Introduction (250 words): Reflect on the origin of photography and describe in your own words the difference between the two photographic processes, Daguerreotype and Calotype. Consider how they could be viewed as either a mirror or a window of the world according to John Szarkowski’s thesis. Choose one quote from Szarkowski’s text and comment if you agree or disagree.

The daguerreotype photographic process is a positive process. It is a highly detailed image on a sheet of copper with a thin layer of silver and this process has no use of negatives. This process is very delicate, and the sheet of copper and layer of silver must be cleaned before you start the process and must look like a mirror. The daguerreotype process is accurate, detailed and sharp. The Calotype process uses negative and positives and was invented by William Henry Fox Talbot. This process uses a paper negative which results in a softer and less sharp image than a daguerreotype image. To create a calotype image, the sheet of paper needs to be iodized by applying solutions of silver nitrate and potassium iodide under candlelight. The same surface needs to be sensitized using a “Gallo-nitrate of silver” solution and lastly the piece of paper needs to be dried and loaded onto the camera obscura. The calotype process produces a transparent image which can be easily multiplied by contact printing; however, a daguerreotype image can only be multiplied by using a camera. Therefore, the calotype process had an advantage over the daguerreotype process. An image can either be a window image or a mirror image.  

Paragraph 1 (250 words): Choose an image that in your view is a mirror and analyse how it is a subjective expression and staged approach to image-making. Choose one quote from Szarkowski’s thesis and another from Jed Pearl’s review which either supports of opposes Szarkowski’s original point of view. Make sure you comment to advance argumentation in providing a critical perspective.

Paragraph 2 (250 words): Choose an image that in your view is a window and analyse how it is an objective expression rooted in a sense of realism. Choose one quote from Szarkowski’s thesis and another from Jed Pearl’s review and follow similar procedure as above ie. two opposing points of view and commentary to provide a critical perspective.

Conclusion (250 words): Refer back to the essay question and write a conclusion where you summarise Szarkowski’s theory and Pearl’s review of his thesis. Describe differences and similarities between the two images above and their opposing concepts of objectivity and subjectivity, realism and romanticism, factual and fiction, public and private.

Contact Sheet

For this photoshoot, we walked around the jersey harbours. I took pictures of the infrastructure of the piers and the buildings because they have a significant meaning of history behind them and therefore I figured that it would be a good photoshoot. I also took pictures of the boats in the harbour because I liked how they were all lined up together and there was multiple of them. I think this photoshoot went well because I was able to achieve some good picture which I can edit.

Photoshoot 2

I edited these images on Lightroom and turned them black and white. I like how these images turned out because they look dramatic and eerie which creates the idea of mystery which links to the harbour because there is so much history behind it.

Jersey is the biggest island of the channel islands, and was separated from Europe because of the rising sea levels which commenced the start of maritime history. Jersey started to trade with other countries and therefore they learnt new skills to earn money and to invest the money into maritime businesses. Jersey traded multiple things such as dried cod, wool, wine, leather and household goods.

Jersey cod merchants also traded cod-fish to other British colonies in the West Indies. Jersey also ended up trading cod-fish to brazil in exchange for sugar, rum, cotton and tobacco. Jersey benefitted from trading because it made them lots of profit to enable them to invest into the business.

In the 18th century Jersey became popular for ship building business. Jersey was required to build big ships to allow the merchants to take part in the Atlantic carrying trade. Great Britain was at war for 36 years in the 18th century which resulted in affecting the maritime trading and caused dangers. In the late modern period World War 1 and World War 2 occurred which saw the introduction of iron ships, steam and oil powered ships. However, the wooden ships that Jersey were building were extremely useful and enabled them to trade to South America, Hong Kong, and America and this also allowed people from Jersey to immigrate to Australia or New Zealand and other places. By the 1850’s Jersey had built 300-400 ships.

Contact sheet

Photoshoot 1

For this photoshoot, we walked around the Victoria harbour and south pier to take photos. I took pictures of people working at the harbour, and the different boats that were lined up in the harbour. I particularly like the photo of the man with the lobster because it shows what the men actually do. I feel as though these photos show how different the harbour used to look like now.

Final Edited Pictures

For this photo, I used photoshop. I started by using the quick selection tool to select the background. I then made the background black and white by making a second layer of the selected parts and proceeded to make it black and white. After this, I levelled the photograph to make the blacks in the background darker because it made the image more dramatic. I kept the objects in the photo in colour because it made them the focus point of the image to portray to the viewer the objects that the fisherman used to catch the fish that are in the harbour.

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

Jersey mariners and Canadian cod fishers made a fortune by trading their goods and employing people in their country. By 1763, Jersey was trading more Newfoundland cod than any other British port. Another reason why the Jersey Merchants were so successful was because they were able to speak French and English. They conducted a language called Jerriais, Jersey French this enabled them to communicate in a sense of code.

Which ports did Jersey ships sail to and trade with?

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

Jersey cod-merchants also exported cod-fish to British colonies in the West Indies and later Brazil too in exchange for plantation goods, such as sugar, molasses, rum, cotton, coffee and tobacco which it brought to markets in America, Europe and the UK. Within that context Jersey benefitted from the profits made in the British Empire build on a capitalist model of a slave-based economy.

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)?

I was inspired by these photos because I like how the colour in the background is used to make the buildings stand out and is clear that they are the main subject in the photo. However, though the main subject of the image is the buildings, it could also be interpreted that these images are focussed on the sky. He may have created these images to portray that the sky is polluted and he has shown this with colour in attempt to create a happy image even though it is showing us the disasters that are happening in the world in terms of pollution.

These images were inspired by Nick Frank who focussed on the idea of creating images where the focus is on the buildings and not the foreground or the background. He made the background of the images a different colour which I have done here.

On photoshop, I started by levelling my image to ensure that the buildings stood out and weren’t white washed. I then took the quick selection tool to select the background. I had to zoom into some parts of the picture and make the quick selection tool brush smaller to be more precise especially in the trees. After I did this, I right clicked and selected layer via copy to create a layer on top of the background layer. Before I did anything else I made sure I was on the layer that I had copied. I then took selected the colour picker and chose what colour I wanted, I then proceeded to select the paint bucket tool to colour in the background by selecting the sky.

I like how my images turned out because I like the bright colours which make the images stand out. I have done my own twist on these images related to Anthropocene to show that the air is polluted with all the toxic fumes that are being released on human’s terms. I have made the colours stand out where the sky was because it infers that the sky is being hidden by something pleasant and aesthetically pleasing and shows that as humans, we are oblivious to the things we do in our day-to-day life that is polluting our air.

For this photoshoot, I used a dog and a snake to create a a sense of empathy. I used plastic to wrap the snake around to create the idea that a snake is surrounded with plastic all the time in their normal life. For the images of the dog, I

These are my final images that I have edited. For these images, I downloaded them on photoshop and started by cropping them to cut out any of the empty space around. I then levelled to achieve a good level of brightness and contrast.

I decided to expand on this photoshoot and so I edited one of the pictures of the snake. I started off by taking a picture that was already levelled and cropped and then proceeded to take the quick selection tool to select the plastic bag and the part of the snake which was inside the plastic bag. Once I had selected the part of the image I wanted, I then pressed shift, Ctrl, U which made the selected part of the image black and white. I did this to portray that the part of the snake that was inside the bag was suffocating and turning black.

This was my final edited image:

For these images, I went outside to an area with grass and brought bits of rubbish with me. I placed the rubbish in the grass and lay them out in a nice circle. I took the pictures from different angles to see which one I like best.

I like how these images turned out because I placed them in a circle to represent the earth which is circular. I tried to make a point that if we don’t stop using the amount of plastic that we do, then this is what the earth will eventually look like. The background of this image is green which links to nature and how this is what colour a healthy world would look like, however the main subject of these photos is white and pink which are not natural colours of our world.

I was inspired by these images which are taken by different artists and photographers. I was inspired by these images because they have a clear link to Anthropocene in terms of plastic. These images show that plastic is polluting our world and that we are being suffocated by the amount of plastic that is in our planet.

For this photoshoot, I went into the studio and used artificial lighting to create these images. For the props I used a black plastic bag and cling film. I used these to cover face of the model, I also made it seem as though the model was in pain to create an expression of distress. I did this photoshoot to portray the idea that plastic is a problem in the world and that plastic is polluting the world. In these photographs the model looks as though they are suffocating and shows that the plastic in the world is killing humans and animals.