‘Photography did not spring forth from nowhere: in the expanding capitalist culture of the late 18th and 19th centuries, some people were on the look-out for cheap mechanical means for producing images […] photography emerged experimentally from the conjuncture of three factors: i) concerns with amateur drawing and/or techniques for reproducing printed matter, ii) light-sensitive materials; iii) the use of the camera obscura
— Steve Edwards, Photography – A Very Short Introduction’

An archive is a collection of historical records or materials which contain primary source documentation, such as photographs- reports – memos etc, of certain events. These sources have been collected over the course of an organization’s lifetime, and are usually kept in order for the public to gather or view said information first hand. A popular archive in Jersey is the société Jersiaise which was founded in January 1873 by a small number of prominent Islanders who were interested in the study of the history, language and antiquities of Jersey. Membership of the société grew quickly and the aims of the new society soon widened to include multiple new aspects such as; the publication of historical documents, the founding of a Museum and the study of the Island’s natural history. The museum became permanent in 1893 when it moved to 9 Pier Road, which was a large early nineteenth century merchant’s house. The Museum and collections are now looked after by Jersey Heritage but are continued to be added to annually. The current aim of the Société is to produce and discover research on the Island’s history, culture, language and environment, as well as to share that knowledge with the community. They achieve this through their active sections, research collections, community outreach and collaboration with local and international heritage partners. 

Albert Smith

The photographer I chose to focus on is Albert Smith. He was born on the 12th of August, 1856 in Hornsey to his parents, Henry Smith and Mary Rawlings. He was a stockbroker in Weybridge, Surrey until the early 1880s where had his first child, with his wife Josephine Elizabeth Coutts, in Weybridge before the family moved north to Scotland. They had two more children who were born in Waterloo, and this is where Albert took up photography.  He would later start business in Jersey in 1892 and by the time of his Sixth child he and his family had already moved to St. Helier with Albert purchasing a photography studio.  

Smith used the collodion wet plate process in order to produce his images, leading to thousands said images surviving the test of time. These images can also be viewed in the archive of Société Jersiaise. This an example of how useful archives can be in preserving knowledge as not only do we get to learn more about the past through said images, (since they would have captured key aspects of the past like clothing, locations, lifestyle, etc.) as well as gaining more knowledge about the processes behind the pictures. We are also able to learn a bit about Albert though his photos, for example we can tell that he takes a variety of pictures, from portraits to landscapes, leading us to believe that he enjoyed many aspects of photography and didn’t want to stick to one main part of it.  

Analysis of photo

The photo above was taken by photographer Emile F. Guiton. In the picture we are able to see a well-dressed woman in what appears to be a style from the 1800’s. The image creates a contrast between the woman and the background due to the light, pastel colours of her attire in comparison to the more bleak/ dull appearance of the scenery behind her. This helps to keep our attention on the woman making her the main focus of the image even if she isn’t directly in the centre. Since she is what we focus on we are able to focus more on the finer details about her, such as her body language. The way shes standing, in my opinion, makes her seem dejected as her arms are hanging somewhat loosely at her side, while she looks off into the distance with a sullen expression on her face.  

Photos like the one above provides quite a bit of insight into the past. Going back to her attire, we can infer quite a bit from the woman such as she could be well off since the style is one that was often worn by the upper middle class. We are also able to link the image to fact that we know about the past, for example maybe a reason she seems upset is due to her being forced into something since we know patriarchy was quite strong during this time.  The main point is that having sources like this which we can access means that we are able to learn more about the past suggesting that archives are a good repository of knowledge.  

Conclusion

In conclusion, archives are a repository of knowledge as they hold an abundance of information and resources which are used to look into the past. Looking into the past is important as we can learn about key events which is important in order to better the future, if we don’t reflect or learn about the past we won’t be able to avoid making the same mistakes. It is also a good way of improving skills or methods of doing things, for example with photography we can look back at old photographs and see what made them eye catching and then replicate that in our own photos. Additionally, archives are a great way to research about the past since they hold many primary sources which you wouldn’t be able to find normally, such as old photos, notes, diary’s etc.  

Script

“Saint Helier was born to pagan parents in Tongeren, Belgium in the early 6^th century. His parent’s inability to conceive caused them to seek help from a Christian teacher, Saint Cunibert, who advised them to pray to God. However, his came with one condition- the child would have to be handed over to God, and Saint Cunibert would be the one to bring him up as a Christian. The couple were blessed with a son and were forced to act upon their promise.”  

“After years of Saint Cunibert’s influence on his son, Helier’s father grew angry and had the teacher killed. This caused Helier to flee, and the young traveller ended up in Normandy, where he found shelter in a monastic community. Helier was baptised by Saint Marculf, who sent him as a missionary to Agna, which we now know as Jersey. The island was recorded as having only 30 inhabitants at the time, due to the repeated attacks by Vikings. Helier, along with a companion Saint Romard was sent to guide the helpless people.” 

“After their arrival, Helier settled on a tidal islet, nowadays known as the Hermitage Rock, next to the island now occupied by Elizabeth Castle. Having a better view of the surrounding ocean, Helier could easily spot the approaching attackers and signal to the shore, allowing the inhabitants to scatter and avoid the attackers’ bloodlust.” 

“However, this all came to an abrupt stop on one stormy night in the year 555. Night was falling, the storm made the sea dark, and Helier did not spot an incoming pirate ship. The tyrants reached the small islet where the hermit lived and beheaded the frail man with an axe, after he refused to renounce his religion.” 

“Legend says that Helier picked up his head and walked to the shore of Jersey, declaring pirates were attacking, before falling down: dead. His body was placed in a small boat by Saint Romard, which is said to have reached the beaches of Normandy where he was later buried. He was a declared a saint due to his sacrifice for the people of Jersey.” 

“During his life in Jersey, it was recorded that Saint Helier performed one healing miracle, curing a man named Anquetil. However, the man was mostly known for bringing Christianity and hope to the island, for which the inhabitants were extremely grateful for.” 

“Nowadays, the saint’s memory is preserved in the Hermitage, a small 12th-century oratory, which can be visited by walking down the breakwater connecting the castle and the hermit’s old residence. A part of the original islet has been kept inside of the Hermitage, where a shallow nook in the rock served the hermit as a home.”

Why?

The script will be read by Gail O’Malley as we decided that it would be more effective to have mature voice. The script will be split up into seven parts and then edited together with some instrumental music playing in the background to create the type of atmosphere we want for that specific part of the film.

About

The Société Jersiaise was founded in January 1873 by a small number of prominent Islanders who were interested in the study of the history, language and antiquities of Jersey. Membership grew quickly and the aims of the new society soon widened to include multiple new aspects such as; the publication of historical documents, the founding of a Museum and the study of the Island’s natural history.

The museum became permanent in 1893 when it moved to 9 Pier Road, which was a large early nineteenth century merchant’s house. The Museum and collections are now looked after by Jersey Heritage but are continued to be added to annually.

The current aim of the Société is to produce and discover research on the Island’s history, culture, language and environment, as well as to share that knowledge with the community. They achieve this through their active sections, research collections, community outreach and collaboration with local and international heritage partners.

Images from the Société

About

The exhibition ‘No Place Like Home’ showcases artists working in a variety of mediums from sculpture to tapestry to interactive installations where visitors can make themselves at home in a temporary living room. It challenges people’s perceptions of what an art exhibition can be and has been designed to appeal to a broad variety of ages, not just for those with a firmly established interest in art. 

The exhibition itself was created by artists Rosalind Davis and Laura Hudson. They stated that they wanted to create and exhibition where everyone could feel at home, which is a part of the reason they chose to showcase their work in art house Jersey as it is accessible to a wider community. They explain that home, while its meaning depends on you as a person, is usually used to describe a sanctuary/ a safe space, which is something the artists tried to recreate with some of their pieces. Along side the artwork presented at the exhibition, there will also be installations in supposedly ‘surprising’ settings around the island.

Photos from the exhibition

Task

RESEARCH: Elizabeth Castle and decide which particular aspects of its 1000 year history you wish to make into a short film of 3-5 mins – see below. Gather together research material, such as images, maps, documents, links to online sources and write a short synopsis of 300-500 words.

Research

Saint Helier:

The main town of Jersey is named after a Belgian monk called Helier.  He set up home in a cave on the high rock, which was later incorporated into the chapel, that was built in the 12th century, which now bear the names Hermitage Rock and Hermitage Chapel. Helier was killed by marauding pirates from Normandy in AD555 and later made a saint.

Military background:

Royalist forces held the Castle during the English Civil War when a mortar shell fired by Parliamentarian forces in St Helier crashed through the Priory roof, exploding 12 barrels of gunpowder stored there, badly damaging the building.

The first attempts to construct defences on the islet where Elizabeth Castle stands, were in 1550 and 1551, when orders were issued to build a gun battery to be garrisoned by six gunners. It is not clear, however, whether these works were ever undertaken or completed.

By the 16th century, cannon and gunpowder had become the dominant weapon of war. By the end of the century the principal castle on Jersey, Mont Orgueil, was out of date and vulnerable to bombardment from Mont St Nicholas. A new site was chosen on the small islet in St Aubin’s Bay and a new castle was built. Sir Walter Raleigh, who was Governor of Jersey between 1600 and 1603, chose the name Elizabeth Castle, after Queen Elizabeth I, and the name has been retained ever since.

Nazi’s invasion:

Elizabeth Castle remained in use up to and including the Second World War, when it was occupied by the Nazis. The occupation by the German forces commenced on 1st July 1940 and eventually ended on 9th May 1945 – Liberation Day. However, Elizabeth Castle was not handed back to the Island by the military until 19th May 1946. During this period the island was heavily fortified using Organisation Todt construction workers from various parts of Europe, including Russia and Spain.

Film research

Plan:

Final idea:

For our film, we decided to focus it on Saint Helier and his life. We plan to record the places where he is said to have lived, as well as locations he has said to have been, such as the hermitage rock. While showcasing the locations we plan to input a script explaining the details of his life from birth to death.

A main part of our plan is to try and create a somewhat spooky or unsettling atmosphere to captivate the audience by incorporating eerie music (dramatic church organs etc.) and using sound effects to emphasize certain points of the script.

Task

STORYBOARD: Develop a storyboard that provides you with a clear plan ahead of how you wish to make your 3-5 mins film, including shot sizes, camera angles, movement, lighting, individual scenes and mise-en-scene (the arrangement of the scenery in front of the camera) from location, props, people, lighting, sound etc.

Task

VISUALS: Produce a mood-board of images that will inspire your visual language, style and aesthetic of your film. That can include found images of Elizabeth Castle and any other visual material, such as still-images from other filmmakers and films. See film, La Jétte by Chris Marker below.

Mood board

About

Chris Marker was born on 29 July 1921 and passed on 29 July 2012. He was a French writer, photographer, documentary film director, multimedia artist and film essayist. His best known films are La Jetée (1962), A Grin Without a Cat (1977) and Sans Soleil (1983).

Marker became known internationally for the short film La Jetée. It tells of a post-nuclear war experiment in time travel by using a series of filmed photographs developed as a photomontage of varying pace. The film has limited narration and sound effects to ensure that the story is mainly told through the images presented on screen.

While making La Jetée, Marker was making his documentary essay-film ‘Le joli mai’. He began in the spring of 1962, and shot 55 hours of footage interviewing random people on the streets of Paris. The questions, asked ranged from their personal lives, as well as social and political issues of relevance at that time.

La Jetée

In the film, a survivor of a futuristic third World War is obsessed with distant and disconnected memories of a pier at the Orly Airport, the image of a mysterious woman, and a man’s death. Scientists experimenting in time travel choose him for their studies, and the man travels back in time to contact the mysterious woman, and discovers that the man’s death at the Orly Airport was his own. Except for one shot of the woman mentioned above sleeping and suddenly waking up, the film is composed entirely of photographs by Jean Chiabaud and stars Davos Hanich as the man, Hélène Châtelain as the woman and filmmaker William Klein as a man from the future.

Process

After adding the finishing touches to my layout on Adobe InDesign, I printed out my pages which were automatically arranged in the correct order for the booklet.

My next step was to trim off the excess paper around the outside before folding it in half.

Finally, I stapled the booklet at the side to ensure that the pages do not drift apart.

Final

This is how my zine turned out in the end.

Zine layout

For my front cover design, I chose to make the title tinted so you would still be able to view the stained glass window behind.

For this page, I chose to have my strongest image on the right and increase the size in order to make it more pronounced to the viewer.

In this page I decided to have the image take over two pages as this way it would let you notice the finer details of the image such as the reflections in the car and windows.

Here I decided to have my two colourful images contrasting the monochrome one by pairing them up against it but making them both smaller.

For the back cover, I decided to link it back to the front cover by using a photo with vibrant colours as well as copying the label that I used for the title.