Final decision explanation

I decided to chose the first draft of my zine for my final product as I preferred that overall layout and the composition. The first draft contained a few more experimental page layouts such as the one with a black rectangle in the centre of the pages with the photos on top. I wanted to really experiment more with this zine compared to my first ever zine that I made on the topic ‘Anthropocene’.

Analysis

What went well: With my zine, I was overall very happy with the result as I believe I was able to capture the true essence of what Jersey’s geology is all about. I wanted my zine to be very dramatic, so that is why I chose the approach of making every image black and white so that I could enhance the structures and formations that are made among the rocks. I wanted to state the importance of its structures and make it easier for people to notice areas that are hard to see at first glance.

Critique

What to consider next time: Overall, I really like how my zine turned out, but next time I make a zine, I would like to have experimented a bit more with the layouts of the pages. I have included some experiments, including the black background and expanding the images over both pages, but I would have maybe included a wider range of photoshopped layouts so that the zine would appear a bit more intriguing. Other than that, I am very happy with how my zine ended up turning out.

I have made a zine once before in my previous photography project ‘Anthropocene’. I was able to produce a 16 page zine which contained all my best images from the previous project and overall I was very satisfied with the final results.

I would however like to think more about the theme of the whole zine to be the same, as in my previous zine the images were all different colours and the theme was slightly all over the place. This time I will take on board the criticism I am setting myself with to hopefully make this zine a lot more to my liking. The previous zine was a first attempt, so I hope that this second attempt is something that I’m slightly more satisfied with.

Images selected for my zine

Here I have a couple images that I would like to use for my zine, and I wanted to see how well they would compliment each other by being paired together.

These are the wide range of images that I am going to use for my zine. I wanted to incorporate variety of close-up and textured images, with the full-scale sculptures. I wanted to achieve a contrast with my photographs so that I can display what others may not notice at first, such as the rocks rough structures close up. Displaying Jersey’s Geology from different viewpoints is definitely a good way of showcasing it’s many formations.

Process of making the zine

First I began with the layout of my zine by choose to have 16 pages for my zine. I decided to cut the number down after I added my images as I didn’t want to have a load of blank pages or even add more images on to fill in the gaps.

First zine draft

With my front cover, I chose this image as I really wanted to make the beginning of the zine quite impactful and intriguing bt choosing such a dramatic photograph. I also went ahead with choosing the title ‘Rock point’, as to represent what was going to be showcased within the zine. I experimented with a few titles such as ‘Rock bottom’ or ‘Jagged geology’, but I thought ‘Rock Point’ was a lot more suitable than the others.

For my first and second page, I wanted to start off by including a small description about Jersey’s Geology and what this zine is all about. I wanted the description to also be included in with an image I took as to highlight the basis of what is to come within the zine.

With these pages below, I wanted to start off by showcasing the textures of Jersey’s geology and a close-up representation of what people may not notice at first glance. Jersey has quite jagged formations and I wanted to highlight what it is that makes the islands rocks so intriguing. For page 4, I wanted the images to be placed within the zine with a white border around them so that they can both shine separately and not be too confusing or difficult to look at. There are so many different textures occurring with these images so I didn’t want to make them all confuse one another. On the right side, I wanted to expand the image to completely cover the page, allowing for no white borders to appear and for the image to expand to the bleed, which is kept at 3mm for each page. I wanted to really highlight how intriguing Jersey’s rock patterns are and I thought this was a really good example for how to showcase this.

With pages 6 and 7, I wanted to edit the background of the images so that there was a black rectangle which spread across both pages. I didn’t want to include just a plain white background for these next pages, as I believed that it would clash with what pages 4 and 5 have been presented as. I wanted to experiment a bit more with the aesthetic of the page before placing the images on top. I thought these images all complimented each other as they’re all showcasing different areas of the islands formations. The images on page 7 highlight close-ups of the rocks, whilst page 6 presents a full-scale, and much more intimidating, representation of the islands geology.

Page 8 and 9 include an image of one of the full-scale rock photographs which spreads along both of them. I wanted this to be a break from the other pages so far, as every page includes more than one image set together. This image on the other-hand, presents only one image but it is spread out among both pages. I liked how this page looked as I believe that it will be quite effective to turn to, especially after the repetition of multiple images on the pages so far.

I thought that these pages really complimented each other as they both showcase full-scale photographs of the islands formations and present just how intimidating their size really is. I wanted to include a black background as well for the image on page 11, as to break away from the white background that is chosen to begin with. I wanted to allow for these to make a more dramatic impact with the darker and harsher colouring.

I wanted to then take the approach of completely covering both pages with a large-scale photograph. I chose this image for it so that I could really make the rocks textures stand out. I wanted to make it big and bold as to make a larger impact on what the island has to offer. I expanded the image right up to the bleed so that the image would cover the pages nicely, not allowing for any of the white borders to peek through.

After all of my images being mainly about Jersey’s landscape, I wanted to also incorporate some still life images of rocks and other items that I have collected from the areas I have explored. I wanted to really capture the many varieties of rocks and shells that would be lying among the Jersey coastlines. I particularly liked these images for my zine as they still fit within the theme, but they also present a dramatic intent of the many items that would be harder to notice at first glance due to the size of them all. The harder to notice rocks lay among the much larger scale rocks, so I wanted to allow for these still life images to really shine so that the importance is highlighted massively.

Finally, for my back cover of my zine, I wanted to once again let the image expand up to the bleed so that it would cover the entire page. I chose this image as I believe it is quite a strong image for displaying the many arrangements of rocks present. I believe that it compliments the front cover very well as they both have presented an almost intimidating interpretation of what Jersey’s geology is all about.

Second zine draft

After creating my first draft of my zine, I wanted to experiment a bit more with the layout so I decided to carry out a second zine draft. I wanted to compare the two zines so that I could make a well thought out decision of which one I would like to be printed.

For this draft of my zine, I kept everything fairly similar to that of my first draft, but just ended up rearranging some images to see if they complimented each other more than the previous arrangement. I wanted to experiment before making my final decision for printing out my zine.

Before I began creating my zine on InDesign, I took the approach of making a physical layout by printing off the photographs I would like to include, and then taping them to a 16 page booklet made with folded pieces of paper. I wanted to get an idea of the layout first with printed off images, just so I could make it easier for me to edit my version on InDesign.

I ended up leaving a few pages blank near the end of the zine as I wasn’t sure which other images I’d consider including.

Archives tell and hold stories within them, showcasing how life progresses and how it develops over time. Anne Rice once stated, “Everyone today has a story; the world’s an archive.” The Societe Jersiaise Photographic Archive was formed within the year of 1873. The society was known for recording local photography including prehistoric monuments, buildings and ruins and was able to establish photographs for more than 140 years and currently they hold over 36,000 photos. This society has allowed for a record of our history to be recorded with the archives being established. Within the images themselves, context was said to be the most vital aspect of the photograph as they provide reference points between information sources. This allows us to gain knowledge of our world and creates a sense of meaning, the archives are a repository as they provide local information, knowledge and social memory. Without the context, the images produced wouldn’t make any sense, so it is incredibly vital that there is information behind each image as to provide more knowledge around the overall meaning and why the image was taken in the first place. Archives are incredibly important materials, and we can learn a lot about them through analysing the images within them. They can help us provide a more historical and visual background on how Jersey has changed drastically within the years of 1840 to the present time. Photography wasn’t established in Jersey until 9^th May 1840, and since that time, Jersey has indeed taken a massive change over the centuries to what it is today. What we can also see from the archives is just how much the way photographs taken have changed over the years, this being showcased with the quality and possible colours shown within the images. We ourselves keep our own personal archives in many different forms, this including photo albums that tend to contain physical prints in them, or even saved images on our phones. Although these archives are a lot smaller than the typical ones, they show insight into our memories and lives as a whole, telling a story in itself.

Henry Mullins is known to be one of the most prolific photographers presented within the Societe Jersiaise Photographic Archive. He was part of a circle of photographic pioneers at the Royal Polytechnic Institute where his first photographic studio ended up opening in 1841 in Europe, before he moved to Jersey in 1848. Judging by the collection of his photographs which is now held by Societe Jersiaise Photographic Archive, he found plenty of willing sitters in the island prepared to pay half a guinea to have their portrait taken by him. He produced over 9,000 portraits of islanders from 1852 to 1873 at a time when the population was around 55,000. What we have of Mullins works is of Victorian islanders that are preserved on the pages of his photo album, which he placed his clients in a social hierarchy. The arrangement of Mullins’ portraits of ‘who’s who’ in 19th century Jersey are highly politicised. Henry was quite a popular choice when it came to photographing portraiture and was a photographer of choice for leading members of the Jersey society and successful locals and immigrant families. The archives have definitely helped us obtain all this knowledge on Mullin’s portraits due to them all being in such good condition for us to take a closer analysis into. 

In 1893, the birth year of photography began to fall into place and many different processes for producing photographs was introduced. There were decades of development put into place within photography such as with lens manufacturing and centuries of research into the photosensitive qualities of silver salts. For Mullin’s photographs, he would print out his portraits on a carte de visite which was where a small photographic portrait of a person was mounted on a piece of card. He would produce these usually as albumen prints which was the first commercial photographic print produced using egg whites to bind the photographic chemicals to the paper. The print was a thin paper photograph mounted on a thicker paper card. These prints were usually 54.0 × 89 mm normally mounted on a card sized 64 × 100 mm. The carte de visite photograph proved to be a very popular item during the American Civil War. Soldiers, friends and family members would have a means of inexpensively obtaining photographs and sending them to loved ones in small envelopes. Mullins would end up mounting his carted de visite into an album and because of the small size and relatively affordable reproducibility, cartes de visite were commonly traded among friends and visitors in the 1860s. Mullin was quite well known for his use of arranging single portraits into diamond cameos, creating multi-portraits. The image above is an example of one of his diamond cameos and was a light brown tint due to the use of the egg white aging over time. 

Archives function as repositories of knowledge as they provide an understanding of how photography has changed over the years, and these are clearly displayed within the Societe Jersiaise Photographic Archive. The photographs display changes over the years with the way they were taken, what was used to take these, how they were finalised and developed, the quality of the images and the overall changes of the cameras used. When the archive was first created, a lot of these factors needed development and this type of development can be showcased throughout the range of images displayed within the archives leading up to the present-day images. The archives are also containing knowledge in the sense of showcasing how society has developed over the years and how the structures and areas of Jersey have followed along too. These are present mainly within street photography which tend to display the locations and the people present in those locations. These types of images expose the different time periods and how people use to be in the older times. Re-visiting these old images from well-known places in the modern period, lays out the ability to compare with recent images and observe the many changes that would be visible. In conclusion, archives are repositories of knowledge that can be very convenient to many photographers and also many historians as they present what life was like in the past and compare it to modern day images. 

STORY: What is your story?

What is a story?

A story is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether non-fictional or fictional. Narratives can be presented through a sequence of written or spoken words, through still or moving images, or through any combination of these.

Stories can be described in:

• 3 words
• A sentence:
• A paragraph

NARRATIVE: How will you tell your story?

• Images > new photographic responses, photo-shoots
• Archives > old photos from family albums, iPhone 
• Texts > letters, documents, poems, text messages

What does narrative mean?

Narrative is essentially the way a story is told. For example you can tell different narratives of the same story. It is a very subjective process and there is no right or wrong. Whether or not your photographic story is any good is another matter. 

Narrative is constructed when you begin to create relationships between images and present more than two images together. Your selection of images (editing) and the order of how these images appear on the pages (sequencing) contributes significantly to the construction of the narrative. So too, does the structure and design of the photo-zine or photobook.

It is also essential that you identity what your story is first before considering how you wish to tell it. Planning and research are also essential to understanding your subject and there are steps you can take in order to make it successful.

There are many different types of narratives such as:

• Linear Narrative = A linear narrative presents the events of the story in the order in which they actually happened.
• Non-linear Narrative = presents the events of the story out of order, employing flashbacks and other literary devices to shift the chronology of a story.
• Quest Narrative = a story in which the protagonist works tirelessly toward a goal.
•  Viewpoint Narrative = designed to express the points of view or subjective personal experience of the main character or other fictional characters in the story.

Other examples of narratives:

• Descriptive narrative = Descriptive narrative connects imagery, ideas, and details to convey a sense of time and place. They are used to create a sense of setting, of time and place and convey the mood and tone of said time and place (e.g. threatening, peaceful, cheerful, chaotic).
• Viewpoint narrative = Viewpoint narrative presents events or scenes to us so that we see understand them through narrators’ feelings, desires, beliefs or values.
• Historical narrative = Narration shows sequence of past events, cause and effect.

AUDIENCE: Who is it for?

Most image makers tend to overlook the experience of the viewer. Considering who your audience is and how they may engage with your photo-zine is important factor when you are designing/ making it.

• Reflect and comment on this in your specification (age group, demographic, social/ cultural background etc.)

What is the Societe Jersiaise Photographic Archive?

The Societe Jersiaise Photographic Archive contains over 100,000 items dating from the mid-1840s to the present day and is the principal Jersey collection of nineteenth and early twentieth century photograph. Archives can be a rich source for finding starting points on your creative journey. This will strengthen your research and lead towards discoveries about the past that will inform the way you interpret the present and anticipate the future.

“Our mission is to produce and facilitate research on the Island’s history, culture, language and environment; and to share that knowledge with the widest possible audience for the benefit of our island community.” – The Societe Jersiaise

They achieve their aims through their active Sections, research collections, community outreach and collaboration with local and international heritage partners.

The Société’s Sections specialise in various fields of study, from archaeology to zoology. These volunteer sections produce the raw data and research which make long-term studies possible, and at the Société they’ve been doing it since 1873. The Société holds extensive bibliographic, cartographic, photographic and research collections which act as our long-term memory. These collections provide a vital resource informing contemporary study and value for the community through a greater understanding of our shared heritage, identity and environment

History behind the Societe Jersiaise

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. 

They have, over the years, purchased archaeological sites in Jersey for preservation and presentation. Their two most important sites are La Hougue Bie, purchased in 1919, and La Cotte de Saint-Brélade, purchased in 1955. They have carried out extensive excavations at both sites.

In 1913 the Société’s activities as a learned society were organised into ‘Sections’ for the study of different aspects of the island.  These Sections, now 14 in number continue to be the backbone of our activities.

—- Emile F Guiton —-

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

He also realised that history was being made during his own lifetime and he recorded the development of his native island from the turn of the century until his death in 1972. He 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. 

Image analysis

I particularly like this photograph taken by Guiton as it showcases a very high exposure which lights up the entire image, making it appear very heavenly. The main focal point of the image is clearly the bright opening in the centre which allows for a teeming amount of white light to seep through. The rocks presented within a greyscale photograph and provide many different textures captured within the area.

—- My rock gallery —-

The Societe Jersiaise Photographic Archive allowed us to compose our own gallery at the institution surrounding the aspect of ‘islandness’ and what it means to be among Jersey’s geological background. This gallery contains many Year 13’s joiners alongside normal photographs of the islands rock formations, and also many other experiments to present the importance of the island’s structures.

— My images within the gallery —

Here I have two images up on display in the gallery which I particularly liked out of the entire selection I had produced. Everyone got a chance to submit their favourite photographs from the project and these two I believed were two of my strongest joiners that I had taken.

Process of editing my images

Image Edit 1:

Here with this image, I decided to convert it into a black and white image like I have been doing with my previous images from past photoshoots such as the L’Etacq one and the Devil’s Hole one. I wanted to showcase a sense of importance by making this rock central to the image.

Image Edit 2:

I decided to edit this photo by choosing one of the creative presets and adjusting it to my liking. I wanted to experiment with colour this time rather than strictly black and white, just to enhance Jersey’s beauty within it geology.

Image Edit 3:

For this image, once again I have chosen to edit the original image with a much warmer preset within the creative filters. I wanted to create a warmer image as a contrast from my usual black and white ones, just to see how it would present. I wanted to display warmth within the image so that Jersey’s colours would shine and showcase what the islands beauty is really all about. Both images have quite a drastic colour difference, one being a lot cooler with black and whites, and the other being much warmer with browns and beige tones.

Image Edit 4:

Here I have followed the same editing method for my first editing example, but the only difference is that this image is taken as a portrait photograph whilst the other image is taken as a landscape photograph. I tried to capture once again the true essence of Jersey’s geology by presenting a large rock as the central focal point for the photograph. I once again chose the approach of editing it in black and white as to capture a more dramatic interpretation of the islands formations and rock shapes.

—- Best images —-

Coloured images:

Black and white images:

—- Plan for the Photoshoot —-

We ended up going on a photography field trip down to Green Island to capture the many different types of rock formations that would be present along the coastline.

We split up into two groups and I was placed among the group that would venture along to Green Island. We started at the car park where La Hocq is and began to walk along the beach towards where Green Island was. During the walk, we were advised to capture images of the many different types of rocks that were spread out among the beach and also running just along the sides of it. There were many photo opportunities for us as the beach was completely covered in many different types of geological interests.

Contact sheets

—- Flagged and rejected —-

—- Colour coded and star rated —-

Green – Images I’m going to use:

Yellow – Images I might be using:

Red – Images I won’t be using:

—- Final outcomes from the shoot —-

I ended up taking a vast amount of good images that I would like to continue editing until they are to my liking. The rock formations along Green Island were incredibly interesting to look at as every single piece was completely different from one another. Every rock was different and unique with its own textures and structures.

These singular rock images I believe were strong together as they both display one rock, taken at a portrait viewpoint, and make that the sole focal point of the piece. The large rock stands out from the many small and extra ones around it which makes it seem like a more intimidating structure compared to what lies around it.

I enjoy how these images look together as they all share a similar colour scheme and pattern on them. They are of the same rock but taken at different angles and perspectives just to make it seem like they’re completely separate rocks.

I quite liked how these two photos together as they create quite a nice colour contrast. The image on the left, containing mustard yellows and green pigments, has a few more bright colours than the image on the right does, that image containing a lot of grey and brown tints of colour.

Series of other final outcome

These photographs I believed were also quite strong so I decided to put this as well among my successful outcomes during the photoshoot.

Image analysis and Critique

What I liked about the photograph: I was particularly happy with this photograph that I took as it gave off the importance of Jersey’s geology by focusing on a singular version of the many rocks the island has to offer. Photographing the rock on its own, gives off a better sense of uniqueness because this is the main focal point and is central to the photograph.

What I would do different next time: Next time I would possibly take a few more close ups of the rock just to display its textures a bit more, maybe even getting closer to the rock and photographing it fully central would have been a good idea as well. The rock is central, but there seems to be other rocks in front of it which may diminish the true importance of the larger rock.

—- Jody Powell —-

I have chosen to use Jody Powell as my source of inspiration for my 3D sculpture as I really admire the effectiveness that it brings without being overly complicated. I wanted to aim to make a rather interesting sculpture, especially one that acted out as an optical illusion, so that I could present my photography in a completely different sense to how I usually do.

Image Analysis

I have chosen this image to analyse from Jody Powell’s works as I really admire the way it’s been structured and the fact it’s a digital sculpture rather than a physically made one. He is a graphic designer so he specialises in the arts of digital model making rather than physical fine art making. What I can see from this sculpture is that there are three of almost the exact same image placed in front of one another, then a completely different image at the back to counteract as the background to the whole structure.

What I like about the sculpture: What I particularly enjoy about seeing this sculpture is just how simple yet effective it is. The sculpture is mainly just four cut out images, one in front of the other, but the way it’s conceptualised just gives off a really clever illusion of looking like an entirely singular image. The simplicity overall is just what makes the piece really intriguing for me. I also really like how the image at the very back is completely different to the other three in front of it. I feel as if it ends up breaking the repetition just a little bit so that it’s not completely lost with the same patterns and textures. The image at the back acts as a nice backdrop for the images in front to flow in front of, making them pop out more.

—– 3D Sculpture moodboard —–

For my 3D sculpture, I am aiming for more of an optical illusion approach such as that of Jody Powell’s. I like the overall look of the sculpture and how everything is layered up one behind another. It makes it look almost like the photo is flowing together as one and not being separate photographs.

—- Making of my 3D sculpture —-

Image selection

For my 3D sculpture, I needed to start off by choosing my best images out of all the ones I ended up taking. I decided to choose photos from my L’Etacq photoshoot as I believed that I was able to photograph very appropriate images for the type of sculpture I was aiming to pursue making. I needed full-scale images of larger rocks and I believed that these images were perfect examples of what I needed to use.

For my attempt at a photography sculpture, I decided to take inspiration from the works of Jody Powell. I wanted to use a variety of my images taken of large rock formations and position one in front of the other to add a sense of depth to the overall sculpture.

The first step I took with my sculpture is I printed out all of my chosen photographs, printing out some larger than others. I chose the much wider rocks as being the main background images for my sculpture, so I chose to print those out full scale on A4 paper. I then chose to print out the smaller ones together on one side of A4 paper and cut all the images out. Once they were all cut out, I stuck each individual image onto a styrofoam board and cut around the image so that it would be mounted on the board.

Next with my sculpture, I found myself two pieces of styrofoam board and stuck them together for more support of the sculpture. I then measured the length of each cut out and drew it along the board before cutting out the slits for them to be inserted into.

Afterwards, I inserted each cut out photograph into the slits and adjusted them all so that you could see each of them over top of one of another. I wanted each of them to have enough space so that each could be seen above one another, allowing for the illusion to take form.

Photoshoot of sculpture

Here I have some photographs of my photo sculpture and I attempted to take it at different angles as to have a variety of outcomes. I really wanted to make it obvious that the sculpture was composed of many different images but to allow for them to also flow into one image, creating the optical illusion that I wanted to achieve much like Jody Powell’s.

Analysis and critique

Overall, I am very pleased with how my final sculpture turned out and I feel as if I was able to execute it well to the standard I set myself up with at the very beginning of my sculpting. The process was pretty straight forward and I was easily able to execute my piece to effectively showcase the illusion I was hoping for. I did come across a few areas where the background image was at a certain shape which I was slightly unhappy with, but I was able to fix this problem by just trimming the cut out to a more jagged shape as to still help it maintain the rock formation it had to begin with.

Something I would do differently next time, is I would have possibly changed the size of all the images slightly more just so everything was a bit more central. I would have also maybe picked a different image for the very back as the image I chose is incredibly jagged and isn’t as rounded as I hoped. I wanted the image in front of it to be central enough so that you could see the entirety of the other one behind it as well, but due to the formation of the rock, it gets slightly lost behind the one in front of it. Other than these critiques, I am very satisfied with how my final outcome turned out.