Theo Gosselin

Theo Gosselin is a French photographer who was born in Normandy France, who only uses a 35mm and 55mm film camera. He likes to focus his photographs on freedom within his friends and family and does not like to stage any photos he likes to capture them in the moment and when they happen. “My friends and our lives became my principal subject, not as a photographer, but as a teenager who wants to capture memories just like everyone else.”

Gosselin grew up in a household surrounded by cameras as his parents were always taking photographs he first picked up a camera around the age of 14 where he didn’t fully understand the concept of taking a great photo but by him experimenting opened himself this incredible door to improve and explore his skills to improve his work and get him to the point he is now at creating and capturing these incredible inspiring and eye-catching images which hook the audience in.

Theo spent lots of time traveling mainly in America where he published his first book called  Avec le Coeur, meaning “with the heart.” which consists of photos of “everything he loves”, this is inspiring as many photographers fall into loopholes of taking and creating photos which other people will enjoy to see but not what they enjoy taking and what interests them. With Gosselins photos he waited till he got back home to develop them which built up the anticipation and excitement to see what his film reveals.

This image the rule of thirds as the main focal point is not in the centre third this creates a dynamic view on the landscape and the main subject being the female on the lower part of the image, leaving space for us to be able to see the landscape without distracting the audience from the main part of the image being the female she can be seen almost like a frame to the landscape as she almost colds around the frame of the image. The lighting makes this image in my opinion due to the way it highlights her hair and sculpts her facial features and highlights them. The depth of colour goes from dark to light creating a tunnel like affect.

Raymond Meeks is a photographer who is much more well known than Gosselin, his book Halflife reminds me of Gosselin’s work as they both photograph people around the water focusing on the youth of where they are, his work on the book was based around a lake near New York where is was a predominantly white lower class teenage boys, who wasted to show their dominance by jumping off 60ft cliffs whilst doing trick which allowed Raymond to get incredible unique shots, like Gosselin he also uses film to capture these incredible moments allowing a one shot wonder photographs, however Meeks work is taken in black and white film i think this really adds definition to his photographs as it shows the highlights, shadows and texture in his work. Raymond Meeks spent 3 years photographing at this lake as he found when he sat down in winter to edit them he would go from 80 strong photos down to 12 and found himself kept going back to get more to finish his book, where he let his son develop the layout of it as he created links between each images when laying them out. Meeks did not just observe the children at the lake but the energy which the lake held its self and how it became full of joy and excitement as soon as summer came around filling up with sunshine and warm air and how it bought people together from the same background and other backgrounds.

I like how both photographers capture a moment so simplistically and make it look so elegant, the images are freeing as they capture what youthful people should be doing living there life in an environment where they enjoy and are careless around.

• For my project I want to focus on youth, focusing on friendships, friendship groups, love, and freedom to link with the aspect of nostalgia and memories liked with them. This matters to me as friendships are a massive part of my life especially growing up on a small island where sometimes there is not much to do so we try to discover unfamiliar places and when we find them, we create new memories there which link to the place. I wish to develop this project by extending the number of photos I have and diving more closely into my friend’s life’s and what it means to them to be in a friend group, what they think a friendship is and what memories they have linking with friendship.
• I would like to explore the idea of creating a magazine or a hard back book to present my work. I will start my study by selecting and editing my photos which I already have and start taking and collecting more photos. The main focus of my project is going to be portraiture and some photos of landscape because it links with my view of nostalgia; as places links with memories, if possible,.
• My photographs will be taken outside using natural lighting with some being taken inside with a flash. The images are going to be in a documentary style looking at teenagers’ life and friendship on a small island and discovering the joy of friendships and what they men to people.
• the presentation of my book will be easy to follow, the images will be edited on lightroom classic; however, I do not want to manipulate the images in a drastic way I would like them to still look authentic I would just like to enhance the images to make them more eye-catching. To create the magazine, I will be using blurb to create the layout and pages. 

Some of my favourite topics that I have done in the pat year and a half is predominantly portraiture focusing on identity, around masculinity and femininity and environmental portraiture.

For my first shoot on environmental portraiture i took it on film which I really enjoyed I love the process of film and taking photos on film as there is a certain nostalgic way the photos come out and the excitement you get as you don’t know the outcome of the photos till you get them developed, if I was to focus on this topic for my final piece I would like to incorporate film into it.

The shoot I did around femininity I really enjoyed working around and with my friends I feel like the outcomes of these photos show the a bong witch girls get with each other, which for me reflects my own friendship group as we are a close group there for making this topic relatable.

I enjoyed researching Justine Kurland and her work as I found it really inspiring for this shoot and found her work fascinating and I believe I could add some aspects of her work into my own.

For my final project I would like to incorporate these two themes as I think they go hand in hand with each other and would create a project which I would love and enjoy to create I believe I would be able to create a project where people would be able see themselves in and shows natural beauty.

Castle in the Sea.mp4

Adobe Premier is the software we are using to create out film project it is the editing soft wear, we fist started by importing all of our video clips into the app.

Once i imported all the videos i then dragged them onto the editing platform where i began to cut and shorten the videos to the parts we wanted to include on the final outcome.

The next step was to unlink the audio from the video witch separates the original audio of the video from the video its self which allows me to either delete the sound or edit it with our video we deleted the sound as the quality of the sound shot on the camera wasn’t good so we collected and recorded sounds on a recording machine and edited it all ourselves we then exported it onto a hard drive and them placed it onto our video in an order/ way which fit6 the video as a whole.

I went through each video cutting it down in length and selecting the parts which we liked into one continuous line meaning we only had the part witch we wanted in it I used this by using the cutting tool were it deletes the part which you don’t want out of the sequence.

Wiktoria worked with Adobe Audition regarding the sound we would use in the film.

She used a mixture of the sounds we collected from the castle and also sounds that were collected by Sam, an audio producer we worked with. These were filed in the ‘Elizabeth Castle Sound library’.

“What I had to do is filter each sound I wanted to use so it was “clean”; the background noises were eliminated as much as possible. I could quiet down each element of the sound to a desired level.”

“In Adobe Audition I was able to combine different sounds together to create a sound scheme. I decided to create one consisting of seagulls and the sound of the sea. After cleaning and filtering the sounds, I inserted them and made sure to save them as a collection, so I know they are a combination of sounds joint together. This makes a great background track as a sound that is ongoing or primary sound that shapes the mood of the film. Another combination that would have worked well is maybe the sea and people talking in the distance.”

“Working with sound is very important when it comes to films – there are even specific jobs that revolve around people making sound effects on anything that is being filmed to produce the cleanest sound possible so that the quality of it increases the authenticity of the scene. One of the things that make a great movie is how well the viewer is engaged with it. The more interested they are in the movie the more successful it will be. Sound serves as a vital aspect of cinematography as it affects the mood, and heightens peoples emotions. For example, when the sound is calming but a sudden bang appears, combined with the image being displayed, a viewer is more likely to get scared due to an impulsive reaction based on what they are seeing and hearing.

This is why I would need to use sound that is relevant to what is being shown. Elizabeth Castle is segregated from the land and is surrounded by the sea. Therefore, sounds like the sea, wind, or seagulls are most appropriate. It is important that the sounds I use are not random and link to what is being shown.”

Photoshoot

Sub Selection

Editing

I tried not to change the original image too much and just focus on heightening the contrast and sharpness as well as with a little bit of different tone.

Overall regarding the fact that we all had different tasks, we worked together as a group to make sure we all had the same vision and plan for the film. we had to communicate a lot to make sure we were all on the same lines.

“When editing the stills (which we weren’t sure if we were going to include or not) Pip made sure to edit them with standardisation and keep them similar in appearance. This was difficult when images differed in tone because of the balance of light or were darker because of cloud, but Pip tried to ensure that they all had the same feel despite the differences in light/colour in the original images. As a more general overview of changes made, Pip increased saturation and vibrancy to make the images a little less grey, whilst also bringing the contrast and sometimes the highlights down. Pip then adjusted exposure as necessary. Pip thinks she has achieved what she wanted to an extent, but the general greyness and lack of light in the original images made it hard to create images she was truly happy with. In terms of creating images that match the style of Wes Anderson’s work – which is characterised by bold colour palettes, wide lens shots and symmetrical framing – she thinks she has only truly achieved this on a few occasions, which she shows below.”

Archives serve as repositories of knowledge in various ways, playing a critical role in preserving and making accessible the collective memory and historical record of societies. Here are some of the ways in which archives fulfil this function: 

• Preservation of historical records: Archives collect, organize, and preserve a wide range of documents, records, and materials, including manuscripts, photographs, maps, audiovisual materials, and more. These records provide valuable insights into the past, enabling researchers and historians to study and interpret historical events, social changes, and cultural developments. 
• Access to primary sources: Archives house primary source materials that serve as the foundation for research and scholarship. These primary sources include letters, diaries, official documents, photographs, and other original records that provide firsthand accounts of historical events and the experiences of individuals and communities. 
• Documenting cultural heritage: Archives help preserve and protect the cultural heritage of societies. They store and safeguard artifacts, art, and documents that are of significant cultural, artistic, or historical value. This ensures that future generations can learn about their cultural roots and heritage. 
• Facilitating research and scholarship: Archives provide researchers, scholars, and students with access to a wealth of historical information. They offer a controlled environment for studying and analyzing primary sources, enabling a deeper understanding of the past. Researchers can use archives to support academic inquiries, write books and articles, and contribute to a better understanding of history and culture. 
• Legal and administrative documentation: Archives are often the official repository for governmental, legal, and administrative records. This includes birth and death certificates, land deeds, court records, and other important documents. These archives help ensure the transparency and accountability of government actions and support legal processes. 
• Long-term memory and accountability: Archives serve as the long-term memory of society. They document events, decisions, and actions, allowing for accountability and the study of the consequences of past choices. This can be crucial for governments, organizations, and individuals to learn from history and make informed decisions. 
• Informing policy and decision-making: Archives can be important resources for policymakers and decision-makers. They offer insights into past policies, their outcomes, and the historical context in which they were implemented. This knowledge can help inform present and future policy decisions. 
• Cultural and social understanding: Archives contain a wide range of materials that provide insights into the social, cultural, and economic life of different time periods. They offer a window into the lives and experiences of people from various backgrounds and can contribute to a richer understanding of society’s evolution. 

In summary, archives are vital repositories of knowledge as they collect, preserve, and make accessible historical records, primary sources, and cultural artifacts. They play a fundamental role in advancing research, scholarship, cultural preservation, and the collective memory of society. 

William Collie 

William Collie was one of the first photographer to use Fox Talbot’s calotype process in Jersey, Collie was born in Scotland in 1810 and was in business in Jersey in Belmont Road and Bath Street from before 1850 until 1878. A picture of Market Women in St Helier taken in 1847 and printed on salted paper survives in a private collection. started his professional life as a portrait painter. He moved south and is recorded as living in St Helier, Jersey, before 1841, where he had a portrait business. He became one of the earliest photographers working in the Channel Islands, operating from Belmont House, St Helier, until 1872. Another photographer, J Collie, is recorded at the same address between 1861-64. The Société Jersiaise Photographic Archive lists 157 photographs by William Collie, but not a single one can be viewed online. What are self-portraits are accompanied by the notice ‘Image field to be deleted RPS request’ and all 157 images are described as being the copyright of the Royal Photographic Society. None are visible to website visitors. This is an absolute nonsense, because the images ceased to be anybody’s copyright 70 years after William Collie’s death – ie in 1966. 

This is one of the earliest records which is on show of William Collies work.

Our group is planning on making our film based on the surrounding and scenery of Elizabeth Castle and the people there, our inspiration for the film is based on Wes Andersons films and the technique he uses, he tends to have main objects central of the frame.

On Wednesday we went to go visit some of the photo archives linking to Elizebeth Castle.

Photo archives—collections of photographs held by libraries or museums—have long been essential tools for research in the humanities.

Since 1993 Jersey Archive has collected over 300,000 archival records and it is the island’s national repository holding archival material from public institutions as well as private businesses and individuals. Jersey Archive is the Island’s national repository holding records on all aspects of Jersey’s history. Researchers can use archive resources to trace their family history, the story of their house or street and to find out more about over 600 years of our unique history including the German Occupation of Jersey during the Second World War.

Societe Jersiaise is where members of the public are able to access the content from the archives and gain information.

“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.”