Narrative is the way a story is told. It is subjective and can vary between each person telling the same story. A narrative is told by stringing along images in a sequence. You can choose how to portray elements in a story to create a narrative. A story however is a factual account of the events.

Story

In three words id describe the story as:

• Identity
• Work
• History

The story I aim to show in my zine is the day cycle of a fisherman. Work is a big part of someone’s identity which I wanted to showcase with a day/work cycle.

As an island, we were and still are heavily reliant on the sea for import/export of food, amenities and revenue. This would not be possible without workers such as fishermen, ferrymen and sea captains. Having a title and tales however does not exclude these individuals from the mundane and unexciting day like everyone else.

Narrative

I will be using archival image’s and my own images. I will be using minimal text and typography.

Zine creation and selection

I have two images with pops of colour in this set which I might not keep since they stand out too much against the other monochrome images. Additionally I will need to remove some of the portraits as I am limited because the zine will have a total of 20 pages. Some pages could have multiple images on them but I also want to include some archival images so I will make my final selections based on those.

The archive images I found related to the harbour and merchants were the following:

I didn’t take many images of the whole harbour to compare with the old ones however the portraits would make for nice comparisons. I think that because my story focuses on how trade has changed, comparing to old images would be beneficial to the overall narrative.

Paper mock up

I created a paper mock up to begin sequencing my images to construct a narrative. I knew I wanted a flow from the people to the actual job and boats which would end with the buildings. I knew I also wanted to include older archival images to show how this cycle has been carried out in part throughout the history of our marine endeavours.

Design and Layout

Pages

I grouped these two images together as they were both grounded boats but since they had different shapes I wanted to try different sizes too. I made one full bleed and one smaller for some variety.

I tried a few things for the double portrait spread:

If I was going to include words I would use one where the images were more spread out however I didn’t plant on writing too much so I chose the grid instead.

I added one more portrait to the grid so I could keep one larger.

In order to make each set of pages unique, I also created a double page spread. I chose this image for the double spread because first of all it was landscape but additionally because I thought the image stood out on its own.

For these two pages I was struggling to decide on the layout. The first option was a little too busy however I liked all the images. I tried removing one but then the layout didn’t work at all. Eventually i decided to keep the crane alone which looked better but I decided to try an additional layout.

This option only had both cranes with one spreading over the page. While I liked how unique this looked, I thought there was too much unused space above and below. I liked both options and I was leaning towards the two only so that not all of my pages showed a near full bleed.

I decided to slightly adjust the ratios and move it into the bottom.

I compared 2 layouts. The first kept the cut out and the second did not. I started the first with the window where I could place text in white around the window. For the final I used the pub and I added 2 additional images. In the first layout I had less images and used 2 less pages.

End Page

For the end page I wasnt sure between this image ^ and this image >

For the boots I thought it could show hanging up the wellies for the day to symbolise finishing the job but the window shows being inside a building and looking out over the harbour to reflect on the day. I think the window would make more sense in terms of a story however.

Title page

For these pages I compared two portraits of captains. I was originally going to use the other portrait since the head placement was much more similar however this portrait looked better. This was going to be the first two pages however since I wasn’t sure on the cover I also had the idea of using one image and creating a cut out for the cover to resemble an ID image.

Since my idea for the overall narrative of my story was the identity and work of fishermen, I wanted to show an ID image to start and flip through pages to show the day cycle. I started with the people for identity, moved through boats for work, then cycled through the harbour for an end day reflection and ended on buildings to show leaving work or going home for the day.

In term of a title, I was mulling over options regarding identity and fishermen but couldn’t find one in particular I liked. I used an AI generator to generate some baseline ideas based on the input ‘Marine history and identity’ which came out with:

• Waves of Change: Exploring Marine Identity
• Anchors of the Past: A Journey Through Marine History
• The Sea Within: Understanding Our Maritime Heritage
• Tides of Time: The Evolution of Marine Identity
• Beyond the Horizon: The Legacy of Marine History

The only ones I kind of liked were: Waves of change, tides of time or beyond the horizon but I figured these were too vague. I figured I would used anchor however as it prevents drifting. Its also used as a metaphor for stability. Our history as an island stems from marine technologies which we are more dependant on now then ever with our electricity and foods coming from off-island. Our financial stability also stems from marine trade.

I decided to change the name to something relating to the sea captain on the cover. I wanted to keep the anchor as imagery on the cover instead however I thought it made the cover too busy.

I was struggling to pick a title and though of maybe: Mémoire of a Magister Navis. Mémoire meaning memory and Magister Navis meaning sea captain. However I decided to use Jèrriais instead. I wanted something along the lines of: Story from a Sea Captain = Conte d’un Capitaine d’la Mer or the identity of a Sea Captain = L’Identité d’Un Capitaine d’Mer.

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A camera is objective, so the potential of photography is to turn something ordinary into something extra ordinary through the framing and composition of images. A photographer ‘transforms what is described’ meaning that by framing reality, the photographer is choosing what deserves attention and what needs to be questioned. It is up to the viewer to make sense of it.

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Camera Obscura is the oldest form of photography that massively predates the modern camera. This is set up by using a dark box with a small hole for light. The light will pass through the pin hole and flip the image 180 degrees once it meets a surface, this image is flipped because light always travels in straight lines. A projection like this is not set. The camera obscura is a technique that is still used by artists today. Modern versions are small portable boxes instead of blacked out rooms, for example an artist who wants to paint a large surface with a small A4 sketch would use this technique.

Camera Obscura can be dated back to as early as 400BC by Chinese Philosopher Mo-tzu. He noted early sightings of a projected inverted image in a dark room. It wasn’t until 1604 that ‘Camera Obscura’ was associated with the phenomenon by Johannes Kepler who invented a small, portable box for astronomical observations.

French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce was inspired by the camera obscura to create a lasting image. He is notable for creating the first negative in 1816. This negative used paper which was coated in silver chloride. This however was not permanent and would completely darken when exposed to light.

After only temporary success, Niépce founded the process ‘heliography’ meaning ‘sun drawings’. In 1822, the first permanent photographic image was created. This technique was lengthy and started with dissolving bitumen in lavender oil and coating it onto a metal or glass sheet. This and some paper were laid out in the sun and then rinsed off. The result was hardened chemicals in areas of light/dark which could be used for prints.

in 1839, two methods of ‘setting images’ were created: the Calotype, and two months later the Daguerreotype.

English scientist Henry Fox Talbot created the Calotype, meaning ‘beautiful impression’. The Calotype used light reactive chemicals and silver salts (chloride and later iodide) on paper to create a negative with low contrast and textures. This process too around an hour. The production of a negative allowed for mass production of copies.

Louis Daguerre was also a French inventor and released his Daguerreotype as a direct rection to Henry Fox Talbots invention to be a part of the creation of photography. The Daguerreotype was significantly different to the Calotype as it only created one image. These one off images were described as being a ‘mirror of a memory’ and used grains on a metal plate (typically brass or tin) which were soldered together. This process was heavily inspired by Niépce’s heliography.

The Daguerreotype was expensive and time consuming so ultimately lost the race to the Calotype.

Robert Cornelius, an American photographer, took the first self-portrait. This portrait was taken in 1839 as a daguerreotype. This portrait was also the first portrait taken in the United States. Additionally he opened many photography studios and founded many revolutionary techniques to reduce exposure time. His business model made use of lard instead of expensive whale oil leading to brighter results.

Julia Margeret Cameron was another English photographer who photographed many famous Victorians such as Charles Darwin. From around 1863 to 1875 she had amassed a large portfolio of . She has been credited with the production of the first close-ups. She never made commissioned portraits or opened a studio but did show aspirations of a commercial venture with high profile subjects but ultimately did not see profits during her lifetime.

Pictorialism is the intentional style of emphasizing the beauty of the subject matter, tonality, and composition instead of documenting reality, meaning the photographs are staged and manipulated and could sometimes be mistaken as not having a specific focus. This style was popular throughout the 19th century and continued in smaller relevance until the end of the world wars.

Carte-de-Visit was a format of portrait first used by louis Dodero in 1851. The name however was patented by André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri, a French man in 1854. The name means ‘visiting card’ as it was the same size as a post card and were sent between friends and family. A photographer who used this format was Henry Mullins; the the most prolific first wave photographer in jersey from 1848 to 1873. He owned a studio in royal square and readily changed his technique with changing innovations. He used the Carte-de-Visit style a

Richard Maddox, an English physician, invented the lightweight gelatin negative dry plates in 1871. Before this discovery, Maddox used photography to study micro-organisms under a microscope. His health however declined with his exposure to the wet conditions caused by previous photographic processes. He discovered that sensitizing chemicals cadmium bromide and silver nitrate could be used with gelatine to create the first functioning dry press.

George Eastman, an American entrepreneur, founded Kodak (Eastman Kodak Company) in 1888. This was the first use of roll film readily accessible for the general public making amateur photography easier to pick up. He patented the film roll in 1885 but didn’t release the cameras until 1888. The roll had 100 exposures pre rolled unto the camera and could be handed back to the company who would develop the images for $10.

Kodak held a monopoly over the film stock market and in 1900, the Brownie camera was released and marketed to children. It was a cardboard box sold at the price of $1 or 5 shillings ( £27 today) with cheap film roll and processing which massively surpassed its marketing goals. This camera reached beyond its initial market of children and served as a good way of enticing amateurs as the price was a fraction of previous models such as the Pocket Kodak which costed a standard families months wages. This low price made it easy to pick up and gift. Despite the cheaper production, when used properly the brownie could still produce good photographs. Soldiers took the devices into world war 1 in conjunction with other Kodak models. Kodak took advantage of the broader appeal and released several different editions.

Film photography was pioneered by George Eastman but did not remain exclusive to Kodak. 35mm film was used by all sorts of manufacturers from 1905 to 1913. The war disrupted development on new models but in 1925 the Lecia 1 overtook Kodaks sales and established 35mm film as the go-to choice for high-end compact cameras. In 1936, Japanese brand Canon rose in popularity after soldiers took these new cameras home with them following the Korean War. 1949 saw the release of the first instant-picture camera named the Polaroid Model 95.

Digital photography did not use film or chemicals, instead images were saved directly onto memory cards. They have low operating costs and gradually pushed chemical cameras out of the limelight. The very first can be linked back to 1969 but did not reach markets in any capacity until 1989. The low quality, lack of colour and high price caused the device to completely fail commercially. Gradually with technological advancements the digital camera became a more viable option however it wasn’t until 2003 that digital cameras finally outsold film cameras. Since the 90s Kodak and Fujifilm had competed for space and with the global switch to digital, Kodak fell behind and in 2012 filed for bankruptcy. Digital cameras however have only continued to thrive and advance.

For this second photoshoot, I explored both the museum and around the industrial sector which was largely different to the old pier. I took 700+ images this time as I found it more interesting.

I split these into 3 sections: People, industrial and the museum.

In the museum I learned about many of the myths and urban legends such as:

Lé Tchian du Bouôlay. This is a man wolf which resembles a massive black dog with large eyes. He was known to follow pedestrians before a storm and so acted a warning to fishermen.

Contact Sheet and Selection

Edits

1

2

Combining all of my images in total, I decided that these were my best:

I took 260+ images on this first photoshoot of varying angles of the piers and surrounding buildings. Each of the old structures has its own history relating to the islands Marine history.

I started at no 9 Pier Road which has become the jersey museum. the land in front is all reclaimed and stretches all around to the waterfront.

Contact Sheet and Selection

I split these photographs into 2 sections:

Section 1:

Section 2:

These photographs show modern trade and the roles involved. There is lots of machinery and all goods are centralised in warehouses and held in large metal crates. This is largely different to trade from the past where trade occurred much more privately and personally. Modern trade is also much more standardised. Every worker wears hivis and helmets for safety and easy identification.

Timeline

Roman coins were discovered on the island showcasing evidence of a trade network which would have required over-sea travel. This is the earliest evidence of traveling by boat. During the Middle ages, Christianity arrived on the island showing more regular travel in the 9th century and Piracy (mainly by Vikings) also took place.

From the 15th-18th century there was a general increase in trade due to technical advancements in ships and navigation. Jersey took advantage and cod-merchants traded between British colonies (West Indies, America and back to Europe.), and also built large trade ships.

Modern ships became steam powered and many Jersey families moved around the globe. St. Hellier became the main port of the island and gradually expanded its piers. As steel ships took over, Jersey saw a decline in tonnage and fleet size.

After WW1 tourism on the island massively increased but was halted by the occupation in WW2. where 200+ islanders escaped via boat. Once the war finished, fishing had an annual value of around £10m in 1995. Private boating became more popular and fast ferries were established as a commercial mode of transport. In the 80s, tourism reached its peak as rail tickets included these ferries providing a cheap, close holiday island for mainlanders.

Jersey within context of the Canadian cod-fisheries and the Transatlantic carrying trade

What was the involvement of Jersey mariners in the Canadian cod-fisheries and the Transatlantic carrying trade?

Jersey has many links to the Transatlantic carrying trade and Canadian cod-fisheries. Much of the islands and individual families wealth was generated through the establishment of merchant businesses.

Many people and families can be directly linked through both indirect and direct contact. A few examples are St. Johns Josué Mauger who set up as a merchant in Halifax of Nova Scotia. The Company of Royal Adventurers was founded in part by Sir George Carteret which held a monopoly over trades to Africa mostly for gold and people but also ivory, wax and wood. His son James Carteret owned a plantation in Carolina and commanded the Speedwell slave ship. Hope was a ship built in jersey. Over the ships lifetime it picked up 230 and disembarked 199 enslaved people. The salted cod was seemingly used for 2 purposes. The high quality cod was sold for a profit by the merchants and the low quality cod was used to feed enslaved people.

Which ports did Jersey ships sail to and trade with?

St. Aubins was Jerseys main port. Jersey was involved in the triangular trade mainly with Canada.

What type of goods did Jersey merchants exchange for cod-fish?

The triangular trade was the process of moving trade goods between Africa, the Caribbean and the United Kingdom. This mainly involved salted cod to feed enslaved people and mahogany, cotton and sugar harvested by enslaved people but occasionally also tobacco, wax and ivory which would be sold back in Europe for money.

To what extend, has the island of Jersey benefitted from its constitutional relationship with Britain and the legacies of colonialism based on a slave plantation economy during the first Industrial Revolution (1760-1840)?

The beginnings of Jerseys finance industry, which is the islands main source of employment and income, was rooted in plantations and enslavement. The wealth generated from the use of enslaved people is what the foundations are built on.

Josué Mauger’s great nephew inherited his wealth and built No 9 Pier Road. This building has since become the Jersey Museum and shows deep ties to our history and great generational wealth built off the back of slavery which has continued to benefit the island since, still showing Mahogany was used in large throughout the building. In 1968 the building was stated as being ‘the finest possible example of a prosperous merchant’s town house’ while simultaneously being the ‘most pretentious family mansions in St Helier’.

The latter part of the 18th century and early 19th century also marks one of the richest periods in Jersey where many local families made substantial fortunes through cod fishing on
the Newfoundland banks. Due to the large amount of incoming cash, Jersey established its first banks. These banks differed slightly to English ones and with unique benefits allowed the Finance Industry to thrive.

Mood Board

Types of Images

Relationship shot – Shows the connection between themes, objects of people.

Work shot – These show a person at work or in their ‘element’.

Establishing shot – Establishing shots are typically wide shots to show context. This might be through landmarks or signs.

Detail shots – Closer to focus on a specific detail or element.

Using Indesign for a Pagespread: Design & Layout

For setting up an A3 page I used these settings:

This created a layout of 3 pages laid out with 4 columns in purple. The red outline was created with the ‘bleed’ option so that when printing images can fill the whole page without white edges.

To add an image the rectangle frame tool is useful for creating a specific size on the page.

For my first page spread I tried to create a picture story about people playing football. I chose for the establishing shot to give some context and was the only image that showed more then just feet. I set this one in large on the left. I also decided to split one image into to squares as it was originally a landscape action shot. For the additional images I wasn’t sure how to arrange them or which ones to select so I created a few drafts

The final 3 I created were:

Final Layout:

I decided that this final one was my favourite becauce the text wouldnt need to be split and the title could still sit at the top of the page.

From the hip

Of a total 406 images, I narrowed these down easily to 34 as many were purely of the ground. All are at an angle and out of focus which otherwise wouldn’t look great however as a collection I think can work together.

These images work best in sequences to tell a story as they aren’t technically great since they have lots of motion blur or are just generally out of focus for example:

Sequence

The decisive moment

I narrowed down 438 images to 46. These 46 could be summed up into 4 main groups: colour, black and white, motion blur and the church.

I think that these three together create a nice sequence however I shouldn’t of zoomed in on the final one so that all three would be the same. I spotted the lady because of her red coat and trousers which stood out against the grey stone.

I tried adjusting the shutter speed to capture a moving object. I tried moving the camera with the car however most attempts were completely blurred. This was the only one where the vehicle was still in focus.

I accidently took these photographs when I adjusted the shutter speed in a dark church. The streaks were the chandeliers which naturally stood out against the dark background. The first was an accident when I moved the camera after taking the photo however the shutter speed was much lower than I thought. Once I saw the outcome I tried making additional shapes and I think the spiral one worked out also.

I think I had the most success when photographing people around the town. I think that the set ups had varying success and I liked the ones taken further away most. I set all of them in black and white which was the same as Henri-Cartier Bresson which meant that colours wouldn’t be distracting and the focus would be purely on the subjects. Additionally I think that the quieter backgrounds looked better.

I tried the photographs in colour with some colour adjustments and while the colours looked alright I didn’t like them as much. I found that the colour sometimes takes attention away from the people and while in some cases I want the photograph to be about the colour, the majority had nothing to do with colours at all so I made them greyscale.

Basic landscape+Portrait crop

Before V after

Panoramic crop

Square crop

Circle crop

Polygon crop

I decided that for the triangle crop I wanted to to use an image where there would be a triangle type of shape already. I first tried with this lady sitting at a bench when I was figuring out how to make a triangle. Since she was in the bottom corner of the frame I chose a right angle triangle. It looked like the triangle was too long however since there wasn’t anything happening to either side of the woman so I adjusted the image so that it matched her position instead so that the bench filled the bottom and the lady filled the corner. This worked out better and is how I went about cropping other images.

I tried another type of triangle which I didn’t like as much and decided to create shapes by combining 4 different crops.

I think that arranging these into shapes can create interesting arrangements which I like the look of. I plan to create a large topology of triangles with different colours and subjects for the final presentation of this project. I will print the triangles onto A5 and experiment with levels like this:

I would like to use more images and create a larger piece however this is how I plan the final outcome to be produced. Some triangles will be mounted, some will be on the board and some will be below still. I might try some blank triangles also in some of the gaps too. I think that maybe I could create a gradient where one side is higher up and by the other end of the image all the triangles are lower down or it will just be a random arrangement.

The Decisive Moment is the moment where the composition (shapes and lighting) meet with movement and people. Henri Cartier-Bresson published a photobook in 1952. This book was a collection of his work showing random, spontaneous moments which he called ‘the decisive moment’. These images were constructed by first setting up the frames and then wait for the perfect moment to capture.

Henri Cartier-Bresson views the activity of photography as an ‘extension of the eye’. He would carry his camera to capture uniquely mundane moments as he saw them in the moment. This spontaneity allowed him to capture a period in a sort of time capsule. He would try and take photographs without being noticed to capture a ‘true’ moment. When someone is aware of a camera they act out or at least different which can lead to a ‘fake’ moment. Alternately he would frame up an image and wait for something interesting to happen within the frame.

He was a French artist and photographer well known as a pioneer of street photography. He started with a simple Brownie he’d received as a gift and quickly found his passion for the art. After a year he purchased his first camera which was a simple film camera of the time.

This image shows a man and a cat sat in a rat run. It is black and white with high contrast between the darkest and lightest parts. I believe it is portrait for 2 reasons: the first to show how small the man is. The height makes the walls look much taller and tower over the small hunched man. This could be to show how low and small he feels. The second reason is that it is still sort of a portrait of a man and would make sense to be shot in portrait. I think this image projects a sense of sadness onto the man which otherwise wouldn’t be present. Additionally the frame is completely excluded otherwise to show a sense of loneliness which makes the cat such an important part of the image.

In this image the decisive moment is the reaction between the cat and the man. The man is sat and seemingly observing the cat who is observing the man back. This is the decisive moment because not only would the cat be unexpected but it adds an additional layer to the private moment the man seems to be having. Had these two not been in the frame, the image would simply be a bland alley as its the two figures that add meaning and emotion to the image.

The image is framed with the large building walls. These are dark and draw the eye into the centre both through the lines and light. The brightest part is what draws the eye which is in the centre. This is broken up however by the small cat and the man.

Virtual gallery

For my final Images I wanted at least one image from each section. I decided on one Anthropocene, 4 industrial and 5 natural landscapes. I experimented with a virtual gallery on arrangements and sizes etc. I was going to create one triptych in A5, one diptych in A4 and 5 single images presented in both A4 and A3. I didn’t like all the industrial ones together and the Anthropocene image I pictured in A3 however there was too much plain black so I decided to try and fit it in a circular shape instead. I like the idea however I should have created it with the shape in mind initially so the ring would fit the frame better. I ended up printing it as a square since I didn’t arrange it properly to fit in a ting.

After deciding on the sizes of each Image the arrangement was much easier. Aside from the triptych and diptych on the left wall all the others are going to be framed on their own.

Final Images

I arranged my final images into groups:

1- New Topographics

2 – Landscapes

3 – Anthropocene

Evaluation

I think that I understood new Topographics the best and created images based on my interpretation of these ideas. This was the most successful outcome in my opinion as each final outcome showed a different aspect of new Topographics such as deadpan, industrial structures and the changing urban landscape. I think that while I explored some ideas I could have created more inspired or creative outcomes.

For Anthropocene I think that the stationary donut turned out better than I thought. Looking back I wish I created it in a circle frame or used some additional pieces. Stationary is a wasteful industry from the large packaging to the harmful plastics used in disposable items which I believe has the same themes as Mandy Barkers photographs without going out and finding these items washed up on the beach which is originally why the images are supposed to appear like underwater currents however I instead just used waste before it was thrown away. Each piece of stationary I photographed was single use and would have ended in some sort of waste outlet regardless.

As a response to romanticism I wanted to photograph the damage caused by storm Kieran. I focused on fallen trees as they have heavily impacted the landscape but didn’t take photographs of the new bare landscapes. I don’t think these photographs turned out very well as I didn’t have much direction when going out to take the photographs. This came across clearly in the final outcomes. I also photographed some landscapes without the theme of the storm and I think these turned out better since I wasn’t focusing on a specific theme. I used these photographs mostly when experimenting with AI because the large spaces allowed for generative fill and remove also. Although I didn’t originally have much direction and was simple practicing the tools, these also turned out better then the storm. I chose not to print these ones out as final images because they weren’t saying enough to be framed and presented.