The Société Jersiaise was founded in January 1873 by a small number of prominent Islanders who were interested in the study of the history, the language and the antiquities of Jersey.  Membership grew quickly and the aims of the new society soon widened to include the publication of historical documents, the founding of a Museum, and the study of the Island’s natural history.  Their first Bulletin Annuel was issued in 1875 and continues to be the main record of their activities.

The Société Jersiaise Photographic Archive (SJPA) contains over 125,000 items dating from the mid-1840s to the present day. The subjects represented within their archive are as diverse as the multitude of processes and techniques used to produce them. Covering archaeology, geology, botany and entomology, ornithology and mycology, agriculture and maritime, economic and social history. It is the Island’s principal collection of nineteenth and early twentieth-century photography and reflects a rich history generated from our geographical and cultural position between Britain and France, two nations that were prominent in developing the medium.

During our photography trip we had the chance to visit Jersey museum and look at the photographic archive, which included photos of Green Island and excavations of a skull (above), these photos were helpful in showing us the history and archaeology of the part of the island we were photographing.

EMILE F GUITTON

Born in Jersey in 1879 he had a keen interest in history and was a member of La Société Jersiaise, served on its executive committee as joint honorary secretary, and was curator of the Museum and editor of the Annual Bulletin

Not only did he record events and activities during his own lifetime, particularly agriculture, but he had a fascination with the past and chronicled with his images many archaeological excavations (his pictures of the interior of La Hougue Bie remain some of the best in existence) as well as photographing Mont Orgueil Castle and other coastal fortifications, sites of geological interest, and architecture. Guiton had a particular interest in the design of Jersey houses over the centuries, and particularly in different styles of arches to be found in the island.

Emile Guiton was a keen amateur photographer and practised throughout his long life. He experimented with colour at the beginning of the twentieth century in “Autochromes”. His subjects include the recording of archaeological excavations and he was one of the few people in Jersey permitted to take photographs during the German Occupation of 1940 – 1945. Emile Guiton also recognised very early on the importance of collecting photographs, both as a valuable social historic resource and as interesting artefacts – examples of developments in science and technology. He donated many images to the Société Jersiaise. He died in 1972.

I have chosen these images for my moodboard because i like how the artists take photography and observe it in a different way by making the images 3D which is a change from usual flat photography. I feel like it brings an element of life to these images, i especially like the ones of landscape such as the sea or a skyline as i feel it reflects nature in a more realistic way in its 3D form.

I plan to model my images after these inspiration photos, printing mine out as paper perhaps with a cardboard background and stacking them in a way that looks abstract and has resemblance to my artist references.

ARTIST REFERENCES

LETHA WILSON

Letha Wilson is a photographer and artist, specializing in making abstract sculptures of her images. She is known for her range of mediums, expanding the visual and physical dimensions of photography and sculpture by combining industrial materials such as Corten steel, aluminum, and vinyl with photography.

She prints images depicting the beauty of natural landscapes onto her sculptures, embeds them in the surface of her works, and manipulates them in various unexpected compostions. The sweeping expanse of a desert sunset, rock formations, and palm trees are among images Wilson has taken while travelling in Hawaii, the American West, and Iceland. The natural world is both the subject and content of her work.

Wilson’s site-specific works and public projects convey her ideas on a monumental scale, altering the space around them and offering moments of respite in the urban landscape. The outdoor sculptures engage directly with the elements and nature; as patinas form over time due to weather conditions, the natural world will act as a co-creative force on the appearance of these artworks.

KIRSTEN KAY THOEN

Kirsten kay Thoen is a New York based sculpture artist, her style of work includes taking photos of natures texture e.g the sea and putting it onto abstract shapes of a range of different sizes and colours to represent the emotions she feels whilst taking her photos.

Her artwork is concerned with the impacts of accelerated technology, and its inundation of imagery, on our connections to nature. While she amisdrawn to work with the illusive realism of photography, my creative process challenges the mediums traditions as she re-work her imagery of nature into sculptural forms to achieve a connection between image and form. The multi- dimensional works are vital objects, exposing the image as not the end-point but a catalyst for transcendence.

History of Still Life

Still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or man-made (drinking glasses, books, vases, jewelry, coins, pipes, etc.). The term ‘still life’ was coined in the Netherlands in the 17th century, but the practice itself dates back to ancient times, it began as an art form rather than photography. Some of the earliest still life artists were Giotto, Hans Memling, and Jacopo de Barbari who all helped to influence still life both in art and photography.

The earliest forms of still life dates back to Ancient Egypt and Rome. In Ancient Egypt, what is sometimes categorized as still life, may actually be more of a list of gifts as seen above. In Ancient Rome and Greece however, vegetables and game were painted as a way to depict pleasure and abundance. Throughout the 1000 years of the Middle Ages, all non-religious art largely ceased. Coins, fruits, etc were used to decorate the boarders of illuminated manuscripts and the same could be seen in small sections of religious paintings, but nothing that could truly be considered a still life in itself was created in this time.

Fast forward to the 1500s this painting was created (Still Life with Partridge and Gauntlets by Jacopo de’ Barbari) as seen above. Considering it wasn’t until the 1600s that the term ‘still life’ came to be, this painting is considered to be one of the first still life paintings. The Netherlands invested heavily in exotic flowers and in turn, in paintings of exotic flowers. While still lives were largely of food up until this point, flowers now came to be a prime subject. With the stock market crash of 1637, painters began to shift the symbolism of abundance and the vanitas came to be. The Dutch vanitas paintings were reminders that abundance was temporary and life was fleeting. We see this in depictions of skulls, dying flowers, rotten fruit and imperfect table settings.

With the invention of photography came a big step for still life, both in an art form and exploring new forms within photography, however most early photographs of still life maintained the same aesthetic used in art, like this image above which still has the stereotypical fruit and object placement of still life art.

As time has gone on and both photography and art have developed, still life has been explored in many different ways especially with the change of art trends such as abstract or modern art having an effect on still life some still life photos nowadays may only have one object or still many.

IMAGE ANALYSIS

The photo above is in colour and captures a variety of objects in a dimly lit room, the only light appears to be illuminating the objects on the table, which features cups shells and grapes, grapes being typically featured in still life images and symbolizing wealth because when still life first became popular grapes were considered a delicacy to eat. The objects are organized with the smallest ones on the outside and the biggest in the middle to draw the viewers eye in. The dark background also makes the gold and silver colours stand out. Shadows are being cast over the objects so the lighting is clearly not natural and must be from an overhead light.

Firstly i gathered all my possible joiner photos together and colour coded them so they wouldn’t get lost or mixed up.

I edited some of the photos with exposure contrast etc. Then grouped them all together to apply the same settings for each photo.

To create my joiner, i went on photoshop, clicked automate then photomerge. I selected my images and pasted them into the file.

JOINER #1

JOINER #2

JOINER #3

COMPARISON

I chose to compare this David Hockney joiner with my own because of how different they are. They are both landscape, taken during the day in colour, but also have many differences. Hockneys joiner was taken from above however mine was from looking straight on. In my photos there are no noticeable shadows, however in Hockneys there is a shadow from a tree cast over the pool water. Another difference is background and borders. Hockneys photo has no background, but has white squares around each image, a feature that my joiner does not have.

Started off my editing process by going through my images from the photoshoot and picked out the best ones that i felt would stand out well by themselves or as a joiner.

We started our photoshoot along the cliffpaths by L’Etacq, where we got a chance to capture some images for our joiners. We took photos of the rocks and their texture whether it be a close-up photo or an image of the whole bay, being up in the cliffs gave us a good range of photos to take e.g the one below. I like this image because it shows a lot in one image and you can see different varietys of texture with the rocks, grass, and sand.

After being in the cliffs, we walked down to Stinky Bay which is a beach around the corner from L’Etacq. In the bay there were lots of little caves that had all different rocks and crystals forming. There were many good photo opportunities there, hence why the majority of my best images were taken at the bay. The one below i think is really interesting, because i wanted to capture the ray of light but once i looked at my image i saw there was the reflection of rainbows from the light, which i thought made my photo look cooler.

The next two images I also really like because they show a lot of texture that might make the viewer question what the photo is, e.g the one below has lots of jagged dark lines and edges, and at first glance might not appear to be a rock, which is why i like this image as it has a conceptual element. The second photo was taken walking along the road to L’Etacq beach, i noticed there was a wall with jagged edges that I thought would make a good photo. I like how this one turned out because the colour is a contrast from my other images whilst still adding texture.

My final best image was also taken at the bay when i noticed there were crystals running through the rock, i decided to take a photo because of the way the light reflects off off it. I edited the photo in black and white so the focus was on the rock and the background darkened to draw attention to the white crystal in the rock.

A Geopark tells the whole story of an area, right from the very beginning. Jersey – which has been shaped by tide and time – should have this designation because of the Island’s exceptional geology, unique heritage, amazing landscapes and special seascapes. Geosites are places around the Island with special significance.

SITES OF SPECIAL INTEREST

South Hill – Green Island – Anne Port – La Solitude – La Tête des Hougues – L’Islet – Les Hurets – Les Rouaux – Giffard Bay – Sorel Point – L’Île Agois – Le Pinacle – Le Petit Étacquerel – Le Grand Étacquerel – Le Pulec – Mont Huelin Quarry – St Ouen’s Peat beds – Portelet Bay – Belcroute Bay

CAVES

La Cotte de St Brelade – La Belle Hougue Caves – La Cotte à la Chèvre

OFFSHORE REEFS

Les Écréhous – Les Minquiers – Les Pierres de Lecq

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WHAT IS A GEOPARK?

A Geopark holds history, community and progression at the heart of its definition. Global Geoparks became an official programme within the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 2015. UNESCO Global Geoparks are places where outstanding geological heritage is used to support sustainable development through conservation, education, community engagement and sustainable tourism. To hold Geopark status, a region must have a geological heritage of international significance. This could be through it’s outstanding natural beauty, it’s contribution to scientific research or because it holds great educational value, teaching communities, present and future about our incredible past.

David Hockney is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer. Within his photography he is famous for something he did called ‘joiners’. During the early 80’s Hockney began to create ‘joiners’, now they are photocollages. When he first began to produce these he did them with Polaroid prints and later on he did them with 35mm, commercially processed prints.

Hockney’s work reflects his long running interest in optics and perspective and sees him extend it onto family members and friends as well as landscapes and interiors. We are presented with familiar figures from his prints such as Ann Upton, Celia Birtwell and Gregory Evans as well as familiar settings such as the Grand Canyon and the pool of his home in Los Angeles. Whereas before Hockney had dismissed photography as ‘All right if you don’t mind looking at the world from the point of view of a paralysed cyclops-for a split second,’ here we see him engaged in a new fascination with the medium. After so long challenging himself across the mediums of paint and print it is unsurprising that he would finally come round to the medium that descends is often described as ‘drawing with light’. What he saw as a fixed viewpoint became something fluid and dynamic when doubled endlessly to create a composite image.

With works such as Freda Bringing Ann & Me A Cup Of Tea he pushes the medium even further, allowing the coloured background to add another element to the composition, while details of the scene spiral out from the middle. Meanwhile in George, Blanche, Celia, Albert And Percy, London, January the traditional family portrait is subverted, the many photographs adding layers of time and movement, documenting changes in expression and light, to become a tableau vivant.

How he created joiners was by taking multiple and varying Polaroid shots or photolab-prints of an individual subject. Then with these shots he would arrange them into what almost looks like a patchwork, to create on overall image. One of Hockney’s first ‘joiners’ was a photomontage of his own mother. Aiming for a Cubist feel, he established this through taking shots at different perspectives and at different times. His work ranges from Landscape, Pearlblossom Highway #2 to  portraits,  Kasmin 1982, and My Mother, Bolton Abbey, 1982.

This is probably a closer description of how we see the world – from multiple viewpoints that are then pieced together by our mind. In this joiner by David Hockney he has tried to create this effect out of 24 Polaroid prints. He did this because he was interested in how we see and depict space and time. His is interested in how we turn a 3 dimensional world into a 2 dimensional image, how perspective is used in western art and how space is treated differently in non-western art. He did not particularly make joiners because he liked the novel effect of using photographs in this way. However, he did like the way this technique allowed the viewer to read space. He sometimes laid the images out in a neat grid.

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IMAGE ANALYSIS

This piece is called Gregory and Shinro on the Train. In this image the focus is primarily on the man in the image, captured looking in different directions whilst the lighting captures different parts of his face. You can also see Hockneys hand in the bottom left hand corner. The lighting is coming from the outer squares and drastically changes depending on where you look. The colours in the image are also mainly quite dull so the red seats catch the viewers eye especially as they’re positioned closer then other aspects of the image. The other subjects in the photo are looking away from the camera, but the main subject is looking towards it although not making eye contact.

WHAT WENT WELL

Overall I think my final outcomes were done well because i wasn’t rushed for time, and spent about 1-2 hours on each photoshoot which i think in the end really benefit me especially because it gave me a wider range of photos to choose from. Out of the two photoshoots i feel that the 2nd one was my strongest as it had a good range of location lighting and objects and i managed to capture the fascination i had in the hotel in my images. I think editing really helped make my photos better for both shoots as i played with colour exposure and texture to help make my piece stand out and showcase the detail put into my photos.

Another thing that I think went well was the standard of my final images, as none of them turned out blurry or shaky – in some instances i had to use flash as it was too dark to secure a good image but even then it turned out well and gave me the desired effect, however the ones i didn’t take with flash also turned out well especially for photoshoot 1 as the darker lighting helped me build on my theme of industrial architecture.

CRITIQUE

Although the majority of my images turned out well, one thing i felt faulted me was the fact i didn’t have a working camera for the first photoshoot so i had to use my phone, which meant some of my photos ended up out of focus or shaky and could’ve turned out better if i had used a camera. I also felt like with photoshoot 1 since using a phone i didn’t end up with much variation in the texture of my images. If i were to do it again I wouldn’t use my phone unless it was a daytime photoshoot because the quality doesn’t end up as good if the photos are taken during the night.

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HILLA AND BERND BECHER

Similarities

• Colour
  • Viewpoint (head-on)
  • Natural lighting
  • Focused
  • Similar subject of photo

Differences

• Context
• Lighting (night vs. day)
• I have edited my photo to be slightly overexposed
• Different focal points in my image

Similarities

• Set of three
• Similar theme
• Features graffiti
• Taken during day

Differences

• My image is in black and white
• Talling’s images are taken outside
• My photos were taken with flash
• Mine are edited – heightened exposure
• Talling’s features elements of nature whereas my set is showcasing the vandalism caused there by people.

For the presentation of each of my final outcomes, I displayed them in a way that would show reference to both of my case studies and their way of presenting their work through grids and sets, especially for my first photoshoot – the use of both a black and white filter and set of three shows close attention to Hilla and Bernd Becher.

For my second photoshoot, I put my photos in sets of four or three, sorting them by colour or texture whilst experimenting with other photos to see how they would fit together.

FINAL PIECE #1 – CHAOS

This is my final outcome for photoshoot one named CHAOS. I based my first shoot on industrial architecture inspired by my case studies. These set of photos are presented in black and white to show the damage power stations are causing to the environment, the lack of colours representing the pollutions in the sky. These photos were taken around La Collette and the harbour, two hotspots for harmful gases and lack of nature. I presented my photos from two different viewpoints; one taken head on and two looking upwards to symbollize how society looks down on nature to take over and build what they please, essentially destroying ecosystems. I put my photos in black and white to showcase an ominous atmosphere, but to make sure the viewer knows exactly what they are looking at, the dark colours used to exaggerate the message i want to spread about anthropocene through photography.

FINAL PIECE #2 – DOORS

I named this set of photo DOORS because each photo showcases a different type of door, for this set I wanted to take a different apporach and showcase my photos in a more abstract way, so I decided to display them according to shape. My goal for this set of photos was to make the viewer feel curious as to what’s behind the door, which relates back to my interest in abandoned buildings and wanting to know what’s inside. This set of photos I feel are the closest to my case study on Paul Talling because he has similar ones on his website; sets of conceptual photos that don’t have a correlation unless you read between the lines, which was my idea behind these images. Before grouping these photos together, I had to make sure the lighting matched, and was all natural light without any flash.

FINAL PIECE #3 – DECAY

This set is one of my favourites of the four that i’ve produced because to me it evokes the most emotion. When editing on Lightroom i set the temperature to blue to show a sad, lonely atmosphere which is what most people think of when they see abandoned places. I lowered the saturation to make the photos appear faded as i wanted to show the disrepair and state the hotel had fallen into since being derelict and taken over by nature. These images were taken at all different locations around the hotel which i think helps show a wider representation of what the atmosphere in there is like.

FINAL PIECE #4 – DESTRUCTION

As i mentioned in a previous blog post, i took these photos to replicate some of Talling’s work as many of his photoshoots are of graffiti and street art, but i also wanted to capture the vandalism caused not just by nature but also by trespassers and perhaps show another aspect of anthropocene where humans are their own worse enemy, representing destructive behaviours through the smashed objects and graffiti i found whilst exploring the hotel. I was originally reluctant to switch these photos to black and white as i felt it would clash with my other sets but I am satisfied with the outcome as i feel it really highlights the graffiti and makes it stand out whilst still having multiple other focal points.