almost like thicker printer paper. It doesn’t have a dust jacket nor does it use any sorts of unique binding, using normal case binding. However, the title of the book along with the photographers name have been letter pressed into the cover in a muted orange, standing out against the dark green used for the rest of the cover. It also is very blunt and literal, directly stating what the photobook is about ‘pictures from home’.

The images inside are mostly in colour, the few that aren’t being older images of his parents that have been re-photographed for the purpose of being put in the book which helps add to the story that Sultan has created of his parents in modern times, the older images almost acting as a reflection of what they were which is further shown through his use of text to create a narrative.

The book itself is rectangular, wider yet shorter than an A4 sheet of paper, allowing for plenty of room for Sultan’s images to be spaced out in various ways upon each spread with his choice in text alongside their respective images.

ISLANDNESS

I stared this project by looking through my diary for ideas, I had a rough idea of what I wanted to do already as I had been highly interested in orchestrating my own project since last year- I wanted to create a scrapbook style photobook about life on an island from the perspective of a teenage girl: concentrating on the beauty of everyday life. After doing this I then created a Pinterest board to find images which match the aesthetic I was looking for- these images serve as inspirations for all aspects of the photobook including page layouts and design, texts I may use and style of image I would like to incorporate.

My idea of islandness includes aspects of nature, I would like to play with the idea of predominantly abstract images; of people, of plants and landscapes- including almost scientific style images of plants and seaweed. I also have pressed flowers and leaves from throughout the year that I would like to include in the photobook.

With my choice of aesthetic throughout the book, I would like my images to show an aspect of the female gaze towards life, attempting gentle and intimate photos which give a feminine aura without having to clearly show the presence of a female.

For my beginning photoshoots I plan to experiment with a fisheye lens, night photography and possibly underwater photography.

Why are photographic archives so important ?

Archives are collections of documents, photographs, and other items that are kept for historical purposes. They’re usually held by governments or other organisations like museums or libraries. They have been around since the invention of writing. The first archives were created as a way to preserve important records and documents from being lost or destroyed over time, but they didn’t start out looking like we think of them now. In fact, before photography was invented, people would often draw pictures or write descriptions of the things they wanted to save for future generations. The first archive photographs were taken in 1839 by Louis Daguerre, who invented the daguerreotype process. In this essay I will be looking at photography that is based on exploring Jersey Islandness. I’ve decided to make my final project of Then and Now photography, It will present a series of photography that document the changes in architecture over time in Jersey. The photographs will be categorised as either “Before” and “after” with the location and date both photos were taken. The images were taken at different times so that they could capture how different structures have been affected by weather, humans, and other factors over time. My goal is to show how much architecture has changed over time, how much it hasn’t changed, and how the buildings have evolved with time and to also help us understand our own history by comparing images from different eras and contexts. I believe that archive photography is an important tool for documenting changes that take place over time. This type of photography allows us to see what has been lost or forgotten over time. For example, if we had never known what it looked like before or after World War II, we would not know what different cities used to look like. Using Société Jersiaise archive I have chosen a couple of photographs around St. Helier where I will re photograph in the same exact spot. The photographers I will be looking at are Jersey photographers that documented jerseys landscapes. My two key photographers are Percival Dunham and Edwin Dale who are both from the same time period and took photographs to document Jersey. Percival Dunham was a photographer for the local newspaper called “The illustrated weekly” and “morning news“. He had been in business as a photographer at 57 bath street since 1911, and had already been taking photographs for the battle of flowers and other events such as the grounding of the roebuck in St. Brelade’s bay in 1911. Little is known about him other then being described in the Jersey roll of service as ‘from St. Helier’ however it seems unlikely that he was born in Jersey. In the photographic archive of the Société jersiaise there is a collection of just over one thousand glass plate negatives taken by Percival taken between 1913-1914. At least 800 of these negatives were published in ‘Jerseys morning news daily newspaper’ or its sister publication ‘The jersey illustrated weekly’ between April 1913 and October 1914. His photographs were taken with a cumbersome plate camera over a decade before the introduction of hand held cameras and flashbulbs were the golden age of photo journalism.

Its interesting to see how photography has changed over Time. In the early days of photography, it was mostly used for commercial purposes, for example, in advertisements, landscape and portraits. But as technology advanced and cameras became more affordable, people started using them in their daily lives. The other photographer I will be looking at is Edwin Dale. Born on 3 January 1882 and has left a fascinating selection of island views taken between 1910 and 1920. In 1913 He entered the Jersey Eistedfodd photographic competition for the first time and won four first prizes and two second prizes. He made his living running his father’s boot, shoe and leather shop at 63 New Street but he had a passion for photography, and among his favourite subjects were harbour scenes and steamships, churches, houses, country lanes and coastal views, sport and the railway. He also took portraits and photographs of islanders at work. As well as being a very talented photographer, Edwin Dale was a keen racer of model boats and known for his love of motorcycles.  Many of his early images include the motorised bike on which he would travel around the island taking photographs.  Most of his work dates from 1910 to the 1920s and one of his favourite subjects was the railway.  He died on 27 January 1956. One of Edwin Dales photos below from 1912 taken with the view from South pier towards commercial Buildings with sailing boats in harbour at mid-tide, advertisement hoarding for Eldridge, Pope & Co, Dorchester ales on granite wall with fort regent in the background. In the foreground there are several different boats all different types of sizes all focused. The lighting is quite over exposed picking up the white colours of the sail boats. If you look closely you can see the reflection of the sailboat in the water which is in the centre of the image. However it being a bright photograph there are also some underexposed areas where you can see on two of the sailboats which adds some detail to the image. There are a range of tones throughout the image, the lightest tones can be see in the background and on the sailboats along with the darker tones that are seen more in the middle ground. The type of lighting in this is natural lighting as its outside, you can tell it was taken in the daylight because the image is clearly visible.

A modern day photographer that has inspired me and is also similar to my Islandness project is Michael Marten, an inspirational seascape and landscape photographer who is passionate about documenting nature. He has an interest with the tides changing throughout the seasons. Between the years of 2003 and to 2012 Michael travelled to different parts of the coasts to photograph an identical view from high tide to low tide of England starting from South-west then on to North west, North-east and ending with South-east. The photographers love for outdoors is evident in every shot as he captures light, texture and colour from outside. A connection Between Michaels and my project is the Before and After concept even though both our photos are different from each other. A quote from his book that relates to my photographs is “One aspect of what makes these photographs so compelling is the fascination of comparing each pair of pictures, spotting what has or hasn’t changed” Macfarlane, R. (2012) written by Robert MacFarlane who wrote the introduction to Michael martens book. Having looked at Micheal Martens work I can now approach my work in a creative approach shaped by his style.

Bibliography: https://www.michaelmarten.com/books

In conclusion Archive photography is a powerful tool for documenting how humans have changed the architecture of their environment. It can be used to document how we interact with our built environment, and it can also be used to show how we’ve altered our surroundings over time. This type of photography allows us to see how things looked in the past, which helps us understand what has changed and why. Archive photography is an important part of the history of photography. It allows us to see how far we have come and how much we have changed as a society. It allows us to see what was considered normal or acceptable at the time when these photos were taken. I think it’s important to have two key photographers, Percival Dunham and Edwin Dale, for inspiration. I’m going to use Société Jersiaise to find their photographs to re-photograph them in the same exact spot that Percival Dunham and Edwin dale took the photographs. After taking the photoshoots I will use Photoshop to experiment with each photograph, photo montages

I will investigate how archive photographs can document architecture through decades. Archive photographs are a great way to understand how a building has changed over time. The photos can show how the building looked when it was first built, and then how it looked when it was renovated or restored. They can also show how the building has aged naturally through the years. This can help us understand what materials were used in its construction and what types of repairs have been made over time. When looking into how archive photographs can document architecture through decades, I will investigate the following:

– The use of camera angles to show off the buildings features and to highlight its relationship with its surroundings.

-The use of light and shadow to emphasise the height of a building or its position in relation to other structure’s

This idea of work that interests me in Then and Now photography is seeing how much has changed within Jersey, such as architecture, old buildings, modern buildings, different influences to change

Bibliography:

Michael marten: https://www.michaelmarten.com/books

Photos: Jerripedia https://www.theislandwiki.org/index.php/Jersey_in_pictures

Photo archive: Société Jersiaise https://catalogue.jerseyheritage.org/societe-jersiaise-photographic-archive/

History of Archive photography:

Jerripedia – Percival Dunham https://www.theislandwiki.org/index.php/Percival_Dunham,_photojournalist

Jerripedia – Edwin Dale https://www.theislandwiki.org/index.php/Edwin_Dale

In class, prior to making our own, we were tasked with choosing a photobook to research, so we can gain a better understanding of how they work, feel and look, giving us the knowledge to make ours as good as they can be.

I decided to look at Night Vision: The Art of Urban Exploration by Troy Paiva as Paiva’s work has inspired me for some time as I have studied his work prior, and I feel like it links to my current focus within this project.

1. The photographs in this image fit within the genre of night photography, and what Paiva calls ‘Light Painting’ which uses artificial light to add colour to the subject. In addition, the photographs could be considered urban, as the subject matter includes chiefly derelict buildings and vehicles. Paiva’s approach likely involves finding the locations and returning to them at night, figuring out how he’s going to light up the scene (in the cover’s case, he decided to light the outside of the van to be green and the inside to be red) and then he finally positions the camera to capture the scene he wishes to capture (so in the cover he decides to involve the two posts, some of the landscape and the night sky). The story here is likely the journey Paiva took while exploring each of the areas where he took these images.

2. My interpretation of this story is that Paiva is trying to give life back to these derelict locations and vehicles by giving them a new light he has painted on them, perhaps protesting the idea of leaving things to waste. I don’t feel like there is any particular audience Paiva is trying to adhere to, as the images are fairly art-focussed, as opposed to having a booming political statement attached to them. Generally, the book has received praise for Paiva’s ability to use ‘light painting’ as a way to give the images more depth and life, with people considering him one of the ‘acknowledged masters within the small cadre of professional night photographers’ (link).

3.

• Book in hand: The book is smooth, due to the paperback cover.
• Paper and ink: The book uses coloured ink due to his photographs primarily involving colour. The paper on the cover has more of a card-like feel, while paper with the images on are more like standard printing paper.
• Format, size and orientation: The book is 9.75 x 0.5 x 9 inches, making it a landscape oriented book (however it retains a close resemblance to a square orientation).
• Binding, soft/hard cover: The book has a softcover with a normal, spine-bound binding.
• Cover: The cover is an image taken by Paiva, which is a dark image with light painting on a car. The text has a green colour, is small and is positioned at the top.
• Title: The title ‘Night Vision’ links to using technology to see things that would not normally be seen at night. The typical understanding of night vision is that it involves a lot of colour (green with goggles or other methods such as infrared which uses multiple colours), mirroring Paiva’s style.

• Narrative: The narrative involves the journey that Paiva has experienced over the years of taking these images in this way and exploring the places that he has.
• Structure and architecture: The book involves work made from 1999 to 2007, likely from multiple projects with a similar focus.
• Design and layout: The layout of the images is not regular, with some page spreads having two or more images present, however a lot of the pages involves a classic style with one picture on a page and a caption on the other (each image has a caption). Each page is black where there is no image.
• Editing and sequencing: The book is sequenced likely by the area Paiva has photographed, likely mirroring the journey Paiva took through them.
• Images and text: There is usually captions next to each image, and some text detailing the history of a place he has visited.

I have chosen to research a photobook named “The Epilogue”. The story of the book is about the Robinson family and the aftermath of losing their 26 year-old daughter named Mary Cameron Robinson, also known as Cammy. They lost Cammy due to the eating disorder, bulimia. This subject is quite heartbreaking as it showcases Cammy’s life before she passed away and highlights the effect that it has had on her family. It showcases how they come to terms with the death of their daughter due to this awful disease and how they deal with the grieving process. Cammy would make statements such as “I know I’m too skinny. I know and don’t want to be this way, but I don’t know how to get better.” These kind of statements were used within the photobook to get a raw adaptation of what her struggle was really like. The photobook is laid out in an order that shows her life in order before she passed away. It showcases a wide range of images referring to both her and objects that played an important role in her life, and also including shots of her family dealing with grief.

Who is the photographer?

The photographer is Laia Abril and she has received a wide range of reviews which all have positive outcomes. The book was mainly directed for the Robinson family and was used to showcase Cammy’s story. Abril stated that the family “understood right away my intention with the project, probably because their own healing process involved creating a small foundation in her daughter’s name.” In The Guardian newspaper, critic Sean O’Hagan goes on to write an article on this photobook and highlights that Abril stated “the uncomfortable aspects (of eating disorders) which nobody wanted to talk about” to “the collateral victims” of the illness.” She wanted to analyse the area regarding eating disorders to bring forth the real trouble and problem of the disorder. O’Hagan stated “It is a dense and rewarding evocation of grief, survival and the still-raw trauma of a family coming to terms with the loss of their most troubled loved one. The Epilogue is a book about absence, but it is also informed by Cammy’s abiding presence: her energy, her willfulness, her often clandestine struggle with a disorder that derailed her life and capsized the lives of those around her.” He also stated that “From time to time, I had to put it down, take a breather. But I kept going back.” (reference O’Hagan using Harvard)

Deconstructing the narrative, concept and design 

The book feels quite heavy as it is a hardback book and also feels as if it contains a leather-like material as the front and back cover. It has quite a rough texture to it and contains an image of Cammy on the front and back cover with a navy blue rectangle in front of her face. The front cover contains the title inside the rectangle saying “The Epilogue”, and the back rectangle contains a blurb of the content that’s inside the book. Epilogue means “a section or speech at the end of a book or play that serves as a comment on or a conclusion to what has happened” This is relevant to the content in the book as it’s highlighting an end to Cammy’s life by showcasing the images of her before her life was taken and come to an end. The book has been stitched together with the technique of swiss binding which makes it look very neat and well put together. The book contains a variety of landscape and portrait photos, followed by the insertion of text when necessary to present interviews of the family members. The interviews are mainly placed next to images of the family members to present who said it and what they looked like.

The images are all assembled in a variety of sizes, some take up the whole page, some only take up a small section of the page, some expand to almost the same size as the page but contain a white border around the entire image. There are some pages that you can pull out to witness more content inside it, showcasing links to both images inserted.

There are different materials inside the book such as glossy white paper for each page but there are also small inclusions of paper letters inserted in certain pages. There is a mix of colours within the images, including some black and white images and also some coloured images from disposable photos. They have quite a vintage colour scheme to them and are also quite grainy looking.