Robert Frank
Robert Frank was a Swiss photographer and documentary filmmaker, who became an American binational. His most notable work, the 1958 book titled The Americans, earned Frank comparisons to a modern-day de Tocqueville for his fresh and nuanced outsider’s view of American society. Robert was born on November 9th 1924 and died on September 9th, 2019 at the age of 94.
Here are some examples of Robert Franks work:
The history of Hamptonne traces back to the 15th century. With its numerous granite buildings, it provides a story of Jersey rural life throughout the years. It has houses and a farm, most of which have been restored and refurnished over time but are still reminiscent of what Jersey life used to be like across the centuries.
On our trip to Hamptonne, we explored the different houses, which are named after the families who have lived at Hamptonne.
The architecture of the Langlois house is similar to that in medieval Brittany. The rooms below were used for the livestock, whilst the rooms above were for the family.
The Hamptonne house was extended and transformed a number of times. A second storey was added in the 16th century, and another two-storey extension was built at the end of the 17th century.
The Syvret house was built on the site during the 1830’s. It is the most recent house on the site. The rooms are extremely high, and are typical of the large houses built in St. Helier at the time.
We got to photograph a woman in the house which gave us a chance to experiment with different lighting and angles as we moved around the room.
We also explored the cider apple orchard and the farm, which is home to many animals and also gives an insight on life in the 19th-20th century as Hamptonne has ran a farm for centuries.
Farm outbuildings became more important during the 19th century, as they were converted into amenities for the farmers and their families.
The northern yard was created in the late 19th century. It contained stables, a carriage house, a bakehouse, a washhouse, farm-labourers’ accommodation and an open shed.
HISTORY
In 1842 and British scientist, Sir John Herschel discovered the cyanotype process, the process is still used today in the same way which produces a white image on top a dark blue background.
Cyanotype is a photographic printing process which engineers used well into the 20th century as a low cost process to produce copies of drawings. This process used two chemicals: ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide.
ANNA ATKINS
Anna Atkins was born in Tonbridge, United Kingdom on March 16, 1799 and later died on June 9, 1871. Atkins was a botanical artist, collector and photographer and was the first person to illustrate with photographic images. Anna’s use of new photographic technologies merged art and science, it also exemplified the exceptional potential of photography in books.
When Atkins would create her cyanotypes she used light exposure and a simple chemical mixture to create very detailed blueprints of botanical specimens. She published her images in 1843, in her book Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, this was the first book to be printed and illustrated by photography.
My Cyanotype
While at Hampton we got to create our own cyanotype, above I put an image of my final piece which I created whilst I was at Hampton, as it was a perfect day to create cyanotypes as it was it was a lovely summer day with warm temperatures. My favourite part of my piece is the feather in the bottom left side that is fading into the background, I like the faded effect of the object going into the background as it was completely unintentional but adds to the aesthetic of the piece. Furthermore, I like the mixture of shapes of the objects at the top of the piece as some objects such as the leaf came out legible and others such as the flower petals to the left turned out muddy and unclear.
Cyanotypes as a science
Cyanotypes were one of the earliest ways in which photographic processes were created. It was invented in 1842 by Sir John Herschel.
How are the images created?
Scientifically, it involves a paper which relies on the processing of two iron compounds where items can be placed on top of, which is then exposed to UV light for around 3-7 minutes. This then creates a monochromatic blue image which has to be left in water to stop it from processing any further once it has developed as well as you would like it to.
Cyanotypes as an art form
Cyanotypes were introduced to scientists who used it to create diagrams of plants, peoples bodies, etc. This then led to engineers/ architects who used it as a cost-effective and simple way to produce copies/drawings, which were used as we know them as “blueprints” therefore, in this case for various things such as buildings or machines.
Here is an example of which the prints would have looked like for scientists or engineers.
Photographers who have experienced with Cyanotypes
Anna Atkins–
Anna Atkins was an English botanical artist, collector and photographer during the 19th Century. Her cyanotypes consisted of botanical plants, which were highly detailed, this led to later help of illustrating the first book which included these images she created.
Christian Marclay –
Christian Marclay is a contemporary artist who explores visual arts, film and music culture. He created an exhibition of cyanotype photograms between September 8th to October 29th in 2011.
He created these through old cassette tapes which he disassembled. Here are some examples of him creating them and the final cyanotype:
My Cyanotype
Here is my attempt at a cyanotype which I created during our visit to Hamptonne.
To create it I gathered twigs, leaves, flowers, feathers, etc and put them on to the blue paper and left it in the sun for it to process. I then left them in water for 2-3 minutes which stops the sun from processing them anymore then let it dry in the sun.
Hamptonne Country Life Museum gives the visitor a unique insight into the rural life carried on in Jersey for centuries. Dating back to the 15th Century the house and farm are perfect for discovering the rural history of Jersey. Explore the different houses which make up Hamptonne, find out more about Jersey’s history of cider making in the cider barn and wander through the cider apple orchard and meet the Hamptonne calves, lambs, chickens and piglets in the traditional farmstead.
The Hamptonne farm complex takes its name from Laurens Hamptonne, who purchased it in 1633. The property 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.
Overall the site is square in shape. It includes ranges of buildings built in different periods, arranged around two courtyards. While the farm has medieval origins, consecutive owners have made marked improvements to the living accommodation. The main buildings are therefore named after the Langlois, Hamptonne and Syvret families, who lived here between 15th and 19th centuries.
Discover Syvret House, a decorated and furnished farmhouse gives a unique window into 1940s rural life, including; agricultural traditions, day-to-day family life, language, religion and the experience of the German Occupation.
Photography is a way of taking an image with a camera. The five main features of a standard camera are;
ISO. ISO is your camera sensor’s sensitivity to light.
Shutter Speed. This is the amount of time that your camera’s shutter is open (or “on,” depending on your camera model), exposing light on each frame.
Aperture – the opening in a lens through which light passes to enter the camera..
White Balance – the colour balance on a digital camera.
Frame Rate – the frequency at which images are captured.
Photography is more than just taking a photo. Photography is considered an art form because of how it can capture emotions. it can convey emotions not just through photos of people but through photos of animals, still life, nature, etc.
When taking a photograph you need to consider 3 things – angle lighting and object. using these three techniques defines the difference between a regular photo and photography. Using different angles when taking a photo will explore new perspectives and provide you with more views to tell the story. Lighting is a key factor in creating a successful image. Lighting determines not only brightness and darkness, but also tone, mood, and atmosphere. Simply put, the object is what the photograph is “of” while the subject is what the photograph is “about”.
Photography helps define how we see things especially on the news or online as it plays a big part in media – for example paparazzi’s jobs revolve around photography and getting the perfect shot. Photography plays a crucial role in how we immediately view something. Whether its an ad or promotion, a small blog post, or in today’s top headlines of well known media outlets. The urgency for quality imagery is one step closer in helping create a world with no labels.
History
First introduced by John Herschel, creating cyanotypes is a photographic printing process that produces a cyan-blue print. Engineers used the process well into the 20th century as a simple and low-cost process to produce copies of drawings, referred to as blueprints. The process uses two chemicals: ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide. Originally Herschel, an astronomer, created cyanotypes as a way of ‘copying his notes’.
Whilst we were at Hampton we had the opportunity to experiment with cyanotypes as it was a perfectly sunny day to collect natural objects such as feathers, leaves and sticks and for the paper to dry quickly. This was a fun new experiment to carry out as i had not learnt about cyanotypes before and it was interesting top see how the reaction on the paper only took one minute to occur. The reaction works when iron compounds react with UV light and washed in water to oxidise to create Prussian blue images.
Anna Atkins
English botanical artist, collector and photographer Anna Atkins was the first person to illustrate a book with photographic images. Her nineteenth-century cyanotypes used light exposure and a simple chemical process to create impressively detailed blueprints of botanical specimens. Anna’s innovative use of new photographic technologies merged art and science, and exemplified the exceptional potential of photography in books.
I like how Atkins’ work includes lots of contrast between the blue and the white, this shows that she is very experiences using this material. In addition, her compositions throughout her pieces of work make the very aesthetic. This image below on the right is my favourite as the different areas of the plant are each very legible and look very natural.
Experimentation
Below I have included an image of the cyanotype I created at Hampton. My composition wasn’t very thought out but I do like how the final piece turned out as the legibility of the induvial strokes of the feather contrast with the washed out background. Furthermore, some parts of this piece didn’t turn out as great as others, as the flower petal near the top left corner doesn’t have a clear outline and its unclear that its part of nature. However, i do like the randomness of this piece is what makes it unique in my opinion, the main part of the piece which is the large leaf makes up the majority of the white.
History of Hamptonne
Hamptonne Country Life Museum gives the visitor a unique insight into the rural life carried on in Jersey for centuries. Dating back to the 15th Century the house and farm are perfect for discovering the rural history of Jersey. Explore the different houses which make up Hamptonne, find out more about Jersey’s history of cider making in the cider barn and wander through the cider apple orchard and meet the Hamptonne calves, lambs, chickens and piglets in the traditional farmstead.
Discover Syvret House, a decorated and furnished farmhouse gives a unique window into 1940s rural life, including; agricultural traditions, day-to-day family life, language, religion and the experience of the German Occupation.
It is now part of the Jersey Heritage group, as people can buy memberships and visit Jersey’s historical sites an unlimited amount of times for a fixed price. Tourists love this site as it offers an insight into what life was like during the 15th century.
Living History
At Hampton there are a range of living characters such a housewives and weavers, these characters are there to further help you visualise what life was like 400 years. It was really interesting to see what houses looked like and to learn about ho farms were run centuries ago, in particular how cider as homemade from the apple orchard and the use of horse power.
Furthermore, the weavers talked to us about the history of sewing in Jersey and the laws in which materials had to be made of 3 strings to be sold on the market. They also demonstrated how balls of yarn were made of wool using an old machine, and where original models can be seen. The living history part of Hampton was one of my favourites as we could guide the models and ask they to move and hold different objects, meaning I could take a variety of different photographs.
Way of life in the 15th century
One of the main places to learn about the way of the life in the 15th century was the house in the centre of Hampton, there they had voice overs about life during the and and living with rations whilst we took photographs of older objects such as the metal bath, beds, shoes and the type of food that was eaten. In addition, I enjoyed analysing how different is life is now to that it was like several centuries ago.
I think that it was interesting to learn about the history as it makes us realise how industrialised out world is today, and how back then they had to rely on horse power and no electricity, the real life example of how they used to make cider made this even more fascinating to learn about.
Tom Kennedy and natural lighting
We had time in small groups to talk to Tom Kennedy who demonstrated to us how to properly use natural lighting when taking photographs inside, with the help of (sheets of white and shining plastic) to make sure the light was evenly dispersed around the living history model.
This week ensure your process looks like this…
Hamptonne Country Life Museum allows visitors to explore the house and farm which date back to the 15th century, they give an insight into the rural history of Jersey. You can walk through the houses getting to learn about how people lived, you can also walk through the apple orchard and the cider barn which tells you about the history of cider making. You can also meet the Hamptonne claves, lambs, piglets and chickens.
The History
The farm gets its name from Laurens Hamptonne who purchased it in 1633. The property 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. The farm has medieval origins and consecutive owners have made marked improvements to the living accommodation. The main buildings are therefore named after the Langlois, Hamptonne and Syvret families, who lived here between the 15th and 19th centuries.
The Characters (Living History)
While visiting Hamptonne you could meet one of the characters who roam around and tell you some of the histories of the farm. You could meet the Goodwyf who can tell you about Hamptonne’s royal connections and give you an insight into her day to day life, including cooking on the open fire, making soap and candles, and preparing herbal remedies and makeup. You might also meet the wool spinners, knitters and dyers who recreate the historic art of hand spinning yarn on a wheel, natural dyeing and the knitting of the fashionable stockings, which formed a mainstay of rural life in Jersey for some 200 years. Or you could meet the blacksmith The blacksmith was an important man on the farm in the 19th century, as he shaped and repaired all things made of metal.
Tom Kennedy
Tom Kennedy is a freelance photographer and filmmaker from Jersey CI, working in the U.K and worldwide. He co-runs the creative photography and film production company Little River Pictures with his wife Annigna Kennedy who frequently stars in his pictures. He works with living history and photographs many characters in their natural environments from their time periods. He uses soft natural lighting and sometimes artificial lighting to capture these moments of ‘living history’
Tom is influenced by “painting with light” and the Dutch Masters paintings of the 17th Century including such masters as Rembrandt and Vermeer.