Photography turns the ordinary into the extraordinary…
Meudon is a photo of a street with a bridge in the background taken by André Kertész. After he took the photo he went back and took another photo of it but this time there was a steam train going over the bridge and people on the street and the photo was more interesting than the first one.
Camera obscura
The camera obscura is a natural phenomenon where rays of light entering a completely dark room form an upside down image of the outside of the room on the opposite side of the room the light is coming from. This technique has been used for thousands of years to trace images way before photography was invented in 1839 making it the starting point on the concept of photography.
Joseph Nicéphore
Joseph Nicéphore was originally interested in lithography which is a form of printmaking but eventually went on to try and to capture photos. It is unknown when but after years of experimenting with different chemicals he wrote a letter to his sister in law in around 1816 which suggested that he managed to capture small images on paper coated in silver chloride however the images he created were negatives. He describe the process as “The discovery I have made and which I call Heliography, consists in reproducing spontaneously, by the action of light, with gradations of tints from black to white, the images received in the camera obscura.”
The oldest surviving photograph by him, and the first ever photograph that exists, is called View from the Window at Le Gras, and was taken around 1822-1827. This breakthrough lead him to partner up with Louis Daguerre in helping to create Daguerreotype.
The Daguerreotype
The Daguerreotype was the first commercially available photographic processes invented by Louis Daguerre in august 1839, which allowed images to be physically saved. The process was long and tedious which involved polishing silver plated copper until its surface was like a mirror while treating it with chemicals so the metal became light sensitive. Afterwards you would put in in a camera obscura box and then treat it with more chemicals, the proses was expensive and very time consuming, however with it being the first way to commercially take physical photos and was a massive milestone in the history of photography.
Robert Cornelius
Robert Cornelius was the first person ever to take a ‘selfie’ (self portrait) in 1839 using the Daguerreotype, just months after it was invented. It was not an easy task as Robert Cornelius had to determine that the lighting, in his families garden, where he took the self portrait, was good enough and then stand motionless in front of the camera for around 10-15 minutes for the cameras exposure to take him in.
The Calotype
Henry Fox Talbot was also a major founder of photography and invented the Calotype in 1840, an improvement of the Daguerreotype, which was a technique of putting photographic paper in a camera obscura box, which would produce an invisible negative image which when put in a chemical solution in a dark room would produce a negative image which could be used to produce clones of an image. This process was an extreme improvement to the Daguerreotype as it allowed images to have a shorter exposure time as it would usually take ages to take a photograph due to the exposure needed, It also meant photographs could be printed on paper instead of metal and you could make multiple copies of the image.
Julia M. Cameron
her first successful portrait
When Julia was 48 she got gifted a camera by her daughter which was the beginning of her photographic legacy. She began taking photographic portraits of people, in 1864 she took a photograph of a 9 year old girl which became her first successful image and that year she ended up being elected to the photographic society of London, making her a member. Her photographic technique of taking soft focus portraits was criticized at the time however those photos have paved the way for modern portrait photography and are now highly valued. She described photography as: “The camera has become to me, a living thing, with voice, memory and a creative vigour.”
Henry Mullins
Photo taken by Henry Mullins
Henry Mullins was a professional portrait photographer who started his career in London in the 1840s and moved to Jersey in 1848 because it was cheaper to produce photos here. While he lived in jersey he took over 9,800 of portrait photos of Islanders in his photography studio in the Royal square, St. Helier.
My zine is going to tell a story about the fishing industry in Jersey at St Helier Harbour.
A paragraph
My zine will tell the story of the lives of the fisherman at St Helier Harbour. The story will be displayed through photos of fisherman and the activities they get up to from day to day. Finally, it will present their surrounding environment as an overview of their lives.
Narrative
I am going to tell my story by presenting various images that relate to the fishing industry in Jersey. These will include things such as fisherman boats, fishermen and men working on their boats. I will also display images of the harbour and potentially even an archive image to show its development over the years.
Selection of Images
Final Edits
Selection After Elimination
Mock-up on Paper
I have made a mock-up zine using 4 folded sheets of A4 paper and my selected images which I printed out.
Editing name into image
I started off editing this photo in Photoshop by using generative fill to remove the text.
I then selected and copied and pasted number plate letters across. I got these letters from an image on google which I then opened in Photoshop.
I then put the letters in to place by using the original image and putting my letters on top so that they were the same size and position.
Camera obscura was an optical phenomenon which was created to project images from the outside into a dark room. By completely darkening a room apart from a small hole in the wall allows rays of light to enter, letting the outside world pour in. This process takes around an hour and projects an upside down image into the dark room. This process is admitted for being all natural, deep and primitive as it uses old historical technology instead of new and upcoming tech. After being used for many centuries, camera obscura was developed by using different camera filter and adjustments to make images stronger and clearer. Pinhole photography is a similar process which uses a tiny hole in a camera to allow light to come in. This creates an image onto photosensitive material. As light hits material such as photographic film or paper the inverted image is created, with a long exposure time of around several seconds to minutes, the small hole incision only lets a small amount of light through which makes it very unsuitable for fast- moving objects. However, due to the fact it it’s simple, accessible and inexpensive with a unique looking vignette, the style of photography became increasingly popular.
The French inventor named Joseph Nicéphore Niépce was born in 1765. Within the time period of 1826 and 1827, he created the first ever permanent photograph which was named ‘View from the Window at Le Gras’. This introduced the process of Heliography. This process he created consists of the sun reflecting its light to create images. To achieve this he used a pewter plate which was covered with Bitumen of Judea which is a light sensitive substance. This substance hardens when it is exposed to light. The process takes up to eight hours and this time period is essential as the sensitivity of materials was much lower than modern materials. The plate is then needed to be washed with a solvent, this removes the Bitumen of Judea and leaves a permanent image. This process was particularly essential to the development of photography.
Louis Daguerre was a French artist and photographer, recognized for hisinvention of the daguerreotype process of photography. He became known as one of the fathers of photography. This method preserving images and capturing them was a huge historical moment and made a large breakthrough. The daguerreotype is made by after capturing the image exposing it to mercury vapour which brings the visible image to life. The image also then needs to be rid of any unexposed silver iodide. This is achieved by completely covering the image in a salt or sodium thiosulfate solution. These images are very reflective and change when exposed to different angles of view. Daguerreotypes are also very detailed and clear which makes them stand out amongst other images from around the 1840s and 1850s. Louis decided to create the daguerreotype as he knew the world was seeking a photographic process which was easier to put into practice, since exposure times were only of a few minutes. So by creating his own process of photography, he became very successful and made Louis Daguerre world famous.
Henry Fox Talbert is very well known for being a successful pioneer of photography, scientist and inventor. Amongst his other successes he created a method of photography by using a ‘calotype’ which is a negative-positive process which is also known as the ‘paper negative’. He created images when exposed to light, these images were easy to produce and easy to distribute. However, they faced many drawbacks such as the people in the photos looking ‘on the edge of being present’ and seen as looking not quite alive due to a low sharpness and graininess, this caused a loss of fine detail. However, these images were popular as they captured a moment in time, fixed into place which was profitable and popular at this time. He used different light sensitive chemicals and salts such as silver nitrate and silver chloride.
The American photographer Robert Cornelius was known best for self-portraits around 1839. He is also known as creating the ‘first ever selfie’. This selfie was created outside his family lamp shop in 1839 in Philadelphia. and was made by setting up the camera and standing still for around 10-15 minutes due to the long exposure times of the camera. The photograph consists of Cornelius standing with a very serious expression, looking directly at the camera. This image is seen as very impressive as it is very clear due to the fact there was a very long exposure time and Cornelius was created for ‘himself’ and not for science or historical purposes. Due to the fact Robert created one of the first successful self portraits he displayed a legacy for self-expression, artistic exploration and identity through the art of self-portraiture.
Julia Margaret Cameron is highly commended for being a female pioneer or photography in the late 19th century. Her photographic style stuck out as she attempted to elevate photography as ‘fine art’. Her portraits focus mainly on sentimental pieces such as friends and family, this makes her style particularly personal and intimate, this links to her passion to pictorialism. This style of art and photography portrays emotion and mood through images, occasionally through metaphors in their work. Camera settings such as soft focus and blurred images were a significant contribution to a ‘dreamlike’ feel, this feeling was also through dramatic lighting and very rich tonal contrasts. However, the popularity and excitement over pictorialism declined around the 1920s when photographers and artists began to use a more modernist approach to their work and use more high- quality and direct styles with greater precision and detail. However, the beauty of pictorialism through natural scenes is still favoured by using the beauty of nature to emphasize the beauty of pictorialism.
Henry Mullins was a photographer who explored the Carte-de-Visite format which was a popular style around the 1800s. These portraits were very popular around the time the general public were having more access to cameras. These portraits were used for personal and social representation, and used details captured the likeness of individuals. The arrangement of a Carte-de-Visite consists of a small photograph on a piece of card with a CDV format which allows a single negative to have multiple images on. This also makes it affordable and accessible as more than one image can be displayed to document social status around the 1860s. People of multiple classes such as celebrities and political leaders would display their power through 4 strong images in the Carte-de-Visite formation. However the popularity declined in the late 1860s as larger formats and advancements became more popular and reliable. However, the legacy of Carte-de-Visite still carries on as a revolutionary discovery and creation as his work reflects the aesthetic sensibilities of the time and emphasised the clarity and compositions of cameras during this time period.
In my first design layout for the zine, I appreciate the chronological order of the photographs as they display the order in which the images were taken, creating a smooth flow throughout the pages. However, I think that the placement and fitting of the images could be more interesting and bold because currently, the arrangement of the images are quite bland and does not catch the visual interest I am trying to create. Also, I am not happy with the title of my zine: “Jersey St Helier Harbours” as I feel that the title is too straightforward and does not actually express the feeling of the stories behind the photographs. Another thing I like in this layout of my zine is that there is a page simply with just writing, I think this was a good idea because it gives the viewer/reader a break from the visuals or images and gives them time to reflect on the images in the zine. I think that the balance between images and writing is important in a zine, as it allows the readers to engage properly and thoughtfully with the content. Additionally, it also lets me express my thoughts and give context behind the photographs that the images themselves cannot show. Overall, even though the layout has a good base, the design and arrangement of the photos can definitely be improved.
Design Layout 2
In my second design layout, I decided to keep the chronological order of the photos as I think that it clearly tells the story I wanted to share. In addition, I kept the one page dedicated to writing, which improves the readers connection to the images and allows the reader to understand some context behind the photographs. To differentiate this layout, I changed the arrangement and fitting of most images, for example, making some images full bleed, and including some smaller ones. The contrast with this arrangement adds an element of surprise and gives more visual interest towards my zine. I also think that my landscape photograph taking up a double page has a strong impact on my zine, giving the reader time to fully indulge in the setting/scene. Additionally, I have not changed the title yet, because I could not think of one that fits the zine perfectly. However, I plan to include a new title in Design Layout 3. Overall, I think that these changes and slight tweaks grant a more engaging and interesting layout to my zine.
Design Layout 3
This is my Final Design layout; I have included several needed improvements that strengthens the overall design and impact of my Zine. First, I updated the title from Jersey’s Harbour’s to Harbour Life, Jersey’s Maritime Moments, I think that this title is more expressive and fits with the theme of the content within my Zine. Also, I replaced the placeholder text on one of my pages with my own writing, giving context and my personal opinions engaging the reader more. So that the zine kept a professional appearance, I added a double page spread containing a landscape image of Albert pier during the night, keeping to the needed multiple of four pages. Another thing in this design layout different to others is that I changed the regular font to Britannic Bold for both my name and the title of my zine, making the bold red title a focal point. These changes have improved the aesthetic of my zine and also have evolved the storytelling aspect of my zine. Making the zine more engaging Overall.
I am using Adobe InDesign to create my zine layout.
Page 1
I chose this to be my front cover as i like how the picture is bland, but then the sailor is a burst of colour. I think it represents the harbour well.
Pages 2 and 3
To start my zine off, i used a picture of the sea and the entry to the harbour. I used these as its the beginning process of the harbour, where the fish get caught, and where boats bring in our foods/packages.
pages 4 and 5
I then used these two pictures of boats to show what comes in to the harbour, whether its for work or leisure.
Pages 6 and 7
I then used this picture of where the boats dock up. I spread this picture across two pages as i am moving in to the labour side of the harbour on the next pages. I like how it evenly divides the book and switches it up.
Pages 8 and 9
I used a picture with two cranes to show how things are moved off of boats on to land sometimes. I then used a picture of the lorry to show how things are manoeuvred around the harbour.
Pages 10 and 11
These pictures were chosen because I like how they tell a story with the lorry coming in on the previous picture, then them parked up, and finally the worker getting ready to work.
Pages 12 and 13
I like the picture on the left because of how central the lorry is. I also like how the picture links back to the previous photos of the lorry’s as its leaving the harbour with the goods inside. I then picked the picture of the left as it is nearly opposite the picture its next to. I also put it in black and white as it is a very old wall with lots of history.
Pages 14 and 15
With these two pictures, I followed the story of history at the harbour. The left picture is a bell pointing to the maritime museum. So, with the next picture I used a cannon which is outside the museum, also representing a lot of history.
Page 16
I then finally used this image as my final one because I like how the figurehead stands out, which also links back to the beginning with the same theme of the sea/linking to the sea.
Evaluation
I chose to layout my zine this way as I like how it kind of tells a story. I like how its a walk through of jerseys harbour and what goes on, from the sea, to boats, to labour and then the history. My aim was to go from the harbour now, to more historical pictures. I like how the picture change from colour to black and white as well to have that mix.
Zine mock up
To physically look at my images and see how the layout looks in person, I printed them out and made a quick ‘zine’. This helped me decide my final layout and how I wanted it to come together.
Add a selection of your final 10-16 images as a moodboard/ gallery to the blog post too, including any archive material too.
What is a narrative?
A narrative is essentially the way a story is told. For example you can tell different narratives of the same story. It is a very subjective process and there is no right or wrong. Whether or not your photographic story is any good is another matter. Narrative writing can be broadly defined as story writing (a piece of writing characterized by a main character in a setting who encounters a problem or engages in an interesting) significant or entertaining activity or experience. There’s the plot. The plot follows a beginning, middle, and end sequence. The middle of the story is the largest, most significant part, which we call the main event. The main event is really what the story is all about and involves either a problem to be solved or a significant life experience for the main character.
Stories
Stories let us share information in a way that creates an emotional connection. They help us to understand that information and each other, and it makes the information memorable. Because stories create an emotional connection, we can gain a deeper understanding of other people’s experiences. That not only helps us to understand their lives but allows us to take the lessons they have learned and apply it to our own.
Zine
A photo zine is a self-made, printed issue built of photos and captions. The term comes from the word “magazine”, as zines follow the style of magazines with headings, text, and illustrations put on a grid. An important feature of a photo zine is visual storytelling.
What is my story?
The story for my zine is showing around jersey harbour, and the process and history of it. I used 14 images, both in black and white and colour, to disconnect one theme and make it different.
NARRATIVE:How will you tell your story?
3 Words : romanticize, imagination & reality.
A sentence : A reminder that a lot of hard work goes in to the harbour.
A paragraph : To tell my story, i am going to be using my own images i took at the harbour. I did half in colour to half in black and white. I wanted to go from romanticising the harbour and its ‘beauty'(being shown by the colour) and how Jerseys harbour is advertised now, to getting back to the reality of everyday life and how it was back years ago(being shown by the black and white). For the black and white images, i focused on the presence section of developing my images on adobe Lightroom, this made an older looking effect for these images. For the coloured images, i looked at all the effects and adjusted them, making the colours stand out to attract the eye. I will be going from black and white pictures, to the more colourful and meaningful pictures.
Camera Obscura is a natural phenomenon in which you have a dark room/chamber and allow light rays to pass through a small hole. These light rays will project an inverted image of the view from outside onto a surface within the dark room. This is similar to how a modern camera works as the camera is the dark chamber and the hole for light is the aperture. The mirror in modern cameras flips the image around so it is no longer upside down. Furthermore, in the 16th century, camera obscura became a popular drawing and painting aid as people would use the projected image to trace it.
Here is an example of the use of camera obscura. This took place in Venice in 2006 and depicts a projection of Santa Maria della Salute on a bedroom wall.
Camera Obscura is still used to this day, an example being the work of Susan Derges. Susan Derges works with nature to produce her images by going out at night and submerging light sensitive paper under water, allowing the moonlight to transfer the image on to the paper.
Joseph Nicephore Niepce was a French Inventor and Photographer, born in 1765. Niepce lacked in artistic ability so used Camera Obscura as a drawing aid, in which he later used to create the process ‘heliography’. He created this process in 1822 and used it to capture the World’s very first permanent photograph. This photograph was of Pope Pius VII, however, it was later destroyed after Niepce attempted to make prints from it. In 1816, Niepce would send letters to his sister-in-law containing small images on paper coated with silver chloride, however, they were negatives and when they were exposed to light for viewing they would go dark all over. Niepce then explored other substances that were affected by light and became intrigued by how bitumen coating would become less soluble after being left exposed to light. This went on to his creation of the heliograph where he would dissolve bitumen in lavender oil and use it to coat either a lithographic stone, a sheet of metal or a sheet of glass and leave it to dry. He would then cover it with an engraving printed on paper and leave it in direct sunlight so that, after sufficient exposure, he could use the lavender oil to rinse away the unhardened bitumen which had been sheltered from sunlight by the lines/dark areas in the engraving. Finally, he would etch the remaining details in with acid. Later, after Niepce’s passing in 1833, his invention was overshadowed by the invention of his partner’s Daguerreotype, an improvement of the Heliograph.
Niepce’s first ever saved image – taken between 1822 and 1827 at Le Gras, France
Louis Daguerre was a French artist and photographer, recognised for inventing a way to fix the projected image of Camera Obscura, known at the Daguerreotype. The invention of the Daguerrotype was announced on the 19th of August, 1839 at a meeting of the French Academy of Science in Paris. A Daguerrotype is sometimes referred to as a ‘mirror with memory’ and it was originally made by, first, polishing a sheet of silver-plated copper to look like a mirror then making it sensitive to light by using Iodine in a closed box. After this, camera obscura was used to expose the surface to light and create an image. This would take a range of 3 to 15 minutes. Finally, this image was fixed by desensitising the sheet to light using sodium thiosulfate or salt with gold chloride.
Daguerrotype of Louis Daguerre in 1844
The surface of daguerrotypes are very delicate and they can be ruined just by wiping them, therefore, they were often blowtorched around the edges to be sealed and put into protective cases/picture frames.
Henry Fox Talbot was an English scientist, inventor and photographer who invented a photographic process known as the Calotype, otherwise known as the Talbotype. This was an improvement over the Daguerreotype as multiple prints could be made from it and the exposure time was only a couple of minutes, however, the Daguerreotype could only be reproduced by copying it with a camera and took longer for the photo to be produced. Prior to the Calotype, Henry created a process known as the “photogenic drawing” process which produced paper negatives on light-sensitive paper with silver salts. This was similar to Nicephore Niepce’s Heliograph, however Talbot found a way to prevent the photographs from darkening when being again exposed to sunlight. The Calotype was a modified version of this process with a faster exposure time and development process and it allowed negative prints to be made positive through contact printing.
Below is the earliest surviving negative by Talbot, depicting the lattice window at Lacock Abbey, made in August 1835.
William Collie was a photographer who was born in Scotland in 1810 but moved to Jersey in 1841. He was one of the earliest photographers in the Channel Islands and had a portrait business at Belmont House in St Helier. Collie was the first known photographer to use this photographic process in Jersey and in the late 1840s made a series of Calotypes depicting ‘French and Jersey Market Women’.
William’s photograph of Jersey market women, taken in 1847, one of the earliest photographs printed on paper.
Robert Cornelius, born in Philadelphia in 1809, was an inventor, businessman and lamp manufacturer. He worked for his father in his lamp shop and specialised in silver plating and metal polishing. After being hired by a Client to produce a silver plate for a daguerreotype, Cornelius became intrigued by the process.
At just 30 years old, Robert Cornelius was believed to have taken the world’s very first portrait in 1839. He took this image just two months after the announcement of Daguerre’s Daguerreotype outside the back of his family’s store in Philadelphia. He created this portrait by removing the lens frame and running to stand in front of the camera completely still for 10-15 minutes then covering the lens back up. Cornelius wrote on the back of this Daguerreotype “The first light Picture ever taken. 1939.”
Robert Cornelius’ Self Portrait
Henry Mullins – Carte-de-Visite
The Carte de Visite, translating to ‘visiting card’, was a small photographic portrait, typically 54 x 89mm in size mounted onto a piece of card 64 x 100mm in size. They became increasingly popular in the 1860s and were exchanged among friends and family to create albums.
Collection of Carte de Visite photographs
Henry Mullins was a photographer who moved to Jersey in 1848. Between his relocation in 1848 to 1873, Mullins produced thousands of photographs of Islanders, with almost 10,000 available to view online. He owned a successful studio in the Royal Square in St Helier and was the photographer of choice for the Island’s leading members and wealthy families.
Carte de Visite of Henry Mullins along with some photographs of his Clients
Richard Maddox
Richard Leach Maddox, born in England in 1816, was a photographer and physician who, in 1871, invented lightweight gelatin negative dry plates for photography.
Example of a Negative Dry Plate
Example of Dry Plate
These dry plates are an adaption to Frederick Scott Archer’s Collodion process, which was invented in 1851. These plates had to be sensitised at the time of exposure, meaning that the emulsion was still wet and produced ether vapour which can affect a person’s health.
Richard Maddox’s dry plates consisted of a glass plate coated with light-sensitive gelatine emulsion that was left to dry before use. This allowed photographers to use commercial plates off a shelf, rather than have to prepare their emulsions. It also allowed for cameras to be smaller and have faster exposure times. This process was developed and eventually led to the ‘Kodak’ Camera.
George Eastman was an American entrepreneur, born in New York in 1854, who founded the Eastman Kodak Company. Kodak being a word he created himself. Due to the passing of Eastman’s father, he had to leave school at the age of 14 to support his family financially. In the 1870s, whilst George was working as a Bank Clerk, he became interested in photography and, in 1879, created a machine for coating dry plates. In 1881, alongside Henry Strong, George founded the Eastman Dry Plate Company. He then began experimenting with film roll to replace plates and invented the Kodak Film Camera, in which he released in 1888.
The first Kodak Film Camera, 1888
This camera could be hand-held and was designed so that it was simple for anyone to use, with just the click of a button. Additionally, the camera was pre-loaded with enough film for 100 photos, priced at $25, and once the film had been used up it could be returned to develop the film and have new film inserted for $10. Eastman’s slogan was “You press the button, we do the rest”.
In 1990, Eastman Kodak released the Brownie Box Camera, a camera designed for use by anyone, including children. The initial price of the Brownie was just $1, equivalent to $37 in 2023, due to it being a basic cardboard box camera with simple controls. This became an increasingly popular camera for photography and many other models of it were later created by Eastman Kodak.
Digital Photography first came in to being in the 1950s when the first video tape recorders were developed in 1952. Later, in 1957, Russel A. Kirsch created the first ever digital image. It was a portrait of his son which he produced using a Drum Scanner, technology that could sense the differences between light and dark in an image.
Russel Kirsch holding the very first digital photograph, a portrait of his son.
In 1969, Willard Boyle and George Smith invented CCD (charged-coupled device) chips. These could be used in video cameras and by 1975 CCD cameras were being used for broadcast television. In December 1975, Steven Sasson, an electrical engineer and inventor at Eastman Kodak, produced the very first true digital camera using CCD chips. This was a large, battery-operated, self-contained camera, weighing 8 pounds, with a resolution of 0.1 megapixels and image production time of 23 seconds. The images from this camera were digitally recorded onto a cassette tape.
Steven Sasson with his Kodak Digital Camera
From then on, digital camera technology has continued to evolve to this day and they are now everywhere, from DSLRs to phones, computers, cars and more.
long before the introduction to photography the idea of it had already existed in the ancient world. this known because the evidence shows that the earliest use of camera obscura dates back to 4th century BC. the ideas traditionally came from places like china and the ancient Greeks. ideas of photography were raised by people such as Mozi a Chinese philosopher. How was camera obscura done? Camera obscura was achieved by setting up in a dark room with a little hole in one of its wall, then light is needed from the outside of the room (daylight from the sun) reflecting an image of the outside world on to the wall opposite the hole in the wall. This method has been used and refined developing it to become more modern in the present. most well known examples of camera obscura would be the following, Leonardo Da Vinci using the method to study proportions an perspective in art, and Athemius of Tralles a Greek mathematician who used camera obscura for his experiments.
photo example of camera obscura
modern day recreations
the first ever picture when was it and is it really the first ever image?
unlike most historic things no one is actually sure of when photography actually started or if we really have found the first ever photo. However its widely believed that the first ever photo was made in 1827, by Nicéphore Niépce.
calotypes and Daguerreotypes
(henry fox talbot)
in 1839, development of photography started with a two step process. Henry fox talbot’s process started by putting images through light an silver chloride coated on paper, this produces a “negative” this invention was seen as groundbreaking. By exposing a little bit of light, over a short period of time these images would turn darker creating what we would call a “negative image” due to it having a limited amount of light in the image. From this process you could then use these images as templates to then create clear images by using chemicals on these papers then you’d be able to numerously print them. This is what we know as Calotypes.
(henry fox talbot example)
Louis Daguerre
the second type, that takes inspiration from Nicéphore Niépce’s work using heliography, created by Louis Daguerre he used iodine-sensitized silver plate and mercury vapor. The method named after himself the “Daguerreotype” its process of making the image is quite unique. This method creates an image much different in comparison to Henry Fox Talbot as this process helps create a more 3D effect instead of a flat 2D image. despite the more unique image and method of creation the Henry Fox Talbots method would be superior as its was more simplistic making it the easier choice for everyone who wanted to make an image. however, his method would become more popular in the distant future due to the invention of the film camera.
Richard Maddox
Richard Maddox, suggested that sensitizing chemicals, calcium bromide and silver nitrate, would be be coated on a glass plate in gelatin. From this idea, Charles Bennett, made the first gelatin dry plates for the public to purchase, soon after the emulsion of these chemicals could then be placed onto celluloid roll film.
these gelatin plates helped create a revolution in photography. as they were commercially marketed as people bought them as if they were a necessity which helped create an even bigger interest for photography for people among the UK. it also saved time for photographers from having to sit in a dark room to create there images, instead images could have been stored away and developed whenever necessary. his work would also help with the construction of small cameras that could be held with your two hands.
(example of the work that helped create the said camera)
George Eastman
George Eastman was an America entrepreneur born in New York, and invented the first ever kodak camera (this lead to well known photographers such as Ansel Adams and Weegee to using this camera or later installments of it). However before he created the kodak camera he was already an expert in the field of photography as he had mastered the ability to make dry plate for photos. he manufactured these plates in London in factory and established a film company named “Eastman Dry Plate and Film”. This lead to him applying the dry plates process onto film therefore creating the Kodak to which he then made available for the public in 1888.
(this was a marketing poster for the camera when it was first created)
The Kodak Brownie- the camera that made photography accessible
out of all the installments of the kodak camera one of their most important creations was the kodak brownie, this is because it was a user friendly camera for people who weren’t exactly experts with a camera (similar to a camera on a phone) as it was as easy as pressing a button and it would create an image, it also a whole new market of people as photography was mainly for people of the upper class as it was pretty expensive to indulge in photography in its early days however this camera changed that and made it available to people of the middle class. In the 1900s the amount of people that had this camera sky rocketed on a mass scale.
digital photography
with film photography predominantly being used in the 20th century because of George Eastman’s invention it was bound to change with the tech development happening around the world. This lead to Steve Sasson’s invention of the first self contained digital camera for kodak. with this invention it became even more simple for people to use cameras which then obviously lead to modern day cameras being developed into what they are easy to use and accessible to anyone in the world.
(side by side comparison of film and digital camera)
after this a rapid growth in camera development happened from the 1970s up until the modern day
history of jersey photography
Thomas Sutton
Thomas Sutton is a well known photographer he was the first ever photographer to take a colored image by that isn’t the only reason he is well known Establishing a studio in St Brelade in 1848 here he worked alongside another photographer, Frenchman L.D. Blanquart-Evrard were they had a printing establishment. In 1850 this studio was advertised as “founded at the suggestion of, and patronized by, H R H Prince Albert” who was known to be a keen collector of photographs.
The lives and history’s of those who worked among the Jersey fisheries.
Described in a paragraph –
My Zine will portray a story through pictures, that depict the history and lives of great people, who worked among the fisheries and shores of Jersey. It will show the hard work and dedication that many generations of people and families have lived to get Jersey and its harbours to the incredible place it sits now.
Narrative –
“How will you tell your story?”
My story will be shown through photos that I have taken and meticulously selected to show the story of Jersey’s harbours. My title will help open and grasp the overall idea of my Zine and with small statements to help paint a picture of my story. With careful selection of font and wordplay throughout the zine will help bring everything together and show the viewers of my zine exactly what I want them to see. I have taken inspiration from countless archived photos or zines themself to help guide me on the best possible outcomes for my zines as well.
Sequencing –
I began with thinking about what kind of story I wanted to depict. I wanted to find a focused photo for me to use for my front cover. The photo used on the front and back of the zine helps start and end this beautiful story I wanted to show.
I found establishing shots that I gathered, that I though, even on their own, could show such a powerful story. So, with that idea, if I found a group of establishing shots, how great would my story be if each photo individually, could show their own mini story.
I wanted on each open page for the photo’s I’ve chosen to have a visual relationship, whether that was due to colours or just the nature of each photo. Carefully choosing each photo was a main focus for me during the creation of my zine. I believe that individually photos tell a story but together they can show a life.
The images I’ve chosen gradually depict a story that not only has history but almost shows a life as it unfolds. From photos from a museum to live photos of that life today.
Smaller detailed shots are added throughout the zine to show things in these photos that may usually be overlooked. However to closely look at them is like looking into a hidden window of the past which helps wind my story all together.
