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Images i’m working with

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The goal for these photoshoots was to come out with some images similar to those of Hiroshimo as discussed in previous blog post where I showed my first attempts at creating these images.

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I have been experimenting with colour grading and filtering with this set of images as some of the images look a lot cleaner in monochrome, and some of Hiroshimo’s images are black and white too.

While Hiroshimos work is a collection of images of the sea/sky horizon I wanted to include some elements related to Jersey such as rocks, buoys, piers, boats etc.

I plane to arrange these images in a 2 page spread grid in my photobook with all the horizons level.

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Final Images

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My photobook contained over 40 images ranging from photos of the beach, rocks, landscape and history. Shown below are some of my favourite images throughout my rock project. All images below have been used in my photobook layout.

Photobook Preparation:

To begin our main mock preparation, we researched and deconstructed photobooks to help further understand how to create a good book. I looked deep into a photobook named ‘Beyond Here Is Nothing’, which taught me how to construct a book and write a good essay.

Leading up to our mock exam, we did many different photo shoots and small projects to be prepared for our essay and photobook. We went to La Hocq, L’Etacq and many other places. I created a photo-zine which is similar to my final photo book.

Also, we made 3d sculptures using foam board and paper to present some of our images from the My Rock project. This gave me some inspiration about what images can be used in my photobook.

To help with writing my essay I was tasked to write an essay on photo archives. I believe this was very useful for me because it taught be essay techniques and structure that was needed when writing our recent essay.

Project Evaluation:

Overall, I am very happy with hoe my project has turned out. I really like the way my photobook displays both L’Etacq and La Hocq’ beaches in a layout that suits me best. However, next time I will definitely make sure that I go on photo shoots relating to my essay, as for this project I didn’t gather any images leading up to the exam, because of that I had to use photos from past projects to create my book.

What went well:

I believe my overall editing process has gone very successfully when linked towards the layout of my photobook. Also, I think that my essay was written in a quality manner writing over 2000 words. My use of image selection has very much improved since our last mock exam by choosing images that are much more useful and related to the topic.

How can I improve:

I defiantly could’ve went on many photo shoots that linked towards the topic of my essay ‘Youth Culture’ rather than having to use past images of rocks and beaches. Also, next time I create a photobook I need to gain more images that could be used in the book due to this time I only had around 50 useful images when next time I want to gain at least 100.

The aim of my project is to show two photos in the same spot with the tide in and out.

I started by selecting my images by using the pick/reject tool in Lightroom.

This was useful for me because I could see which images to use for my work.

Here I am using the box draw tool to only adjust the settings on one part of the image. This is particularly useful when taking seascapes because of how much the sea and sky contrast, so to fix that I changed the exposure for only part of the image.

In Lightroom I also used the crop tool and the automatic transformation tool to line up the horizons in both photos so they looked the most similar:

Before:

Process:

After:

Photography: Personal Study Essay 

Question: In what ways can photography capture being Portuguese in Jersey and the sense of belonging? _________________________________________________________________________________ 

Jersey to me acts like a tutorial level in a video game; a safe, closed off area that allows me to learn and develop skills before I move on to the real world when I am ready. I value this idea as it is quite comforting at times to know that I have a place to explore with all kinds of people, however, I often find myself feeling quite insignificant due to the isolation that being on an island brings which is sometimes exaggerated due to the fact that I am Portuguese living on a British island. The disconnection from both the Portuguese culture and Jersey’s culture leaves me in an awkward position as I find that I am too Portuguese for the English people and too English for the Portuguese people. I would like to explore the Portuguese experience in Jersey whilst touching on the topic of mental health as it is something I have first-hand experience in and feel as though I could fully delve into, including both the positive and negatives rather than sugar-coating it, which is why I’ll be exploring Daniel W. Coburn and Dianna Markosian’s work on their experiences with family.  

For this project, I’ll be using a mix of snapshot and documentary photography including some postmodern approaches to image making as I believe in order for me to successfully create a project that represents ‘the sense of belonging’ in regard to culture, I’ll need to explore the realistic aspect of my project, capturing images of how life is for myself and my family in our day to day lives. I’ll be rejecting the idea of an objective cultural experience through the use of text – collaborating with my parents to get in depth details on their experiences in Jersey and attempting to capture more complex and creative images exploring stereotypes that people often use against Portuguese people. Alongside that, I’ll be looking at photography through a historical perspective and its important links to social sciences, specifically anthropology and ethnography. I’ll be using a digital camera throughout my project along with a mix of older images from my parents in order to help me achieve my goals which will create a point of comparison between what their lives were like pre-Jersey up until today. 

I’d like to begin by exploring the word ‘belonging’ both what it means and its implications. Belonging is often described as a feeling of security and acceptance, comfortably being able to exist within a space without fearing social rejection or being outcasted which I believe links with photography due to how the definition of ‘the sense of belonging’ is subjective. Various individuals can have different ideas and interpretations of the phrase which can include both positive and negative connotations, making it an interesting feeling to explore, especially photographically as it has no limits, allowing for a more experimental approach to taking images.  

Photography, historically, has links to various racist and sexist ideologies such as believing that the white man is the ‘ideal’ and ‘most true’ form of human due to colonisation, Peter Hamilton uses the Darwinist evolutionary theory to explain this as ‘what was considered “superior” the look and shape of the Western European face and body] was compared with what was considered ‘inferior’ [the look and shape of any other type of face and body]” (2001: 84-93). The book ‘Decolonising the camera’ by Mark Sealy [2019] examines how ‘Western photographic practise has been used as a tool for creating Eurocentric and violent visual regimes’ throughout the past, asking if the camera has been used as a “liberating device” or as an “oppressive weapon”. This is due to how photography ‘began to be used as the West explored and documented “the rest of the world”’ (Hamilton 2001: 85), dehumanising groups of people through images that have been described as ‘remarkably similar to those that Tagg identifies within a medical, educational and legal institutions’ (Sealy 2019:106). It has been noted that within these images the people are ‘photographed one by one, isolated in bright lighting and evenly lit shallow spaces’ [Edwards 1997: 56], implying through the use of the visuals that these people are being viewed as subhuman, which can be further seen through Huxley’s ‘recommended use of measuring rods which subjects were positioned’ (Edwards 1997; Hamilton 2001).  

My parents, despite trying to keep me in touch with our culture, often struggled to communicate with me growing up, despite English being our second language, as I found it to be my preferred language, which eventually led to me forgetting Portuguese altogether by the time I was 5. This affected my relationship with both my parents, especially with my dad. His job didn’t require him to speak English as much as my mum’s did, leaving a wall between us as neither knew how to talk to one another, often needing my mum’s presence in order to have a coherent conversation. Despite the fact that we lived together, we felt like strangers which is similar to American & Russian photographer Diana Markosian’s series ‘Inventing my father’ where she depicts her relationship with her father after not seeing him for almost 20 years, as she left without a goodbye at age 7. Throughout her series, she addresses how they viewed each other as strangers despite being family, focusing on the awkward tension between her 23-year-old self and her father and uses text alongside her photos to help express how they tried to rebuild their relationship. Her other series ‘Mornings (With You)’ is a more confrontative series on their relationship as she sets up the camera directly in front of the table both she and her father are seated at and takes raw images of them both together as they both reconnect. I believe her work links into my own due to how she explores her identity in terms of both her family and culture as she actively photographs her life and how the disconnect due to her moving as a child left her confused in her sense of belonging, stating ‘there was just this real desire, a real passion to expand my own sense of place, where I belonged – I didn’t know where I belonged’ (Markosian in an interview with NOWNESS 2021) which is what I myself aimed to capture within my project. 

Daniel W. Coburn is an American documentary photographer whom I believe also links into my project as his main focus is family. He uses his photography as a way to document his family which allows him to create a raw set of images rather than a stereotypical family photo album that only includes the positive aspects of their lives. In his series “Next of Kin”, he includes rough, mostly posed, images of his family behind the scenes exploring his family history in ‘parable of love, reverie, respect and quiet tragedy’ (Coburn 2012) which directly links into my project in terms of theme as I would like to take some candid images of both myself and my parents at times where we would not normally pose for images, capturing us in our day to day lives without creating the typical family photo album which Martha Langford argues is a performance, presenting a constructed version of the identity of its participants (Bull 2009). 

For my photoshoots, I began by taking some experimental self-portraits as I knew this project was personal to me and I wanted to start within my comfort zone – in my room. This way, I could explore my own identity without needing to expose my family to the camera before I was ready to. I used different types of lighting, poses, props to accentuate my facial expressions and emotions, trying to portray a sense of solitude. Throughout the shoot, I started to generate more ideas of where my project could go and was quickly ready to move out of my comfort zone and take day-to-day photographs of my mother as I knew it would be more difficult to capture my dad due to his work hours. This led me to going to my mum’s part-time job and capturing the environment, trying to peak at what part of her life was in providing for our family which was quite interesting, especially as she exposed her distaste for some of the company’s actions. The next shoot involved taking images of my mother at home, contrasting the environment from before, which allowed me to have some images of moments that wouldn’t typically be seen by others as they’re not classes as ‘special’ enough to capture. Next, I rephotographed some old images of my parents and other family members from when they lived in Madeira from a photo album that my parents had created as I knew I wanted to use them to create contrast within my project. I ended the photographing process by taking one final photoshoot of objects/areas around our flat in order to have proof that we’re people living our lives, adding a sense of normality to the project which I think helps to tie it together. 

In conclusion, Markosian and Coburn’s work used their own families to create their series’, emphasising the personal aspect of their images which in turn also helps to portray their feelings towards their cultures. Markosian’s work specifically focused on her father and how she lacked a sense of belonging due to her experiences within her culture and family which links into my work as I also used the lives of my parents alongside my own in order to portray the sense of belonging in regard to culture. Coburn, on the other hand, used his images to reject the idea of a typical family photo album, his work differing from Markosian’s as he embraced the idea of capturing the negative aspects of his family, going against the idea of performativity in terms of photography in favour of a more raw and realistic set of images. I also think Coburns work is similar to my own, despite the fact that his work doesn’t link into the sense of belonging, due to how he used rough images of his family like I did, exploring his family at different moments throughout out their lives which is what I did within my own project in order to create an unfiltered view into our family life. Although my work doesn’t represent everyone’s cultural experiences, I believe I’ve managed to capture how the sense of belonging can differ between individuals and help outsiders to understand how isolating it can be at times. 

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Bibliography: 

Bull, S. (2010) Photography. Abingdon: Routledge, pp105-106 

Coburn, D. [2014] Next of Kin URL: https://www.danielwcoburn.com/next-of-kin Accessed on 08/02/23 

Edwards, E. [1997] Ordering Others: Photography, Anthropology and Taxonomies Oxford: Museum of Modern Art, pp.56 

Gov.je [2021] Population characteristics URL: https://www.gov.je/government/jerseyinfigures/population/pages/populationstatistics.aspx Accessed on 01/02/23 

Hamilton, P. [2001] Policing the Face Humphries/London: National Portrait Gallery, pp84-93 

Langford, M. [2001] Suspended Conversations: The Afterlife of Memory in Photographic Albums Quebec: McGill-Queen’s University Press 

Markosian, D. [2013] Inventing my father URL: https://www.dianamarkosian.com/father Accessed on 08/02/23 

Markosian, D. [2016] Mornings (With You) URL: https://www.dianamarkosian.com/mornings Accessed on 08/02/23 

Markosian, D. [2021] NOWNESS interview URL: Photographers in Focus: Diana Markosian on turning her family story into a soap opera Accessed 29/01/23  

Sealy, M. [2019] Decolonising the camera: Photography in Racial Time London: Lawrence & Wishart 

Virtual gallery link: https://www.artsteps.com/view/6364da4f84fb1fe866c22cc1/?currentUser

Gallery evaluation:

Overall, I think my gallery was produced with a good layout. I like the way the black frames mix in with the colour of the rocks and creates a contrast. I think the three photos of La Hocq tower shows a great sequence whilst contrasting against each other.

Narrative: What is your story?

• 3 words – Organic vs. Synthetic
• A sentence – A book detailing the conflict between the organic (natural) and synthetic (unnatural/man-made) elements of the modern world.
• A paragraph – The relationship between (conflict, co-existence, integration into…) the organic and synthetic, capturing the ways they combine and simultaneously oppose one another, creating an otherworldly and unnatural relationship. Using colour, shape as well as meanings behind each image to create links between the two in order to visualise them easier.

Design: Consider the following

• How you want your book to look and feel – I think a slightly rough-feeling book could work nicely with my project, as my book is meant to show the rough contrast between organic and synthetic. In terms of looks, my book will be, like most of my other work, on the colourful and vibrant side.
• Paper and ink – I think the ‘Premium Lustre’ paper that Blurb offers will be good for my photobook as it offers a good quality. I might experiment with black-coloured pages as it might fit nicely with the aesthetic of my images, especially the night photographs.
• Format, size and orientation – I will be using a portrait orientation, as it could be a good format to use as it will fit with the dimensions of my images better. My book will be 20 by 25 cm, which is the standard Blurb portrait sizing.

• Binding and cover – An Idea could be to place an image on the first page of the book and cut a hole out of the cover to reveal some of that image underneath (which I would like to contrast with the rest of the image), like a window.
• Structure and architecture – I think organising my images into a structure representing a day – night cycle could be effective, to do this I would make use of my photographs taken in the day at the start (or middle) and put my night photographs in at the end (or the start/end as I have two night photoshoots). I will organise my images based on shapes and colour as opposed to a linear narrative, as this will allow me to formulate the structure and layout of the page spreads much easier.
• Design and layout – I would like to use a range of double/single page spreads, along with some pages having 2 or 3 images on them at once. I will have ‘repeating’ page spreads – which have a similar pattern or meaning others.
• Editing and sequencing – I have edited my images to have as much colour as is reasonable, as well as some black and white images to create a juxtaposition. I will sequence the images in a way that juxtaposes the key themes of organic and synthetic (and perhaps night and day, which is an afterthought idea).
• Images and text – I will likely only include my images and the essay within the photobook, with no additional text or captions. This will allow the photobook to flow slightly better
• Title (This is subject to change) – Something along the lines of The Plastic Biotic – a juxtaposition between words representing my key ideas.

Moodboard of Ideas

Contact Sheets

These are the contact sheets for my archival photos that I will be using throughout my photobook. I have picked images that represent both sides of my family and ones that show where they are connected through my parents. There are also photos that show family friends that my parents met when they came over to Jersey, these people have become my family and I think that this is a good way to show how the relationships have developed over time.

Selection

I would like to use all of my archival photos in my book but for some (yellow) I will try and include them in collages as I don’t feel that they have the best quality or I don’t want them to be displayed one a page of their own. The other images (green) are the photos that will hold meaning on their own as they show links between friends and family which is what I am trying to portray throughout this photobook. I have also excluded one photo as I have made the decision to put that as my front cover as it is one of my favourite images out o the collection.

Collage Experimentation

For my cover and throughout the book I wish to use archival photos to experiment with to make different collages, below I will show some examples of me using different photos to play around with to eventually pick the one that I find the most fitting to be on my photobook.

Above are my first experiments with making a collage, I did one for both my mum and dad as I wasn’t to have a collage for both the front and back cover of my photobook. I started by creating a black background for my photos to be one as I felt that it would be more fitting for the images that I wanted to use. I then took a few images that show each of my parents and moved them onto this background, I found that for my mums collage as I used a portrait photo instead of landscape it was harder to place as there wouldn’t be a boarder around all of my photographs. After finishing these experimentations I didn’t like how they turned out against the background, I feel that it is to plain and contrasts with the images that I used.

Below is my second experimentation, instead of using a plain background I decided to use one the archival images of a city in Turkey which my parents frequented for holidays. I used similar images to the ones in my first experiment but I feel that they look better with this background and it also holds more of a story as it was a place that they loved as well as complimenting the photographs used. I will be using these collages as my front and back cover as I feel that they will grab someone’s attention as well as keeping a structured narrative.

Photoshop Experimentation

For my experimentation with photoshop I have used a few different techniques so achieve the results below. For the two portrait images I first used polygonal lasso tool to select the first layer of triangles around the photograph, I then went into adjustments and selected vibrance, this allowed be to increase both the saturation and vibrancy as this did not achieve the desired effect I also used the photo filter. This effect allowed be to chose a colour that can be adjusted whether I wanted it to be intense or mellow. I have also decided to use a gold metallic background to go with some of my images which I chose to pair with the line work.

Above I have some of my landscape images that I will be using in my photobook, I have displayed two styles of editing hat I will be using throughout my book, my third image is editing the same as the portrait photographs above. For my first image I had layered the original image on top of a gold metallic background, I wanted to use gold as I felt that it complimented both the red and white line work which will be shown in my different manipulations. I will be using the gold as a layering tool or as a way to remove someone from the photo but still have their silhouette. I felt that the gold will hold a uplifting vibe to the photographs, to achieve the adaptation in the first photo I used the polygonal lasso tool to pick out the individual after I then outlined the two after people featured in the photograph with the red paint brush tool. For my second and fourth images I have used the polygonal lasso tool to make the triangles around the original image, I then turned these triangles to black and white to contrast with the different colours that are in the original photographs. I like how the saturated colours in the images make the black and white shapes standout and more clear. I next out lined each triangle with the red line tool, this helps to make the photographs flow better together as they have something connecting each other. In both my second and fourth images I make a duplicate layer so that I was able to move my cut outs but still have the same photograph underneath, I think this adds the final edit as you can see what it looks like with and without colour.

To begin my photo book, I decided to further explore the topic of Islandness. I gathered up images from past and present photo shoots all containing the subject of rocks, ocean, beach and even history. Overall, I rounded up to around 500 images that could possibly be useful for my photobook.

Contact sheets:

After importing my images into my lightroom collection, I organised them into colour ratings to depict which images I wanted to work with in my photobook. In the end I rounded up around 60 images that have been edited and were most likely going to end up in my book.

I then began by letting lightroom create a default book to give me an idea and a slight start for my photobook. At first, the default book looked very messy and disorganised until I played around and got an idea of producing the first half of my book with images from L’Etacq and the second half of my book being images taken at La Hocq.

I decided I didn’t like the way this book was layered out and began my image placement again. I narrowed down my images even further and displayed them in a new layout which I much preferred.

Page experimentation:

After finding a layout I liked the most I wanted to experiment with different basic colours for the pages of the book. At first I started looking at grey and believed it wasn’t very effective.

Next, I tested out the black paper and couldn’t choose between using either white paper or black. I looked at how the book would look with all pages black and finally decided to use black.

Photobook final outcome:

First half – L’Etacq

I chose the title of Rotchi Jerri because it is Jèrriais for ‘Rock Island’. My book displays rocks from our island which is a big rock. The use of rock island describes Jersey in a good way as it is surrounded by rocks and beaches. Also, Rotchi Jerri is a unique title due to the use of the Jèrriais language that I haven’t seen been used in the title of a book.

I chose to layout these page as such because they are all taken from the same position but in a different location. Also, I kept these three images together due to the very similar style and colour.

This photo is on a double page spread because it displays a massive rock compared to two people below. The use of the double page gives the viewer the full experience of seeing all the details throughout the rock.

I chose to use these two images on a double page because they are the same rock but taken from different positions.

I chose this image for page 8 and 9 because of the introduction to the black and white images.

I carried on the theme of black and white to the next page to keep some sort of sequence.

I chose to use this image on a double page spread because it can almost be seen as two different images, one of the house and one of the rock and scenery.

I also chose this image to be on a double page spread because of the vibrancies as it ends the topic of L’Etacq and transitions over into more black and white of La Hocq.

Second half – La Hocq

I chose these two images to be on the first pages of the La Hocq section because when we went on the trip the first area I photographed was the La Hocq towers, keeping a sequence throughout the book.

Next, I chose these three images to be together because of the black and white theme carrying on. I designed page 19 as it is because of the two similar photos of rocks juxtaposing each other.

I chose this image to be presented on a double page because it is one of my favourite images and I wanted to display it to full extent.

These two images are taken of the same rock, but from two different angles, showing the true size of the rock.

I chose to present this image on a double page spread to display how big the rock actually is compared to the bird positioned on the top.

These three images were placed together due to the colour of the sky all linking. Also, they are all taken from a similar position, displaying more of the sky rather than the rocks.

I chose this as my final 2 pages to fit the whole boulder on one page, and to show how small humans are compared to some rocks.

Evaluation:

Overall, I am very happy with how my photobook turned out. At first I was going to use the white paper, but then chose black due to the great contrast between that and the images. My photobook project could’ve progressed much further if I managed to go on more photoshoots, rather than using many past images. However, I like the topic of Islandness and I believe it is a perfect topic for when creating a photobook as it tells people a lot about the island of Jersey and what it is like living here.

PHOTOSHOOT #1

Focusing on portraiture

In December I started by walking through natural landscapes while it was sunny: focusing on ‘golden hour’ light, portraiture and natural landscapes. This did prove difficult in the nature of portraiture as I was photographing myself without a tripod so I actually hung my camera on a tree branch- this created some blurry, unsuccessful images so I decided to just concentrate on abstract portraiture.

MY FAVORITE IMAGES FROM THE SHOOT

PHOTOSHOOT #2

Focusing on colour- experimenting with night photography

For particularly colourful images I went through my camera roll on my phone and found images from my holiday in Spain during summer- through doing this I found some images which are of patterned rugs and tapestries etc which were in museums in Spain and Glasgow. I would like to use these as textural images which colour to pages which would otherwise be blank. I also experimented with night photography however I struggled to take pictures of anything moving as I couldn’t work out the correct shutter speed and ISO- I didn’t want to use flash and this was proving difficult.

MY FAVORITE IMAGES FROM THE SHOOT

PHOTOSHOOT #3

Focusing on product-style images

I wanted to take pictures of my own belongings such as pressed flowers, leaves, lighters and bottles to cut out on photoshop and put in the photobook layered on top of images or beside them- at home I also took pictures from my family album of my childhood and family.

MY FAVORITE IMAGES FROM THE SHOOT

PHOTOSHOOT #4

No aim

I took pictures documenting my room and my day out with friends, this is the photoshoot I took the least amount of photos on as I would forget I was meant to be taking images- I did not really have an aim with this photoshoot I just wanted to capture what I had an eye for.

MY FAVORITE IMAGES FROM THE SHOOT

How does the work of Michael Marten and Gustave le Gray explore the sea and how it changes?

‘His beautiful and surprising photographs reveal how the twice daily rhythm of ebb and flood can dramatically transform the landscape’ – Michael Marten sea change text

The area of my study is looking at romanticism and coastal photography. I chose to study these two photographers because they make similar work, but in different time periods. This can show a contrast between the two artists while still focusing on the same subject. I will be responding to the question by using a comparative approach, and going into detail about how they took their photos. Also another intention of my study is to compare the photographers work to my own, and use examples of my own work next to theirs. This area of photography interests me because we live on an island and are surrounded by the sea. Also, Jersey has a tidal range of almost 12m, the third largest tidal range in the world. Because of this, the size difference of the island when the tide is in and out is huge. This tidal range is what I aim to show in my own photos. This project links to some of my previous studies as well, for example when I was photographing rock types, a lot of it was on the coast. On photoshop, I plan to experiment on photoshop to make the photos look as similar as possible, the only difference being the tide and the time the photo was taken. In Lightroom, I will experiment with changing the exposure and other settings only on part of the photo, for example the sky. I will also experiment with black and white images which I will be able to compare with the work of Gustave le Gray.

The romanticism era lasted throughout the 19th century and it favoured depicting emotions such as trepidation, horror and nature. Many artists such as Joseph Mallord William Turner found they could express these emotions by painting coastal landscapes. His 1805 painting, ‘The Shipwreck’, was one of the most famous seascape works of the romanticism era. Disasters at sea were a recurring theme of this movement, and in this painting Turner clearly shows this.

The painting depicts the scene of ships in distress, with the white colours of the waves showing the rough conditions. The sky also shows emotion, with dark shades of grey contrasting the colours of the sea. You can see people on the ships, which could maybe be lifeboats from a bigger ship, but he did not state this. This leaves a lot to the imagination and adds a sense of mystery to the painting. Turner shows the dramatic trauma of a shipwreck well, using darker colours which were popular in his early work. These dark colours contrast with the white tops of the waves and the grey sky. One more romanticist painting he made was called ‘Three Seascapes’. This painting was more abstract and used an interesting technique which was showing 3 seascapes in one painting.

The painting was made to show 3 seascapes by flipping the top one around, so the sky serves for 2 of the sea parts if the canvas is flipped. Once again he contrasts the darker colours of the sea with the white crests of the waves. At the top, there is a much darker sea with no white crests. Turner might have made the third upside down seascape on top very different to the others because it stands out to the viewer when the canvas is flipped:

The black colours show the darkness of the sea, and creates a dramatic contrast between the sea and the sky.

Coastal photography has been a popular genre ever since the first cameras were made. Gustave le Gray was a pioneer of this genre from the start. His photographic technique was called combination printing. Because of the limitations at the time, it was hard to capture the sea and the sky at the same time in one image. Le Gray countered this by putting together two negatives, one of the sea and one of the sky. This allowed him to create a tonal balance of the sea and the sky in the final print. He took his most dramatic seascape using this technique in 1857, called ‘the great wave’, on the Mediterranean coast near Montpellier.

This photo shows the aggression of the waves against the rocks and the pier in the distance, while also showing the horizon and how it contrasts the textures of the sea. The clouds are cut off at the horizon where they meet the sea, which indicates the join between the two negatives. Gustave aimed to combine images to show how the human eye sees nature, not through a camera. This is something I aimed for in my project. This area of photography links to the art movement called romanticism. Romanticism aims to show the accurate depiction of lifeforms, landscapes and perspective of colour and light. It also aims to steer away from artificiality. This movement links to my work as well because in my project I aimed to show natural images of the sea and the sky in the same spot 6 hours apart, with little artificiality.

I took this photo in Brighton as the sun was rising. The photography culture in this city is mainly focused on the sea, and it has been one of the best places to take coastal photos in the UK ever since the genre became popular. My photo is similar to Gustave le Gray’s as it shows the contrast between the sea and the sky and clouds, while also showing the horizon and a pier in the distance. An indication of modernism in my photo compared to Gustave’s, is the vertical pier called the i360 on the left. This shows the 166 year contrast between the photos clearly. In this photo I also tried to show a contrast between the old and abandoned pier on the left which burnt down in 2003, the second pier in the distance which was built in 1899 and is still open, and the vertical i360 on the left which was built in 2016. I captured all 3 in one photo because I wanted to show history and modernism in one photo, whilst also getting the sea and the sky.

Paragraph 3: Michael Marten’s project ‘sea change’ was made to show the contrast between the tide when it was in and out in different areas around England. He would take 2 photos from the exact same spot at low tide and high tide. This inspired me to create my own version in Jersey, as the tidal range here is 12m, the third largest tidal range in the world. In England it’s only 2-5m.

This is a map of Jersey’s tidal range, with the blue parts showing cliff edges with deep sea and the yellow showing bays with intertidal flats and reefs. For my project, I focused on the bottom right yellow area of Jersey as this area has the biggest tidal range. I took photos at La Rocque and Green Island, but most of my photos were in the La Rocque area as there is a pier and views of the next bays over on the left.

An example of Michael Marten’s sea change work:

Some examples of my work at La Rocque:

I took my photos by placing down three pieces of tape at low tide where I chose to position my tripod, and returning 6 hours later at high tide to take a photo in the same spot. By putting the two photos next to each over it shows the viewer how a coastal landscape can change in a matter of hours. This is a quote taken from the text of Michael Marten’s ‘Sea Change’ photobook:

‘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.’

This is exactly what I aimed for when taking my photos. The fact that Jersey’s tidal range is so big made me think how the same idea could be replicated here to show the uniqueness of the island I live on.

 In conclusion, I think Gustave le Gray, Michael Marten and Joseph Mallord William Turner all show romanticism, seascapes and how the sea changes well in their own unique ways. Gustave le Gray invented a technique which was very innovative in the history of seascapes. His work paved the path for the photographers of the next generation to carry on taking photos of the sea. Michael Marten used his unique idea of photographing tidal changes to create a photobook which inspired me to make my own.

However, all three systems are reliant on an element of construction and re-construction. Photographs can be reliable, but can also be manipulated to tell another version of “the truth”. The Romanticists were interested in capturing elements of the The Sublime and dramatizing events and conditions. But Michael Marten is different. He has incorporated aspects of British culture into his documentary of our coastline, as there is a national fascination with both the weather and the tides. As an island nation, and Jersey being a small inter-connected island we are familiar with these kinds of viewpoints and feel a sensitivity towards  seascapes and the communities that rely on the seas too.

‘From holiday beaches to industrial estuaries, the photographs record two moments in time, two states of nature.’