Main Mindmap

Observe

What observe means..

“To notice or perceive (something) and register it as being significant.”

three short sentences

1. Watch the world unfold quietly around you, every detail revealing a story.
2. Observation is the key to understanding the beauty hidden in everyday moments.
3. Sometimes, silence is the best way to truly see what’s happening around you.

Seek

What seek means..

“Seek is the attempt or desire to obtain or achieve something.”

three short sentences

1. To seek is to embrace the unknown with curiosity and courage.
2. In every question lies the spark of discovery, waiting to be found.
3. Seek not just answers, but the wisdom in the journey itself.

Challenge

What challenge means..

“A challenge is something new and difficult which requires great effort and determination.”

three short sentences

1. Every challenge is an opportunity to grow stronger and wiser.
2. The hardest paths often lead to the most rewarding destinations.
3. Embrace the challenge, for it shapes you into the person you’re meant to be.

Themes

Environmental portraiture

For environmental portraiture we studied a famous photographer called Arnold Newman. His work focused a lot on people in their natural environment while capturing clear images of their portrait which created almost a story behind their faces as the background and environment they were in had a special meaning to them.

Here is some of his work:

I really enjoyed this area of study as Environmental portraiture creates meaningful images with stories behind them. the people within the images are in a certain place at a certain time which creates a really unique background to the images. In addition, many of the locations in which we take the images of these people have a special connection to that place which makes the images that more special.

Landscape photography

For Landscape photography we studied two different areas within. We did anthropocene which is when we did a photoshoot focusing on the environment in the way of life and how it has been changed due to us as humans whilst also doing a photoshoot based around how natural causes can also change the world in various ways.

For the theme of Anthropocene within landscape photography I looked at the artist called Mandy Barker, she really inspired my photoshoot for this theme as I really loved her work and the stories behind it.

Here is Mandy Barkers work:

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PHOTOGRAPHS THAT ARE WINDOWS AND MIRRORS?

Mirrors and windows are ideas of a binary opposite. ‘…two creative motives…’ [Szarkowski, 1978] that have conspicuous contrasting ideas.

Windows: 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. 

Mirrors: Reflection in photography is also known as mirror photography. Its basic premise is capturing an image that also has a reflective surface that is echoing the surrounding scenery.

KEY WORDS

Mirrors: subjective, reflections, visions, psychological, expressions, manipulated, synthetic, personal.

Windows: objective, views, documents, optical, straight, public, real.

BINARY OPPOSITES

FOLDER

2. 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.
4. 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.
6. 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.

My 3 Chosen Quotes – John Szarkowski

1. “is it a mirror, reflecting a portrait of the artist who made it, or a window, through which one might better know the world?”
2. “The two creative motives that have been contrasted here are not discrete”
3. “ultimately each of the pictures in this book is part of a single, complex, plastic tradition”

My 3 chosen quotes – Jed pearl

Introduction

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. The differences between both the Daguerreotypes and the Calotypes is that Daguerreotypes are sharply detailed images preserved on a copper plate whereas Calotypes are black and white images preserved on paper. With Daguerreotypes I would say they are more referable to mirrors as Daguerreotypes are more detailed and when you look into a mirror there is only one focus point and that’s you in full detail however with calotypes they represent windows as there is a lot more to see but it is not in detail and is all seen from afar creating a much wider picture with a lot to it rather then one set story etc. A quote from Szarkowski theory 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?” This is a question which he asks which I would have to say my response to this is that a mirroring image showing the artist behind the work creates a much more in depth story and meaning to it whereas a calotype being represented as a window also does create a vision into learning more about the world however with so much going on through a window its hard to know the true stories to every person, structure and animal within.

Paragraph 1

This image represents mirrors as it represents this lady’s life.

STORY: What is your story?
Describe in:

• 3 words
• A sentence
• A paragraph

NARRATIVE: How will you tell your story?

• Images > New St Helier Harbour photographs
• Archives > Old photographs of St Helier Harbour from SJ photo-archive or JEP Photographic Archive
• Texts > Write a short introduction or statement about your picture story, image captions
• Typography > creative uses of words, letters, font-types, sizes

Add a selection of your final 10-16 images as a moodboard/ gallery to the blog post too, including any archive material too.

3 words

• then and now

A sentence

• I have a variety of images showing the now and then of the harbour.

paragraph

• For my zine I have used a range of images that I took of the Harbour whilst having a talk and a tour from Captain Brian Nibbs and I have also searched through the photo archive of old images from the Harbour and tried finding images in which were similar to my images and I created a layout that showed the images in a “then and now” sense. Each of my images hold a unique story behind them where some of the images where Captain Nibbs is featured it shows memories of his life and when he used to be a Sea Captain back in the way when some of the Harbour comparison images show how much life has or hasn’t changed throughout the years.

Plan

Where am I taking photos?

For this photoshoot I am going to St Helier Harbour and going to take a selection of images that really show off and represent the Harbour. We are going to be having a tour by Captain Nibbs so I will also try to capture some good images of him in the moment as he’s explaining key information about the harbour and his connections to and around the harbour life.

My zine

For my first zine I have decided I would like to try and use my images along with images from the archive and make a 12-page zine using comparisons as a then and now structure to show how much the harbour has changed in these last few years. I am also going to use the images that I take of Captain Nibbs

How to make a page spread

Make sure to change this from essentials to essentials classic to be able to get some extra features

Go to the pages section in order to be able to see each page spread.

Use this tool in order to make a box within the page spread to fill with my own images.

Indesign layout one:

Image references:

comparison 1:

comparison 2:

comparison 3:

First Official Layout

Step one: Here I am creating my first page so I have created a box to fill with my first image.

step two: Insert the image which I want within the box, The create a text box.

Step 3: create a catchy title that describes my zine.

page 2 layout

page 3 layout

page 4 layout

page 5 layout

page 6 layout

page 7 layout

Edit 1:

Evaluation

For this portrait image of Captain Nibbs, I had decided to play around with a few of the settings in lightroom to change the hues, blacks + whites, saturation etc. to try and create a more detailed image of captain Nibbs.

Final Mini Edit

Edit 2:

Evaluation

For this edit I have edited it to look like this by playing around with the brightness, shadows, contrast, blacks and whites ratio to create a cool effect. The edit almost looks black and white however its not completely black and white as it has some focus points of colour like the bouys and rings within the boats.

Edit 3:

Evaluation

For this edit I have decided to give it a grainy look to give it an older effect as it now looks as if it was taken years ago which creates a good story as we were focusing the old harbour and the old cod trades from as far back as the 16th century. It has a nice colour contrast and rusty, grainy look which adds a nice little detail to the edit.

Edit 4

Evaluation

Edit 5

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Edit 6

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Edit 7

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Edit 8

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Edit 9,10,11

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Edit 12

Extra edits

With this photoshoot I feel I was very successful as I captured some very strong points within the shoot, such as these images of Captain Nibbs stood within the centre of a place that he knew very well when he was a Sea captain. Or where he is showing us some information about the fishing life and telling us what it is all about. I have got a wide variety of different coloured edits, different shades and ones that have different themes and create a nice story.

Top 5 best images and evaluation

Evaluation

I think this is one of my best images as Captain Nibbs is stood on the slope of the harbour with all the boats in the background. This image has good composition, I took it from a lower angle to capture his stance better. This image almost creates a story about Captain Nibbs as an ex fishermen and boat captain with him stood at the harbour all these years after retiring from his role.

Image 2

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Image 3

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Image 4

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Image 5

Plan:

For this photoshoot, as a class we went to listen to a mini lecture at the SJ photo archive learning all about the archives and some history about photographers on the island.

We then went on a tour around st helier harbour with an old sea captain called Sir Captain Nibbs. who told us all about the history of the harbour and the fishermen from back in the day who were involved in the Jersey cod trades.

To finish off we then went for another walk around the harbour on the other side and took more photos of the boats and interesting areas in which represented the fishing trade then and now.

Photoshoot contact sheet

Evaluation

Here I have taken a good range of images which represent different parts of the harbour. There are photos of the older boats and some of the newer modern boats. I have images of Captain Nibbs with his official captain hat on whilst giving us a presentational speech about the harbour and the work that did and still goes on now.

What does the Sea do to help Jersey?

The sea surrounding Jersey channel islands has many uses within the island. The sea is Jerseys main mode of transport other than Jersey airport. The harbours and boats that come to and from Jersey are a main part of the island as it is not only the way for our tourists to come and visit the island however it is also the main way Jersey gets their food through all the big ferries. The main source of food grown on island in 2024 is the famous Jersey Royals. This has also changed a lot over time however now their main sources of food supply and parcels etc. come via boat.

Théodore Géricault,The Raft of the Medusa.1818–19. Oil on canvas. Read the story behind Gericault’s famous painting hereThéodore Géricault,The Raft of the Medusa.1818–19. Oil on canvas. Read the story behind Gericault’s famous painting here

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

In 1497 this is when Newfoundland were first discovered. Newfoundland had then began to gather many small Norman boats full of visitors who were intrigued to explore the coasts of this newly discovered place. Between the years of 1505-1547 Henry VIII had started making trades within newfoundland. By this time it is believed that Jersey men had already visited Newfoundland.

An interesting fact is that in 1591 Jean Guillaume of Jersey obtained a licence to sail to Newfoundland from the Governor of Jersey. On his return he was actioned by the Jersey Royal Court for selling his cargo of fish at St Malo instead of Jersey. Fined 300 crowns. This date shows that the fishing industry had commenced in the early part of the 16th century, as Sir Walter Raleigh when Governor of Jersey is quoted as stating that at the end of the sixteenth century islanders were saved from starvation by the arrival of a cargo of fish from the colony.

Which ports did Jersey ships sail to and trade with?

The Jersey ships sailed to many different ports to trade, some of these being Armorica, Canada, brazil, Portugal, Spain etc. St. Aubin’s was Jerseys main port. Jersey was involved in the triangular trade mainly with Canada.

Here is the Trade Triangle:

As shown in the above image, Jersey seamen travelled to Canada to collect and prepare the cod fish to sell. On the odd occasions they would also fish as the Atlantic sea is where there was a huge amount of cod fish due to the cold water temperatures which they loved.

The Jersey fishermen who would collect the fish would mainly focus on trading within the mediterranean sea in countries such as Brazil, portugal and italy. As the years progressed they would eventually sell to countries within Europe and even took some back to Jersey for the Islanders to buy.

image from: https://www.theislandwiki.org/index.php/A_history_of_Jersey_transport_-_sea

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

There were many different things that the Jersey seamen would trade the cod for some examples being: In the Mediterranean countries like spain, portugal and italy, they would trade cod for things like salt, fruits and spirits. Within countries in Europe. Denmark, england, russia they would get other items such as grains, timber and tar.