The Société Jersiaise Photographic Archive was founded in January 1873 by a small number of Islanders who were interested in the history of Jersey. Included in this was a museum and a library. Their first Bulletin Annuel was issued in 1875 and continues to be the main record of our activities.

A photographic archive is a collection of photographs, often with accompanying materials in other formats, in the course of daily life, individuals and organizations create and keep information about their personal and business activities. These records, and the places they are kept, are called “archives.”Archives have been used throughout human history and they have been very helpful among historians who are studying a specific era in human history.These days, while archives still remain in use, digital archives are now very well used and are much easier and quicker to access, digital ones contain images, documents and many more things that you wouldn’t be allowed to even touch in a physical archive. Although technology is more popular nowadays, physical archives are still the most useful as they have been used for many centuries, as one of Man’s most reliable resources for information.

The Société Jersiaise focuses on Jersey history and has everything about it ranging from what the Island looked like hundreds of years ago to peoples’ registration cards during the Occupation. They achieve this 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.

Ernest Baudoux, one of the photographers on the Societe Archive produced a panorama of St Helier, soon after his arrival to Jersey. The process he used to create the image is particularly interesting, the process he used required considerable skill. Producing “wet collodion” images on location required a mobile (often horse drawn) darkroom in which plates could be coated and sensitised, exposed while still wet, and developed immediately. The panorama shows the architecture of St Helier in tremendous detail. Numerous of Baudoux studio portraits were produced with a sliding plate mechanism designed to give two exposures on one glass negative.Later following by choosing the best images he often removed the ‘reject’ by marking it with a cross. Having selected his preferred image, Baudoux retouched the negative to enhance the complexion of the subject and conceal facial blemishes. This effect shows that the practice of photographic manipulation originated long before the digital age.

Chris Marker, (1921-2012) was a French filmmaker, poet, novelist, photographer, editor and multi-media artist who has been challenging moviegoers, philosophers, and himself for years with his complex queries about time, memory, and the rapid advancement of life on this planet. Marker’s La Jetée is one of the most influential, radical science-fiction films ever made, a tale of time travel. What makes the film interesting for the purposes of this discussion, is that while in editing terms it uses the language of cinema to construct its narrative effect, it is composed entirely of still images showing images from the featureless dark of the underground caverns of future Paris, to the intensely detailed views across the ruined city, and the juxtaposition of destroyed buildings with the spire of the Eiffel Tower. 

What is the story behind La Jetee?

La Jetee is about a man that is sent back and forth, in and out of time in an experiment that attempts to unravel the fate and the solution to the problems of a post-apocalyptic world during the aftermath of WW3. The experiment results in him getting caught up in a never ending memories of past events which are recreated on an airport’s viewing pier. What makes the film interesting for the purposes of this discussion, is that while in editing terms it uses the language of cinema to construct its narrative effect, it is composed entirely of still images showing images from the featureless dark of the underground caverns of future Paris, to the intensely detailed views across the ruined city, and the juxtaposition of destroyed buildings with the spire of the Eiffel Tower.

who is Chris Marker:

Chris Marker was a French filmmaker, poet, novelist, photographer, editor and multi-media artist who has been challenging many different things including philosophers and himself, questioning time, memories and how quickly life changes. Chris Marker is best known for his film Le Jetée.

what is Le Jetée:

La Jetée is a French science fiction and was directed by Chris Marker in 1962 and was made to tell the story or a post nuclear war as well as the after math of the country and all of the damage that it caused. The film is 28 minutes long and is made of mostly still images in black and white with text as well creating a montage.

about the archives/ our trip:

Established in 1873, Société Jersiaise is a group of islanders who set up the Jersey charity with a common passion for the islands history. The group began to grow and they started to share their interests and finds with the public, making Jersey’s history more known. Their aims were also the founding of the museum and the study of Jersey’s history as well as sharing their knowledge. 9 pier road became their permanent home in 1893 which is now looked after by Jersey Heritage along with their archives. They aim to protect Jersey’s historical aspects by buying archaeological sites in order to be able to preserve them and allow the public to visit them. The photography archive is one of their most important ones, with specific employees looking after them.

As part of out Elizabeth Castle film project we visited the Société Jersiaise photography archives in the Jersey Museum and had a talk from Patrick who is the head archivist there. He explained to us about the castle and showed us some of the images and drawing that they hold of the castle which we looked at. He also explained/showed us how to use their website which allows us to look at the archives later on in our project if we need them.

pictures from the archives: