The People! Power! Protest! is an exhibition at the Jersey museum that explores how the right to protest has shaped and influenced the island that we know today. It includes events from the Corn Riots in 1769 up to the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.

People during this time mainly grew corn and wheat, usually making bread and using it as currency. In 1969 there was a lack of corn and its export was banned due to the poor harvest. This meant that the food prices went up and the only people that could afford it were the rich, which left the poorer people to starve.

People were frustrated with the food shortages, rising prices, the unfair taxation system and Jersey’s power structure, so around 500 hundred islanders stormed the Royal Court with 13 demands to alleviate their struggles on September 28th 1769. Demands:

• That grain and wheat were too expensive and that the price of wheat is lowered and set at 20 sols per cabot.

• That foreigners to be ejected from the Island./

• That his Majesty’s tithes be reduced to 20 sols per vergée.

• That the value of the liard coin be set to 4 per sol.

• That there should be a limit on the sales tax.

• That seigneurs stop enjoying the practice of champart, (the right to every twelfth sheaf of corn or bundle of flax).

• That seigneurs stop the right of ‘Jouir des Successions’, (the right to enjoy anyone’s estate for a year and a day after they died without heirs).

• That branchage fines could no longer be imposed.

• That Rectors could no longer charge tithes except on apples.

• The lowering of a money rente due by tenants on a fief.

• That Philippe Larbalestier, who had been sent to prison on 23 September, be released without having to pay a fine.

• That the charges against Captain Nicholas Fiott be dropped and that he be allowed to return to the Island without an inquiry.

• That the Customs’ House officers be ejected.

No one lost their life although many came armed with sticks and clubs, and an usher was thrown over the court railing during the disturbance.

Overall, the riot was successful and led to the Code of 1771 which meant that the Royal Court was stripped of its legislative powers, meaning that from 1771, only the States Assembly could create laws.

Context-Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter is a decentralized political and social movement protesting against incidents of police brutality and all racially motivated violence against black people.

On the 25th of May 2020, George Floyd (46-year-old African-American male) was killed by Derek Chauvin (white police officer) after being pinned down by the officer’s knee. Bystanders filmed the event and you could hear Floyd repeatedly say “I can’t breathe” and the police officer starting to put more pressure until Floyd passed away.

This inspired a lot of people to protest and speak up about human rights and police brutality. There were over 150 protests across 21 states of America. Some were meant to be peaceful however, the military and police got involved by being violent and harming people using tear gas and firing rubber bullets into crowds.

This inspired the citizens of jersey to speak up and protest. A large number of people gathered together and kneeled down at People’s Park in memory of George Floyd.

Editing One Picture

I decided to edit this picture because I liked the composition and I thought it looked quite simple and nice. I also liked the way the sun was coming from the window and the reflection it created on the wall. I started by turning it black and white to make it look old then I increased the contrast to make the lines on the wall and texture of the metal tub stand out. I also decreased the highlights and increased the shadows because It was a bit too bright.

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Final Edits

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Editing One Picture

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I decided to edit this picture because I liked the composition. I think the way the model was in the centre of the image and looking to her right whilst holding a vase could tell a story to the viewer. I cropped the photo first to bring more attention to her instead of the background. I then sharpened the picture and increased the texture to make the details stand out. I also increased the vibrance to make it livelier.

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Final Edits

Editing One Image

I decided to edit this picture because I really like the composition and the way the light hits the brushes. I thought the detail on the brush looked very interesting and I wanted to make them stand out more by turning up the contrast and texture. I turned the hue down and saturation up for the colour red in order to make the table cloth more visible and the embroidered rose stand out. I also played around with the other colours until I could something I liked. I cropped the image because I think its looks better close up due to the details of the brush.

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Final Edits

What is a Cyanotype?

A cyanotype is a photographic printing process that produces a cyan blue print. It was discovered in 1842 by the British scientist Sir John Herschel. The process remains the same today, producing a white image on a deep blue background.

Cyanotypes as a Science

This process uses a mixture of two iron compounds(ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide), which when exposed to UV light and washed in water oxidise to create Prussian Blue images.

Cyanotypes as an Art Form

Engineers and architects in the 20th century used it as a simple and low cost process to produce copies of drawings (blueprints).

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Anna Atkins

Anna Atkins was an English botanist and photographer born in 1799, Tonbridge, United Kingdom. She was the first person to illustrate a book with photographic images in 1843 (Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions).

Her innovative use of new photographic technologies merged art and science, and exemplified the exceptional potential of photography in books.

Atkins applied a mixture of UV-sensitive iron compounds to plain paper, then placed a dried botanical specimen and a label against the newly light-sensitive paper.

How to create Cyanotypes

What you’ll need:

• pre-prepared cyanotype paper
• a piece of cardboard
• glass sheet
• an interesting range of objects like, feathers and leaves
• water
• sunlight

How to do it:

• put the paper on top of the carboard
• arrange your objects in an interesting way
• put the glass on top so that the objects don’t fly off
• leave in the sun for a bout a minute or two
• when the paper is white, put it in the water to stop it from processing for a bout two minutes
• then let it dry

My Cyanotype

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This is what I did during my visit at Hamptonne. I collected twigs, leaves and feathers from around the farm, then randomly place them on my paper. I left it in the sun for two minutes to process, then in water for another two and lastly to dry. I don’t really like it because think I left it in the sun for too long which made it too dark and hard to see the objects.

Information

Hamptonne is a country life museum that shows the history of the Jersey farmers and culture in the 15th century. It contains different areas for visitors to explore and learn about, including, the apple orchard, houses, bakehouse, playground and animal farm.

History

Hamptonne got its name in 1633 when Laurens Hamptonne purchased the farm. It is also known as ‘La Patente’, as is the name of one of the roads that passes it, after the Grants by Letters Patent received by its owner Richard Langlois in 1445, and by King Charles II to Laurens Hamptonne in 1649.

Cider Apple Orchard

The Cider Apple Orchard is one of Hamptonne’s most popular attractions due to all the different apple trees which provide a good balance for cider making when mixed together.

Every year, Hampttone holds a cider-making festival where all the apples from the trees are collected at the beginning of October, then turned into cider. The old cider press is used and people come to enjoy the traditional food, music, games and cider.

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Living History Characters

Inside the houses and around the farm you will meet different performers acting like the people who used to live and work at the farm in the 15th century. These people wear old traditional clothing and you are able to interact with them and learn more about what it was like to live in Hamptonne. These characters are available from late March through to October and they include: the Goodwife, Blacksmith, Wool Spinners, Knitters and Dyers.

Tom Kennedy

Tom Kennedy is a local jersey photographer that uses natural lighting in order to create painting-like photographs of the characters and make them seem more natural and like they are in the characters’ time periods. He was influenced by 17th-century painters including Rembrandt and Vermeer.

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Camera Obscura

A camera obscura (‘Dark Chamber’ in Latin) is a darkened room or box with a small hole or lens on one side. The light comes from the small hole which then projects an image on to the wall upside down. This technique was used for centuries to view eclipses without damaging people’s eyes, then from the 17h century artists used it to draw.

Nicephore Niepce

Nicephore Niepce was a French inventor of the 18th century. He was credited as the ‘inventor of photography’ because he created the first permanent photographic image through the process of heliography (“sun writing” in Greek).  He captured the scene with a camera obscura projected onto a pewter plate thinly coated with a naturally occurring asphalt before letting the photo sit for 8 hours to gather exposure. His work inspired other inventors and artists like Louis Daguerre.

Louis Daguerre + Daguerreotype

Louis Daguerre was a French artist and photographer, recognised for his invention of the daguerreotype process of photography. He is known as one of the fathers of photography.

The daguerreotype was the first commercially successful photographic process (1839-1860) in the history of photography. This method consisted of treating silver-plated copper sheets with iodine to make them sensitive to light, then exposing them in a camera and “developing” the images with warm mercury vapour. Unlike heliography, this process only needed 20 minutes of exposure.

Henry Fox Talbot

Henry Fox Talbot was an English scientist, inventor and photography pioneer who invented the ‘salted paper’ and ‘calotype’ processes.

The ‘Salted Paper’ process was discovered in 1834, and it was used to create photogenic drawings, meaning drawings produced by light. The process involved dipping the paper in a solution of sodium chloride and coating one side with silver nitrate. An impression of an object was then made by placing it on the sensitized side of the paper and exposing it to the sun.

Calotype(Ancient Greek for “beautiful impression”), also know as Talbotype, was introduce in 1841. In this technique, a sheet of paper coated with silver chloride was exposed to light in a camera obscura; those areas hit by light became dark in tone, yielding a negative image.

Richard Maddox

Richard Leach Maddox was an English photographer and physician who invented lightweight gelatin negative plates for photography in 1871. This enabled photographers to use commercial dry plates off the shelf instead of having to prepare their own emulsions in a mobile darkroom. This meant that cameras were now small enough to be handheld which made photography more convenient.

George Eastman and Kodak(Brownie)

George Eastman was an American entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak Company and helped to bring the photographic use of roll film into the mainstream.

The Brownie was first introduced in 1900 and it was a basic cardboard box camera with a simple meniscus lens that took 2 1/4-inch square pictures on 117 roll film. Its original price was $1, with the film rolls and processing being even cheaper, and it allowed the product to sell more than Eastman thought. Brownies were marketed to children and were also taken to war by soldiers.

Digital Photography

Digital photography uses cameras containing arrays of electronic photodetectors to produce images focused by a lens, as opposed to an exposure on photographic film. The first digital picture was taken in 1957 by Russel Kirsch and it was one of his son. Digital photographs have become more common now due to the ‘camera’ tool on phones, which has made photography more accessible than ever.

Photography is the art of using light to create an image.

Photography’s Functions

Photography is used all around the world by all types of people in different ways. It can be used to record different events in history which we can later on look at and learn about, as well as keeping family traditions and memories alive. It’s also a tool for science and exploration due it it being able to document people, places and events.

Photography as an Art Form

Some people could argue that photography is not real art due to it being mostly digital, unlike paintings and drawings; however, I believe that it is a real art form because it’s not easy, not everyone can do it, and it can paint an image just like drawings can. Photographers can change the outcome of a photograph using lenses, cameras, film, filters, lighting and much more, which makes photography more unique. You can be as creative with it as you want, just like with different art forms like music, sculpture, painting etc.

Photography as a Science

Chemistry and physics are needed in order to make cameras work which makes photography possible. Scientists use photography all the time to document and learn more about our planet and space. They use it as evidence and are able to share it with other people in order to make new discoveries.

The Difference between the Study and Practice of Photography

Study:

The ‘Study’ of photography is where you learn how the camera and lighting work. You also get to learn all the different techniques photography has to offer, such as compositions, manipulating, editing, processing etc.

Practice:

The ‘Practice’ is the artistic side of photography where you use a camera, take pictures, make the photos, and so on. Photographers practice different techniques and experiment with their ideas in order to create something new and beautiful.

Types of Photography

There are many different types of photography like: portrait, landscape, still life, fashion, street, architectural, sports, and many more. Each types helps us view the world around us differently in their own unique ways.

This photograph is known as the ‘Migrant Mother’ and it is one of the most iconic photographs in American History. It was taken in 1936 by the American photographer Dorothea Lange, and it symbolises the hunger, poverty and hopelessness endured by many Americans during the Great Depression.

In this picture, we can see an elderly woman that is deep in thought and observing something in front of her while having her one hand lifted to her mouth. She has two children leaning against each of her shoulders, both facing away from the mother and appearing to be dressed in rags like the woman herself. There also appears to be a baby bundled up in a blanket on top of the woman’s lap.

The photographer took this picture from the waist up, with the mother being in the centre and two of her children on either shoulder, then turned it black and white. The lack of colour is  making it feel old and like the mother has lost all hope and is probably going through depression. There’s a lot of detail in this picture; for example, the woman’s wrinkles are very visible on her skin, which could symbolise all the stress she has gone through and all the anxiety. You can also see that there is dirt on their skins and clothing, showing that they have been struggling and going through this for a long time. This makes the viewer feel sympathy towards the mother and her children.