I created a zine with my photos I had taken at the harbour. I started by transferring my images from Lightroom onto InDesign. I made sure to pair images that had some correlation to ensure the images made sense with each other. I edited all the images in black and white and I really liked how it turned out because it creates a dramatic look. The title of my zine is “Life at the Harbour”. I chose this title because all my images are at the harbour and it shows what the people that work at the harbour see everyday all day during their job.
These are the images that are in my zine. Some pages on my zine are 1 image and take up the entirety of the page, I did this because some of the images didn’t match others and therefore I figured they would look better on their own. I like the page of the workers at the harbour and the images of what they do for work. I think these images are really interesting because not many people know what goes on at the harbour, and these images show what the workers do.
I enjoyed creating my zine because I liked experimenting with the different photos and seeing which photos went well together. If I were to create another zine at the harbour, I would take more up close pictures. This is because most of my images from the harbour are from a distance and think it would be more enticing to the viewers if there were more close ups of the boats and the harbour.
I really liked doing studio portraits. The studio portraits include, butterfly lighting, chiaroscuro lighting and Rembrandt lighting. Butterfly lighting is when the key lighting is above the photographers camera, to ensure that the lighting is pointing down on the subjects face. The aim of this lighting is to achieve a butterfly-like shadow under the subjects nose. Chiaroscuro lighting is when there is a split of light and shadow on the subjects face to create a high contrast photograph. The last lighting technique is Rembrandt lighting, this uses a reflector and two lightings. The aim of this lighting technique is to gain an upside down triangle under the subjects eye.
I really enjoyed doing all of these lighting techniques because it was interesting to see the different images being made. I really liked the Rembrandt lighting technique in particular, because I liked how the images turned out dramatic however had a natural look to it. This is an image from one of my Rembrandt photoshoots:
I really like how this turned out because the upside down triangle is very noticeable. I also like this image because the foreground is dark which creates a high contrast with the face that is lit up. This helps the viewer focus on the subjects face and it makes it the main focus point of the image. The photograph is very dramatic because of the high contrast, however I feel as though the triangle under the subjects eye makes the contrast less harsh and the light and dark blend in with each other.
I also really liked creating the butterfly photographs. This lighting technique was quite difficult because the shadow under the subjects nose was hard to achieve because it had to be defined and look similar to a butterfly. However, I tried my best to achieve this lighting technique and this is how it turned out:
If I were to do this lighting technique again, I would try and get the shadow under the nose more defined like a butterfly. I would ask the subject to turn her head to the side and put the main lighting higher at an angle to achieve this technique. Overall, I think it turned out well and I really enjoyed doing this photoshoot. I liked playing around with the lighting to see which angle worked out the best.
The last one I did was Chiaroscuro lighting. I like this lighting technique because the images turned out extremely dramatic and the images are high contrast. This was another lighting that was quite difficult, however once I had played around with the lighting the images turned out really good. This is one of my images:
If I were to do this lighting technique again, I would make the image darker and have the subjects face slightly lighter. This way, the image would be more dramatic. This image also has a triangle under the eye which could be used as Rembrandt lighting and therefore next time I would make sure the image was distinctive to one lighting technique and not two.
Masculinity and Femininity
I really enjoyed doing this project because I enjoyed creating ideas of the photoshoots I could do and I enjoyed creating them. For this project, I went into the studio and took photos of the female subject being masculine and feminine. This was to create the idea that females can be masculine and feminine and just because a female doesn’t wear makeup, or dress like a girl doesn’t mean that she is less than any woman. This was also to portray how men see woman and how woman are seen to be pretty and to put makeup on. These are how the images turned out:
In the early development of the Jersey harbour, it was protected from winds and rough seas which made it easy for small boots to sail. It was also a great place to trade with France and the British Isles. Therefore, this enabled Jersey to start their trading with other countries which helped them bring in money for the island. By the 14th century, the Jersey harbour became a fishing and trading port and as the capital of Jersey, St Helier grew, it helped to make the harbour more important and become more popular. By the 1700s, St Helier became the primary port of the island. However, this meant they needed to upgrade the harbour as more, bigger ships were made. New docks and jetties were made for ships to load and unload the goods that were being traded.
In 1840, Victoria Pier was built to accommodate much bigger ships, it also improved access for vessels carrying cargo which had difficulty docking. In 1845, Albert Pier was built which further enhanced docking capabilities and allowed ferries to arrive with passengers which allowed Jersey to connect with the mainland.
During both of the World Wars, the harbour was significantly important. During World War 2, the Germans occupied the harbour and made changes to support them during the war. After the war, the harbour was modernized. Facilities for the ships and the harbour improved and container shipping was introduced which improved the trading operations.
Today, Jerseys harbours are still significantly important. It allows the handling of goods like agricultural products, fish and building materials.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Jersey Merchants exchanged various goods for codfish. During the 17th and 18th centuries Jersey traded items such as salt because they needed it for the fish. They also traded textiles, alcohol and other local goods.
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. Jersey ships frequently sailed to ports in France particularly Normandy. they also traded with parts of the British Isles, such as England and Ireland.
Jerseys ship building businesses became serious in the 18th century with the aim to build larger ships than the fishing boats. this enabled Jersey merchants to trade to different countries. Between 1760 and 1815 Britain was at war which affected the trading between Jersey and other countries. During World War 1 and World War 2, iron ships, steam ships and oil powered ships were built. Wooden ships which were built on island were becoming more popular and opening ports in places such as South America, Hong Kong and Australia.
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.
