Mood Board:

Mind map of ideas for photoshoots:

Who is Roberta Tocco, and what did she do?

Roberta Tocco is a 28 year old Fashion & Beauty, Fine Arts Photographer currently based in Catania, Metropolitan city of Catania, Italy. At age 20, Tocco began taking photos “just for fun” and she explains it was the most natural thing in her life. She tried different kinds of photography, with a range of sets and moods, but at the end she always found herself in minimal things, natural light and a very simple concept. In my opinion, Tocco was born with a true gift of storytelling, specifically through her work. This is because her work is all about capturing emotions and chasing the perfect, soft lighting. As she grew up on an island, it gave her the freedom to catch the sound of many waves and colours of endless sunsets. She described her land as “full of contrasts” and the balance is something that has grown in her eyes and aesthetic sense. I can relate to this on a personal level through growing up in Jersey where I am surrounded by nature, where I will be able to recreate a similar aesthetic in my own images through similar scenes and locations. This way, I am able to link my work to the artist effectively, but also with slightly different elements coming from my own area. In an interview, Roberta talks about her unique photographic style and reveals what can only be learned through practice. She successfully links to my project, through the theme of femininity as she focuses on the delicacy of women, yet also incorporating the relationships with the places she had growing up.

Image analysis:

This image in particular stood out to me the most within Tocco’s work. I believe it associates with my project as she is interpreting the theme of femininity as well as girlhood. The main subject in this image is clearly the socks and legs, as they take up the majority of the frame. Immediately, I am able to recognise a graceful and woman-like mood that has been illustrated to the viewer, through multiple elements such as the use of bare legs, floral patterns on the bed and the pastel coloured socks. The artist states: “What I want is to express my feelings and bring out the hidden beauty from what I see.” This quote tells me that Tocco clearly finds stereotypical womanly elements aesthetically pleasing and takes a liking towards photographing them. This may be because these elements specifically are what separates women from men, as they are more delicate than those that would be associated with men. Moreover, the female hand on the leg of the model in the middle also caught my eye, which could perhaps suggest intimacy between the females in the photo. Again, this implies that there may be a close emotional connection between them, which helps add to the distinctive and pure approach to her work. From this, I can gather that Tocco may be a feminist, as she clearly sees the beauty behind women and the small feminine details that stand out to her. There isn’t a particularly striking background in this image which hints that the artist doesn’t want the viewer’s eye to be wondering and wants us to stay focused on the main subject. Within this image, there is also a factor of objectification highlighted as there is lots of bare skin showing, and the overall construction of the image hints at typical stereotypes of women.

Image analysis 2:

For my second image analysis, I chose this image as I feel it has connections to the image I analysed above. This is because I immediately noticed the same background, and the fact there are 3 female models lying down on the same bed. Similarly, there is another element of intimacy in this image, through the use of the hand on the shoulder, with the other hand overlapping, which also contributed to the ideology of potential intimacy or emotional connections between them. Furthermore, the fact there are three models in the image tells me

What I want to explore:

Within my personal study, my main themes are femininity and youth. I want to explore these themes because feminism is a movement to put an end to sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression and to achieve full gender equality in law and in practice. I feel passionately about the role of women and how society has shaped stereotypes surrounding them, as well as looking into how women have overcome these stereotypes since the 1950s, which links to the ‘Challenge’ element within the project. In addition, I chose youth as one of my main themes because youthhood is the time in our lives that teaches us how to make decisions and start making reasonable choices. This is an element that I relate to as I am currently in my teenage years and learning how to make important decisions for my future, therefore this topic is something I can apply my own experiences to which will give my work a more realistic approach. From my artist inspiration I gathered that Kurland depicts a dream landscape, and a world where even imaginations of resistance are misshapen by white supremacy. These two themes also link to women stereotypes and gender roles, which are two other specific topics I will be diving into. The main issue I will be researching is women stereotypes, where I have looked at Cindy Sherman as well as Justine Kurland. Sherman is a photographer who probed the construction of identity, playing with the visual and cultural codes of art, celebrity and gender. I took inspiration from these two artists specifically because I feel that they take their own unique approach to the social issues and portray their work in contrasting ways.

Why it matters to me:

“Your identity plays an important role in how you treat others and how you carry yourself in the world.”

This quote highlights the importance of everybody finding their own identity and how they want to portray themselves to the world. I believe this is significant because it is part of the message I want to present, encouraging young girls around my age to express their true identity. Moreover, identity is becoming a more spoken-about topic in my generation, where we have become more accepting of people collectively. This photoshoot matters to me because it obtains the theme of youth and gender. This is because youth is a inevitable element of reaching adulthood and everyone’s is unique. As well, I am able to include elements that are more specific to girls rather than girls and boys, as males and females grow up very differently from each other. I want to incorporate these ideas into my photoshoot so I can take my own approach to these themes. By including these ideas into my photoshoot, I will be able to relate to the ‘Girl Pictures’ book through my own experiences through growing up as a girl and using models that are of a similar age to the young girls in the book. This way I am using my artist inspirations effectively but making it more personal to me.

How I wish to develop my project:

I wish to develop my project by including similar elements as my two artists; such as taking photos outdoors with a natural background, or focusing on presenting gender roles through photographing young women showing stereotypes, for example in a kitchen. This way I will be able to portray similar outcomes to Kurland as she focuses on taking images of young girls who have ran away from home and are living outdoors. I feel that I can recreate this successfully by going to St Catherine’s woods and placing my models in different locations of the woods, often holding objects that represent girlhood such as a hairbrush. I am also able to relate to Sherman by photographing girls portraying female stereotypes because that was what she focused on. For example, I will use the ‘female gaze’ in my images as it adds a sexualized and objectifying effect into my images which shows the representation of women in the 50s. Sherman focuses on “Deconstructing a woman” as her photos are often interpreted as feminist art, since her works raise questions regarding the objectification of women by the male gaze and the construction of the female gender.

Which form I wish to present my study as:

I wish to present my study in a photobook, as I feel that this will best represent the structure and messages behind my photoshoots. For example, at the beginning of my photobook will be my Cindy Sherman inspired photoshoot, as these images highlight the stereotypes of women in the 1950s. This way, I will be able to present my photos in a chronological order, which makes it easy to understand yet also interesting for the viewer as they will get to see how women have changed and adapted to the gender roles of women. My aim is to make my images seamlessly blend together by taking my photoshoots in similar locations. Then my photobook will begin to incorporate Kurland’s images, as hers were based between 1997 and 2002. Sherman’s photographs were taken when coloured photographs did not exist, therefore I will include black and white images throughout my photobook to keep my inspiration surfaced. Contrastingly, Kurland’s photos are all in colour, which gives an overall more modern aesthetic. I will also include these but mostly towards the end of my photobook so the chronological order of them is displayed. Additionally, I may include pages where I show a typology of images on one page, this way it is easy for the viewer to see the similarities and differences between the two artists and what they aim to present in their work.

Where and when I intend to begin my study:

I intend to begin my study with lots of images inspired by Sherman, including black and white images to show the time they were taken. I will take my first photoshoot inside, only using one model. My main location will be in a kitchen where I will have my model portraying typical women stereotypes in the 50s, yet I will take inspiration from Justine Kurland too so the images throughout the book can merge together. For example, I will dress my model in clothing from the 50s but I will put some of my images in colour too. In addition, in my second shoot I will photograph in outdoor settings. This is because it will successfully show the theme of youth which I am trying to present through my work. In my childhood, I spent a lot of time outdoors in places such as; different beaches, specifically St Brelade’s bay, Millbrook park, FB fields etc. I want to include some of these outdoor settings in my photoshoots so I can relate my images to Justine Kurland and execute similar outdoors.

Mood Board:

Mind map:

Who is Justine Kurland?

Justine Kurland is an American fine art photographer, born in 1969, based in New York City. Kurland holds a BFA from the School of Visual Arts and an MFA in photography from Yale University. She is best known for photographing subjects in American wilderness landscapes, and her strongly narrative work is influenced by 19th century English picturesque landscapes and the utopian ideal as well as genre paintings, the photographs of Julia Margaret Cameron and Mathew Brady, and illustrations from fairy tales. Kurland has used staged tableaux to explore the social landscape of girlhood, life on communes, and life in the wilderness. While creating her narrative of a teenage runaway, she was particularly interested in photographing within small, fringe areas of wilderness that remained between suburban and urban areas. She then talks to them about the scenes and scenarios she would like them to respond to and interpret for the camera.

Her photographs are also on view in NMWA’s exhibition Live Dangerously (September 19–January 20, 2020).

Justine Kurland, Shipwrecked, 2000.

What did Justine Kurland do?

Justine Kurland’s art is a vital part of the efflorescence of the staged photograph that began in the late 1990s. She creates her photographic series during extended road trips through the American Northwest or South. Using volunteer models she meets during her travels, Kurland constructs scenes of people rambling through the wilderness landscape.

“I photographed on extended road trips across the US, scouting locations and finding girls along the way. The girls would collaborate in staging the scenes. The girls performed scenes of caretaking that became actual caretaking: feeding each other, brushing each other’s hair, walking arm in arm. It was also a time when photographers were encouraged to stay in their lane. It was the 1990s, and it was considered exploitative for a white photographer to photograph a Black subject. I look at these pictures now, more than two decades later, and see that I both shaped and captured the racialized dreams of young white girls. ‘Girl Pictures’ (1997–2002) depicts a dream landscape, and a world at large, where even imaginations of resistance are misshapen by white supremacy”.

The 1980s was a time when many American women artists and photographers realized that they could be both the creator and the subject of their work, after battling many issues with gender roles and representations of women. I believe that Kurland created her photographic series to challenge these stereotypes by getting her models to perform behaviours that have constructed opposing ideologies to these stereotypes. But as things changed around Kurland herself, she identifies the election of Donald Trump as a moment where the meaning of her work shifted a bit. She stopped wanting to make that performance. She has since started new work she said is “all about looking inward and thinking about what I was running from.” She states that she no longer feels an uncomplicated identification with her old yearning for the West. But that shift helped her see something new in the photographs, which depict teenage girls in natural or nondescript settings, casting them in the adventurous roles of runaways and fighters.

Image analysis:

This image taken by Kurland caught my attention and stood out in comparison to the rest of her work. This is because it tackles a different approach to the Girl Pictures experimentation, as it contrasts to her other images by portraying less feminine qualities. For example, the two young girls in the image are dressed in minimal ragged clothing which straight away gives the impression that they have ran away from home and resorted to living outdoors. This challenges typical women stereotypes because usually women and young girls have been associated with

Within the origin of photography, there are two photographic processes; Daguerreotype and Calotype. The Calotype process first produced a photographic ‘negative’ in the camera, from which many ‘positive’ calotype prints could be made, whereas daguerreotypes were a one-off image.

Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre was a French artist and photographer, recognized for his invention of the daguerreotype process of photography. The daguerreotype is a direct-positive process, creating a highly detailed image on a sheet of copper, plated with a thin coat of silver (without the use of negative). The process required great care, the silver-plated copper plate had to be cleaned first and polished until the surface looked like a mirror. But the daguerreotype had serious limitations, the mirror-like surface of the image could only be viewed from a narrow angle.

According to John Szarkowski‘s thesis, the daguerreotype can be considered as a mirror image rather than a window image. This is because Daguerre focused on taking photographs of people rather than of the world, and I believe this category of images are more personal and subjective and could possible reflect feelings and emotions of the photographer. This may be due to the fact that images of others hold great value as they capture that moment that one is able to reflect on after the moment passes. This was a useful technique from Daguerre as it also gives the viewer a hint of history and context behind the photograph, while also allowing us to find out a little bit more about the artist himself, and potentially find out why he took these images and what his passion behind his methods was. Additionally, centuries later we are able to see what photographs looked like in the 1800s, seeing how greatly photography has evolved since then, which I think is effective as it reflects historical contexts within photography and specifically portraits. This is because through a portrait, one is able to see a lot deeper than just the photograph, as we can see the expressions of the person, background of the image, clothing etc which can also bring us to ask questions and compare todays photography to Daguerre’s time. Szarkowski states “a mirror – a romantic expression of the photographer’s sensibility as it projects itself on the things and sights of this world.” To a high extent I agree with this quote because sensibility means being able to appreciate and respond to complex emotional or aesthetic influences, which is shown through how the image is taken. For example, a mirror image often expresses a person’s hobbies, habits or personal experiences.

William Henry Fox Talbot invented the original positive and negative process, the calotype is sometimes called a “Calotype.” This process uses a paper negative to make a print with a softer, less sharp image than the daguerreotype, but because a negative is produced, it is possible to make multiple copies. Fox Talbot’s images were made so that when they were exposed to light, they were easy to producer and distribute. However, these images faced many drawbacks such as the people in the images being described as looking ‘on the edge of present’, meaning they did not quite look alive due to low sharpness and graininess. The process was superseded in the 1850s by the collodion glass negative. A lot of calotype photographs show scenery in the image rather than people or things that associate with the artist specifically. This method can ultimately show history because it was introduced in 1941. A lot of calotypes fit into realism, public and optical. John Szarkowski stated: “The distance between them is to be measured not in terms of the relative force or originality of their work, but in terms of their conceptions of what the photograph is: Is it a mirror, reflecting a portrait of the artist who made it, or a window, through which one might better know the world? I personally would agree with this statement because I believe each artist is different with unique and different views 5 on what an image is or the meaning behind it. According to John Szarkowski‘s thesis, in my personal opinion Fox Talbot’s images are more associated with windows in comparison to mirrors, mainly because his common subject throughout his photographs is trees or buildings.

Mirrors chosen image:

Cindy Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills is a suite of 70 black and white photographs in which the artist posed in the guises of various generic female film characters (working girl, vamp, and lonely housewife). Staged to resemble scenes from 1950s and ’60s Hollywood movies, printed images mimic often-staged “stills” used to promote films. By photographing herself in such roles, Sherman inserts herself into a dialogue about stereotypical portrayals of women. I chose this image to analyse for my mirrors as it is a subjective expression and definitely has a staged approach, which immediately makes me question why this image was taken. I find this image intriguing as the context behind it successfully links to the assumptions and interpretations I can make from first glance as a viewer. For example, this image was taken by Sherman in 1977, which was a time when women’s rights were not as valued as men’s rights, when women were not seen as equal to men, rather, they were objectified. I believe this image effectively portrays these historical challenges against women and feminism because Sherman is fitting into the female stereotypes and representations, such as being aesthetically pleasing to men. I can assume this from the minimal clothing she is wearing, as well as wearing an extremely seductive makeup look. These factors contribute to women being sexualised because in the 60s and 70s because women supposedly didn’t have much purpose other than to nurture their children or please their husbands. Therefore, from this I can gather that perhaps Sherman took these images to please men, potentially to gain male attention as back in the 70s it was challenging for women to be seen as worthful. Furthermore, the construction of the overall image executes these representations because Sherman is clearly the main subject in this image, as there isn’t much background and the camera angle is focused on just her body and face. This immediately draws my attention to Sherman’s facial expressions and body language, which indicate her awareness of how she has been viewed and sexualised. In addition, Sherman is portraying the “female gaze” in this image, which is an issue of representing women as subjects having agency and also adds to the ideology of women being objectified. I believe this image is a mirror image as it favourably feeds into representations of women, and by reflecting these historical contexts as a viewer I am able to gather an ideology of how strongly Sherman feels about these stereotypes. Through the positioning of the camera as a deadpan angle directly above Sherman, as well as Sherman gazing away from the camera gives me the impression that this image was staged. As the artist herself is the model in the image, this tells us that the aim of her Untitled Film was to reflect herself as a photographer and perhaps disagree with the challenges women have had to face over the decades.

Windows chosen image:

This image was taken by Henri Cartier Bresson, a French artist and humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and is one of his most celebrated images. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and viewed photography as capturing a decisive moment. Bresson was “profoundly inspired by the idea of capturing life as it unfolded in the streets.” This quote from Bresson himself tells me immediately that he was a street photographer who focused on taking objective images that were less personal to him, rather, they focused on capturing a moment that could not be easily replicated or staged. In addition, John Szarkowki stated “… or as a window – through which the exterior world is explored in all its presence and reality.” This also illustrates that window images should be more documentary rather than a reflection of the photographer, which I believe Bresson’s images fit perfectly into because he is known for capturing the Decisive Moment, which he describes as the exact instance when a unique event is captured by the photographer – when something that may never happen again is frozen in the frame. Through using the scale below, I was able to confirm Cartier Bresson’s images were windows rather than mirrors:

I identified this through the adjectives used on the right side of the scale, which I can associate with his images more accurately as he was a street photographer. Street photography is a genre that records everyday life in a public place, and I believe Bresson’s work executes this successfully as it presents an intersection of artistic skill and journalistic documentation. His works reflect on the most tragic and significant moments of the twentieth century, and can also help us learn more about the recent past. These factors also compliment the idea that this image is a window image as it links into publicity and realism, adding to the theme of objectivity. I have noticed there is often movement throughout his photos which can also interlink with this ideology as it clearly portrays the image as not being staged, which is another element that catches my eye. Despite this, it could be argued that Bresson’s images do not successfully highlight realism as this image in particular is in black and white. Because of this, we can conclude that the image has been edited which overall contrasts with the concept of window images as it does not show the image the way the human eye would see it. Therefore, this brings in the fact that the mirror and windows scale theory shown above can be viewed as a delicate range rather than harshly separated and opposing each other completely. This is because many images by different photographers can be placed on the scale differently as they incorporate unique factors from one another. Shown in Pearl’s review, Szarkowski claims “this thesis is not a rigid pattern, but as a continuous axis, the two poles of which might be described by the terms proposed above”, which compliments this idea. However, I would say this image by Bresson specifically falls into the windows category only as it clearly was not influenced by personal elements, rather, it has a solid expression of authenticity due to the location of the image as well as the movement included. This ultimately concedes a documentative aesthetic as it shows that the people in the photograph have not adjusted or changed their behaviours for the image. Henceforth, I agree with Szarkowski’s statement “… or as a window- through which the exterior world is explored in all its presence and reality” as Bresson’s experimentation with street photography as well as the Decisive Moment acknowledge a more realistic side of photography showing non-staged moments of life.

Conclusion:

In conclusion of the mirrors and windows theory executed by Szarkowski and Jed Pearl, an image by any artist can be categorised into either mirrors or windows, and arguably some images fit into both categories. Szarkowski attempted to categorise photographers whose work reflected the subjectivity of the artist themselves in comparison with those whose work largely sought to see outside themselves. Szarkowski himself stated that photographs are either mirrors- a subjective image that reflects the artists opinions/feelings/beliefs on the world, or windows- an image that portrays the exterior world with an unstaged approach and a more objective expression shown through it. Through the use of the scale which identifies whether an image is a mirror or a window, it suggests that a photographic artist of the twentieth century finds himself, consciously or unconsciously, somewhere along a “continuous axis” from romantic to realist. Yet it can be argued that use of the medium presupposes a “generous and inclusive acceptance of fact, objective structure,” and that the selection among these facts is the personal opposite built into any photograph.

In contrast to Szarkowski, Jed pearl made a review in spring 1978 critiquing Szarkowski’s theory. He started his review by stating ‘Szarkowski is fond of creating categories’ which immediately shows he disagrees with Szarkowski’s ideology, and believes images should not fit into a rigid structure of categorising. He continues with ‘Szarkowski claims this thesis not as a rigid pattern, but as a “continuous axis, the two poles of which might be described by the terms proposed above”, displaying his opinions of how any photograph can fit into either the mirrors or the windows classification. However, I mostly agree with Szarkowski’s theory as I believe it is a successful way of interpreting an image at first glance, and is an immediate way of determining the purpose behind a photograph. By using this theory, as a viewer I can also make accurate assumptions on why the image was taken and what it is trying to illustrate to people. Therefore, Szarkowski’s theory on mirrors and windows is a good approach to use when photographing as it reveals hidden information about the image, yet also still leaves the viewer questioning elements within the photograph.

Similarities and Differences between Sherman and Cartier-Bresson:

Within these 2 images taken by the different artists, immediately I can recognise several opposing concepts between them. Firstly, within the concept of objectivity and subjectivity I can determine an obvious difference, as Bresson’s image executes a clear tone of objectivity whereas Sherman’s image lacks this aspect. This is due to the fact both images have different camera angles: a deadpan angle from a worms-eye view, and a deadpan angle from a birds-eye view. Straight away, this tells me that Sherman’s image is staged as a set-up would be needed in order to portray this, as well as Sherman’s posing in the photograph. Through these factors I can specify that Sherman had a message she wanted to carry out: that message being herself portraying stereotypes of women in the 1970s. Whereas, Bresson’s image shows a sense of documentation through the non-staged approach of the camera angle, therefore forcing the image to lack a romantic expression. However, a similarity between these two photographs is that they are both edited into black and white. The theme of black and white decreases the element of objectivity as we do not see the world in black and white, therefore it is clear that both images have been edited. Another difference between these two photographers is the public and private aspect. Sherman’s portrait is a private image as she was the photographer as well as the model in the image, showing that she was depicting a reflection of herself and her own views on the subject matter. Bresson’s image is clearly a public image as it was taken outdoors with members of the public, decreasing the subjectivity. Additionally, I can infer that Cartier Bresson was an artist that tapped into significant moments of the twentieth century, which increases the likelihood of his work having factual elements rather than being influenced by personal feelings. This idea can also be determined by the people in Bresson’s image, who are performing naturally and are not changing their mannerisms in order to suit the image, which ultimately links back to his Decisive Moment experimentation.

What are the differences between photographs that are mirrors and photographs that are windows?

Photographs that are “mirrors” tend to be Romantic, expressionistic and suggestive, shot close to the subject or with a narrow angle of vision. They lean toward abstract simplicity, even a Platonic sense of types and essences.

“Mirrors” were images meant to mirror the photographer’s own sensibility. Some words I can associate with mirror images are:

• Warped
• Naturalistic
• Subjective
• Self expression
• Romanticism
• Candid

“Windows” tend to be realistic, descriptive, taken at greater distances or with a wider angle of view. “Windows” were photos meant to act as a window for the viewer to see something that is primarily factual and external to the photographer’s own sensibility. Some words I can associate with window images are:

• Depictive
• Objective
• External
• Reality
• Anthropocene

The exhibition Mirrors and Windows, an exhibition of American photography since 1960, opened at The Museum of Modern Art, New York in July of 1978. The curator, John Szarkowski‘s attempted to categorise photographers whose work largely sought to see outside themselves. Szarkowski wrote in the catalogue essay that accompanied the exhibition:

“The two creative motives that have been contrasted here are not discrete. Ultimately each of the pictures in this book is part of a single, complex, plastic tradition. Since the early days of that tradition, an interior debate has contested issues parallel to those illustrated here. The prejudices and inclinations expressed by the pictures in this book suggest positions that are familiar from older disputes. In terms of the best photography of a half-century ago, one might ay that Alfred Stieglitz is the patron of the first half of this book and Eugene Atget of the second. In either case, what artist could want a more distinguished sponsor? The distance between them is to be measured not in terms of the relative force or originality of their work, but in terms of their conceptions of what a photograph is: is it a mirror, reflecting a portrait of the artist who made it, or a window, through which one might better know the world?“

– John Szarkowski, 1978

Eugène Atget (born February 12, 1857, Libourne, near Bordeaux, France – died August 4, 1927) was a French commercial photographer who specialized in photographing the architecture and associated arts of Paris and its environs at the turn of the 20th century.

Very few biographical facts are known about Atget. The Atget family (originally Atger) were saddlers and carriage-makers who had moved from Provence to the Dordogne River region after the Napoleonic Wars. When Atget was five his father died; his mother died soon afterward. He went on to act for several years in itinerant troops that barnstormed the lower levels of the theatrical audience in the provinces. By the late 1880s, when Atget was in his early 30s, he had become interested in photography. The earliest known photographs by him seem to have been made in the north of France. These works depict rural scenes, plants, and farming technology and they were presumably made as studies for painters and illustrators. By the early 1890s, Atget was working in Paris, but it was not until late in that decade that he changed the focus of his photographic business to concentrate on the city of Paris – a subject that proved of inexhaustible interest, and one that continued to nourish his mind and enrich his work for the remaining 30 years of his life.

Hilla Becher was a German artist born in 1931 in Siegen, Germany. She was one half of a photography duo with her husband Bernd Becher. They began collaborating together in 1959 after meeting at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in 1957. Bernd originally studied painting and then typography, whereas Hilla had trained as a commercial photographer. After two years collaborating together, they married. For forty years, they photographed disappearing industrial architecture around Europe and North America. They won the Erasmus Prize in 2002 and Hasselblad Award in 2004 for their work and roles as photography professors at the art academy Kunstakademie Düsseldorf.

Lime, an important building material since ancient times, is used in the production of mortar and cement. Here, the Bechers focused their attention on six towering brick chimneys that look as much like sprouting asparagus as utilitarian structures. The artists chose a similar view of lime kilns for the cover image of Anonyme Skulpturen (1970), their ambitious first publication. The book presents comparative sequences of different industrial forms, from kilns and gasometers to cooling towers, blast furnaces, and winding towers.

Within the Mirrors and Windows spectrum, I would place the two images above in these places as I believe they have contrasting purposes. The image by Eugene Atget is placed in the mirrors section because I feel it reflects more about the artist rather than through the exterior world is explored in all its presence and reality. This is because I found that he decided to “concentrate on the city of Paris – a subject that proved of inexhaustible interest, and one that continued to nourish his mind and enrich his work for the remaining 30 years of his life“, which tells me that he had a passion for this type of photography and wanted to pursue it further after experimenting taking photographs of Paris. I believe it tells the viewer a story about what life was like in those days, through the use of the mini carriage, which I assume was used for carrying things. It also gives us an insight on his passion as it is said that he enjoyed photographing images that could be made for studies. However it is not completely on the left side as I do believe it also has elements of a window image, this is because Atget has clearly used two people as his main subject in the image, rather than himself or something that reflects himself, showing that the photo is objective and real. The image in the windows range taken by Bernd and Hilla Becher, is placed in this position on the scale as its main subject is a building, which can often be associated with being very subjective as it documents a building that was considered important in the 1970s. This fits into the window category successfully as by photographing a building, it is clear to me that this was not staged because the building reflects history and cannot be moved.

To create this zine using our harbour photoshoots, I used Adobe InDesign 2024 to execute my layout.

The first thing I did was select the ‘rectangle frame tool‘ which allowed me to choose the size of the image that would be on the page.

Ctrl + D allowed me to select which image I wanted to use and paste it into the frame.

Once I had placed my desired photos into position, I right clicked and pressed ‘fitting‘, and then ‘fill frame proportionally‘ to ensure the entire image was incorporated in frame. After this, I pressed ‘display performance‘ and then ‘high quality display‘ to increase the quality and focus of each one.

Front cover:

I decided this image to be my front cover because rowing boats were a significant part of Jersey’s history. Rowing boats were used often many years ago during the cod-trade, when merchants and fishermen would use them as transport to trade Jersey’s goods. However the outstanding colours and high contrast within the image brings an element of modernity, which is important and helps give the image some life, allowing the bright coloured boats to stand out. The rich colours of all the boats contrast with the dull and lifeless seaweed in the background, which helps emphasise the eye-catching colours within. The use of one of the boats being upside down on the wooden path clearly illustrates a theme of abandonment, which again links to historical contexts as they have not been used in years. The lighting in this image is also significant as there is a large shadow hovering over the right side of the image, whereas the sun is shining on the left side. I think this looks interesting as the split between the two lightings is right in the middle of the image, which helps the boats on the left side of the photo appear more striking.

Page 2:

These two images as my second page have many similarities and differences, but from first look they could look related which is why I decided to place them together. This way, I am able to show the similarities between them, as well as how they contrast with each other. I like how they both have a similar outside frame of the photograph, with a border of the wall surrounding he doors. This allows the vibrancy of the doors stand out against the wall, making it very clear what the main subject is. Although they both share a main subject of the colourful door, they are used for different things. I didn’t find much out about the blue door on the left or what it is used for as I did not get to go inside, which gives a hint of mystery to it. Whereas the red door on the right led to a storage room that fishermen rented out for their fishing gear. I think the boots hanging off the door look effective because it adds a sense of realism, showing that there is a lot of history and background behind the door.

Page 3:

With page 3 I decided to take a different approach, incorporating black and white images of historical pilots that were recruited in May 1945 by the Royal Navy. This way I am including historical contexts into my work, which helps the viewer gain knowledge and understanding about the backgrounds of the museum. I chose to edit these into black and white for some differentiation in my zine. I think these two images work very well together, specifically because they are both taken against a brick wall, which again portrays a theme of former days. Additionally, beside each image is a small description of context behind the framed photo, which I included as it is an effective way of telling a story and deepening the viewers understanding. Overall I think the two images compliment each other very well as they share similarities within displaying different jobs surrounding The Royal Navy.

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After placing these 3 images into the page, I then decided that the top image (as well as the larger image on the right) had more depth and contrast than the bottom image, therefore isolating the bottom photo. In order to make them look more alike and purposeful, I added a border onto the bottom image to create more profundity.

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Experimentations:

Front cover:

For my second experimentation, I chose to use this image as my front cover as I feel it best represents the different professions within the fishing industry, showing what different people do on a day-to-day basis. I feel this is an important aspect of my photoshoot and final zine because it differs to all of my other photos, illustrating a deeper dive into what goes on at the harbour, rather than just photographing the buildings. This image also has a strong sense of realism throughout, as you can clearly tell the man is moving as it was taken, which I think shows significance and gives purpose to the overall photograph. My title for this zine is “The Aquatic” which means relating to water. I chose this title because it symbolises

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Camera Obscura & Pinhole photography

Camera obscure consists of a box, tent or room with a small hole in one side or the top. Light from an external scene such as a window passes through the hole and strikes a surface inside, where the scene is reproduced, invented, but with colour and perspective preserved. Camera obscuras with a lens in the opening have been used since the second half of the 16th century and became popular as aids for drawing and painting. The technology was developed deeper into the photographic camera in the first half of the 19th century, when camera obscurer boxes were used to expose light-sensitive materials to the projected image. The camera obscura was used to study eclipses without the risk if damaging the eyes by looking directly into the sun. As a drawing aid, it allowed tracing the projected image to produce a highly accurate representation, and was especially appreciated as an easy way to achieve proper graphical perspective. before the term camera obscure was first used in 1604, other terms were used to refer to the devices; cubiculum obscurum, cubiculum tenebrecosum and locus obscurus.

A camera obscura without a lens but with a very small hole is sometimes referred to was a pinhole camera, although this more often refers to simple lensless cameras where photographic film or photographic paper is used. Cameron Gillie is a photographer who used pinhole photography, he stated “My pinhole photography is created with a camera that is nothing more than a light-tight box with a tiny hole that projects an image on film. There is no lens and no viewfinder. A pinhole camera boils photography down to its simplest components: light and compositition, a huge contrast to today’s photography. As a formal photojournalist, I worked with digital photography since its very beginning. In contrast, my pinhole photography is the oldest form of photography. The limitations and simplicity of pinhole makes photography new again for me. This simplicity continues to teach me invaluable lessons about photography and the way I see the world.”

Nicéphore Niépce and Heliography

The Niece Heliograph was made in 1827, during this period of fervent experimentation. It is the earliest photograph produced with the aid of the camera obscurer known to survive today. The photograph was made by Joseph Nicephore Niece (1765-1833), born to a prominent family at Chalon-sur-Saone in the Burgundy region of France. Motivated by the growing popular demand for affordable pictures, Niepce’s photographic experiments were conducted with the dual aims of copying prints and recording scenes from real life in the camera. at his family estate in the nearby village of Saint-Loup-de-Varennes, he produced legible but fleeting camera pictures in 1816. over the next decade he tried an array of chemicals, materials and techniques to advance the process he ultimately called “heliographie” or “sun writing.” To make the heliograph, Niepce dissolved light-sensitive bitumen in oil of lavender ands applied a thin coating over a polished pewter plate. He inserted the plate into a camera obscurer and positioned it near a window in his work-room. After several days of exposure to sunlight, the plate yielded an impression of the courtyard, outbuildings and trees outside. Writing about his process in 1827, Niepce acknowledged that it required further improvements, but was nevertheless “the first uncertain step in a completely new direction”.

In 1829, Niece entered into a formal partnership with Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre, proprietor of the famous Diorama in Paris. Daguerre continued to make vital improvements after Niepce’s death and introduced his “Dagguerreotype” process in 1839. after this announcement, the Niepce Heliograph was brought forth by early supporters as evidence of his role in photography invention.

Louis Daguerre & Daguerreotype

 Louis Daguerre was born on November 18th 1787 in Paris, and it was he who discovered that exposing an iodized silver plate in a camera would result in a lasting image if the latent image on the plate was developed by exposure to fumes of mercury and then fixed by a solution of common salt. In 1829, Daguerre partnered with Nicéphore Niépce. Niépce died suddenly in 1833, but Daguerre continued experimenting, and evolved the process which would subsequently be known as the daguerreotype. After efforts to interest private investors proved fruitless, Daguerre went public with his invention in 1839. At a joint meeting of the French Academy of Sciences and the Académie des Beaux Arts on 7 January of that year, the invention was announced. Daguerre explained and demonstrated the process only to the Academy’s perpetual secretary François Arago, who proved to be an invaluable advocate. Members of the Academy and other select individuals were allowed to examine specimens at Daguerre’s studio. The images were enthusiastically praised as nearly miraculous, and news of the daguerreotype quickly spread. Arrangements were made for Daguerre’s rights to be acquired by the French Government in exchange for lifetime pensions for himself and Niépce’s son. On January 9, 1839, a full description of his daguerreotype process was announced at a meeting of the Academy of Sciences by the eminent astronomer and physicist François Arago. Daguerre was appointed an officer of the Legion of Honour. In 1839 Daguerre and the heir of Niépce were assigned annuities of 6,000 francs and 4,000 francs, in return for their photographic process.

Henry Fox Talbot

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 original negative and positive process invented by William Henry Fox Talbot, the calotype is sometimes called a “Talbotype.” This process uses a paper negative to make a print with a softer, less sharp image than the daguerreotype, but because a negative is produced, it is possible to make multiple copies. The image is contained in the fabric of the paper rather than on the surface, so the paper fibers tend to show through on the prints. The process was superceded in the 1850s by the collodion glass negative. Because of Talbot’s patent rights, relatively few calotypes were made in the United States.

Richard Maddox

Richard Leach Maddox (4 August 1816 – 11 May 1902) was an English photographer and physician who invented lightweight gelatin negative dry plates for photography in 1871. In photography, the Collodion process was invented in 1851 by Frederick Scott Archer. This invention required only two to three seconds of light exposure to produce an image, but plates had to be sensitized at the time of exposure, exposed while the emulsion was still wet, and processed immediately after exposure in the camera. When he noticed that his health was being affected by the ‘wet’ collodion’s ethervapor, Maddox began looking for a substitute. Richard Leach Maddox, M.D., photography was given an early impetus to become a disseminator of medical knowledge. His interest in the camera, combined with his poor health and his medical training, enabled him to invent the gelatin bromide negative that is the backbone of today’s photographic film. Dr. Richard Maddox created a dry plate technique that allowed photographers to develop photographs without using the wet methods of the collodion process. This technique involved using gelatin instead of glass to make photographic negative. The dry plate process quickly replaced the wet plate collodion process that required the mixing of dangerous chemicals and immediate exposure of the wet plate.

George Eastman

George Eastman was an American entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak Company and helped to bring the photographic use of roll film into the mainstream. Eastman changed the world through his entrepreneurial spirit, bold leadership, and extraordinary vision. He will be remembered throughout history for founding the Eastman Kodak Company and revolutionizing the photography, film, and motion picture industries. Eastman came up with the name Kodak because he believed products should have their own identity, free from association with anything else. So in 1888, he launched the first Kodak camera (a few years later, he amended the company name to Eastman Kodak). The first successful roll-film hand camera was launched publicly in the summer of 1888. Inventor George Eastman received a patent for the camera’s shutter and the trademark for the Kodak name on September 4, 1888. In the 1880s, Eastman developed a convenient method of preparing ready-to-use plates. Improvements led to flexible, roll film as well as photo processing and printing done by mail order. Millions of people worldwide captured memories using cameras and film, leaving all the chemistry to Kodak.

Kodak (brownie) – George Eastman

The Brownie was a basic cardboard box camera with a simple convex-concave lens that took 2+¹⁄₄-inch square pictures on No. 117 roll film. It was conceived and marketed for sales of Kodak roll films. Because of its simple controls and initial price of US$1 (equivalent to $37 in 2023) along with the low price of Kodak roll film and processing, the Brownie camera surpassed its marketing goal. It was invented by Frank A. Brownell for the Eastman Kodak Company. Named after the Brownie characters, the camera was initially aimed at children. More than 150,000 Brownie cameras were shipped in the first year of production, and cost 5 shillings in the United Kingdom.

The Brownie camera was launched in 1900 to target new hobbyist photographers — children — and with its $1 price tag, it also became a favorite of servicemen. Eastman supported the military in other ways as well, developing unbreakable glass lenses for gas masks and a special camera for taking pictures from planes during World War I. In all, Eastman’s innovations started the amateur photography craze that is still going strong today.

Film / print photography

The first flexible photographic roll film was sold by George Eastman in 1885, but this original “film” was actually a coating on a paper base. As part of the processing, the image-bearing layer was stripped from the paper and attached to a sheet of hardened clear gelatin. Once the film is processed, it is then referred to as a negative. The negative may now be printed; the negative is placed in an enlarger and projected onto a sheet of photographic paper. Many different techniques can be used during the enlargement process. Two examples of enlargement techniques are dodging and burning. The first film that was in a roll and flexible was made by George Eastman in but it wasn’t synthetic but on paper. Photographic film is a material used in photographic cameras to record images. It is made of transparent plastic in a shape of a strip or sheet, and it has one side covered with light-sensitive silver halide crystals made into a gelatinous emulsion. When a photographic film is exposed to light by a photographic camera, it chemically changes depending on the amount of light absorbed by each crystal. These changes create an invisible latent image in the emulsion, which is then fixed and developed into a visible photograph. Black and white photographic films have one layer of silver halide crystals, while the colour film has three layers, each sensitive to a different colour. Some colour films have even more layers.

Digital photography

Digital photography is a process that uses an electronic device called a digital camera to capture an image. Instead of film, it uses an electronic digital sensor to translate light into electrical signals. In the camera, the signals are stored as tiny bits of data in bitmaps, tiny bits of data that form the image. Digital photography spans a wide range of applications with a long history. Much of the technology originated in the space industry, where it pertains to highly customized, embedded systems combined with sophisticated remote telemetry. Any electronic image sensor can be digitized; this was achieved in 1951. Six years later, in 1957, the first digital image was produced through a computer by Russell Kirsch. It was an image of his son. The photography changed from film to digital in the 1990’s. The early 1990s brought a dramatic change with the advent of digital technology. Instead of using grains of silver embedded in gelatin, digital photography uses silicon to record images as numbers. Computers process the images, rather than optical enlargers and tanks of often toxic chemicals. The modern era in digital photography is dominated by the semiconductor industry, which evolved later. An early semiconductor milestone was the advent of the charge-coupled device image sensor, first demonstrated in April 1970; since then, the field has advanced rapidly.

Photoshoot:

Before print screening my photoshoot, I carefully went through all of the images I photographed on the trip to the maritime museum and deleted unnecessary photos or any that didn’t have as much potential as the others. Such as ones with bad lighting, angles or too much/little exposure etc. This allowed me to view all of my most successful images, in order to eventually narrow them down again to which ones I am most happy with. Furthermore, I chose my best 12 images to edit on Lightroom so they can reach their maximum potential, and so I can go forward with an evaluation of the overall photoshoot.

Editing my images:

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This was the first image I chose to experiment further with, as it has interesting factors that reflect Jersey’s history and heritage. Additionally, I chose to change the colour to black and white to exaggerate the historical sense to it, which I think looks effective as it also brings out the different tones within the image, yet it still looks minimalistic as it was taken from a deadpan angle, which allows everything to be seen. I increased the contrast and exposure by a significant amount for this outcome to turn out this way, as originally the lighting in the room where it was taken was poor.

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Mood Board of old St Helier Harbour:

Mood Board of new St Helier Harbour:

1700s:

As shipping between Jersey and other ports increased in magnitude in the 17th century, some form of harbour became imperative to accommodate and protect the visiting vessels from the effects of the south-westerly gales. As a result, in 1700, work commenced on the construction of a pier or ‘screen’, as it was later derisively called. This ‘screen’ was constructed where stands the old South Pier today, out of Impot revenue, but owing to the slow rate of progress it soon fell into disrepair.

1800s:

In 1790, when work finally began on the construction of the North Pier, running from the Southampton Hotel to the end of what is known as the New North Quay today. A lack of storage space caused the local merchants to construct the quay along Commercial Buildings.

1900s:

In 1877, after spending over £180,000 on the La Collette stage alone, the whole works were abandoned, and Coode was paid off, leaving the crumbling concrete blocks at La Collette as a warning to any others who might conceive ideas about taming the sea. Further inspection of the site showed that it would be better for the remainder of the Harbour Works if the Hermitage Breakwater was extended beyond the rock, by a further 500 feet.

2000s:

This 1968 aerial photograph shows clearly how the harbour dried out at low tide. The majority of the length of the Albert Harbour between the New North Quay and Albert Pier is dry at low tide, and only at the southern end, which frequently needed dredging, can vessels remain afloat.

Another aerial view from the 1960s, showing the warehouses which then ran the full length of the New North Quay, on the left, which was dedicated to cargo vessels, and mail steamers on the southern end of the Albert Pier, to the right.

Cod Trade:

Charles Robin was a Fishery trader, born in Saint Brélade, Jersey in 1743. By 1763, he was the captain of a ship working in the Newfoundland cod trade. In 1765, with his two brothers and two others, they formed a firm which developed fishing grounds off Cape Breton Island and the Gaspé region.

Robin produced two types of salted cod-fish called ‘green’ and ‘yellow’ in the vernacular. ‘Green’ was a wet salted codfish that was not dry cured and therefore did not have the same shelf-life. It was ideal selling it at markets in the Caribbean or North East Brazil as it was much shorter run for Robin’ ships on the second leg of the triangular Atlantic trade. In his own 18^th century diary Charles Robin refer to it as ‘West India fish’ and it was sold to planters who would feed the protein rich codfish to its enslaved populations for increased productivity in the plantations. In exchange, Robin would load his ship with plantation produce such as sugar, rum, molasses, cotton, coffee and tobacco before sailing across on the third leg of the Atlantic triangular trade route to the Mediterranean, England and Jersey.

‘Yellow’ was a dry-cured cod and marketed as a premier product and sold to markets in Europe, such as Portugal, Spain and Italy with their large Roman Catholic populations having a great demand for fish for fast days on Fridays. From ports in Lisbon, Cadiz and Naples merchants traded cod-fish for other products such as salt (used in the curing process), wine, spirits, fruits and spices which they brought back to Jersey and British ports before returning to Canada. The maritime networks were complex and often financed from London. Read another article here from Jersey based critic, Ollie Taylor Fish, Finance and Slavery.