What are the differences between photographs that are WINDOWS and MIRRORS.
“Mirrors” were images meant to mirror the photographer’s own sensibility. “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.
A mirror image would reflect the photographer. The photographer may be in the image, and it will reflect the photographers actions, displaying a clear meanigning.
A window image would be up to the viewers subjectivity, something that just sees straight through the camera lens without anything added.
“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.” – John Szarkowski, 1978
Consisting of facts or based on facts. Using pictures to provide a factual report.
objective
Not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts.
realism
Rejects imagination and creates fact, a close observation of outwards appearance’s.
candid
Truthful and straightforward. A photo taken straightforward, maybe without the models attention that it was even happening.
public
Concerning people as a whole, perceived or portrayed in an open view.
straight
Photography that attempts to depict a scene or subject in sharp focus and detail.
optical
Utilizing light, straightforward.
views
The position in which the camera sees the scene.
Upload your chosen image and describe why the image is either a mirror or a window, or both.
I think that this image is a window. Due to it being documentary, it shows a factual story with the use of raw actions. I think it also connotates realism, something that is not subjective, its straight. It has a clear view using a clear optical lens. This image also seems very candid, like the models didn’t even know it was being taken.
Although the image could also be a mirror because, of its use of romanticism. And the way it looks almost staged and planned with the use of motionless characters (tableaux).
The reason I have chose this title is because of its strong connotations, the way that trade and communication flow together, like they are dependant on one another. I chose a black and white image o give a historic feeling, a visual element that makes you think something is old. I have relied heavily on contrast due to want to expose the granite wall and portray all of its cracks to exclaim how old it is.
I took this image in natural daylight, to portray it naturally rather than making it look unnatural by using things like a flash. The colour balance of the image is very cold and dark. There is a lot of texture within this image to show how the wall has changed throughout many years, creating a very 3D image. The 3D elements lead the eye to all the white and bright areas, due to there high contrast to the darkness of the image. I think that there is harmony with the image and the font of the title, due to the title being written in black and outlined in white, a bit like the image is, mostly black but that’s what pulls you to the white element’s. This image has a context with the light on the pole which lets traders know when the ports were open, green for go and red for stop, like a traffic light. The essence of my work was to create a historic meaning, making people think way back to the 1900s, while still allowing room to change the essence to something more modern.
Page Spread One
I chose these images so that I could stick with the black and white theme, and I wanted to leave some room for text so that I could explain my ideas, like an intro.
These images were taken in daylight, on a cloudy day. This gives a natural effect due to having a high level of control as the sun wasn’t exactly beaming. The images are quite short and sharp, they get straight to there point. I don’t think the images are either warm nor cold, I would describe them as very neutral, almost numb, just black and white. The images are quite 3D and textured allowing you to see the use on the boats, and the grainy sand. They both have a simple layout with the centre of the image being what you look at. They both have a similar historical context in the sense that they’re both used boats. The conceptual meaning behind my work on this page spread, was to gain historic value by adding text, to make peoples eye go toward the images, let them think about the image, and then get told the ‘answer’ within the text.
Page Spread Three
I am still keeping with the black and white historic theme, but slowly adding more shading to make a smooth transition to colour.
These were all taken in natural daylight, but you can see between the pier and the boat how the sun moves, going from a lit up area and dark skies, to a dimly lit area and a bright sky. The sun didn’t really give me a good level of control within these images, as the sun was behind clouds but still really bright making it difficult to evaluate what ISO to use. All these photos were taken on a very wide angle, some zoomed all the way out and some zoomed all the way in. For example the brick buildings were taken from very far away and all the way zoomed out in order to be able to fit all of the buildings into one landscape shot, whereas the image of the boat was taken very far away but very zoomed in to make the boat the main subject of the image. The images contain a lot of panning so that I could capture a wide area of space. There is a lot of tonal range within the three images, they contrast each other with there bright whites and dark blacks, giving them all a similar tone but also so different.
Page Spread Four
I have used colour popping to transition my images into colour and create a less historic feel, moving towards modernism.
This image was taken in daylight, with the sun coming from behind my camera lens. The image has a high tonal range, with a lot of blacks and whites but then also a pop of red, this creates a warm autumnal feel. I took this image in a portrait way with a small angled lens, due to already being very close to the object. The image has a sharp depth of field, focusing on the colour, and text, with main anchorage points. The image is mildly textured, with the anchor showing a lot of historic elements, but the board which explains the anchor is very smooth and minimal. I have used a clear organisation of visual element’s. I have selection cropped the image to create a clear element. This image has a high amount of historical context, with a lot of explaining that context but also justifying it by using the anchor. My idea behind my image was actually to just create anchorage by using an anchor, to create a meaning and dealing with text and imagery.
Page Spread Five
This image is colour popped again but creates some more brighter colours to crate a more intense shift into modernism.
This image was taken in daylight, you can see this through the reflection/glare on the water. It creates a more florescent atmosphere compared to all the other images in black and white. This image was taken in a very wide angle, taken very very far away but is also very zoomed in to really shift focus onto the signage. I think that by using colour popping within the image it has created a simple colour accuracy, something that flows, how the simple light greys go with the whites and the darker greys and the blues. By colour popping the blue it has also slightly coloured the sea, creating a smooth background with not much texture. There is a pattern and repetition of the blue within the sea and within the sign. There is strong containment within the frame, the sign being just the main thing, and an easy view of how everything else is outside of the frame, in the background. There is a wider narrative to this image, the sign says thank you for visiting creating a story that someone has gone to the harbour and got on a boat.
Page Spread Six
The is my first page spread with images that are all in colour, and it also has the most text out of all my images.
Both of these images were taken in natural daylight, but I love the contrast between them where you can see how the sun shifted throughout the day. I had a high level of control when taking these photos, which you can see through the bold bright crisp colours within my images. There both very focused photos, with signage which creates a pathway for me to write facts about the images. This page spread really all flows together. They both have quite a bright tone, with bold whites. The ferry speed image is a lot more textured than the pier sign, this is to portray all the wear and tear of trade, and how active trade still is over here. There is a lot of space within my images, creating a 3D open context, by not bombarding people with a million things in there face I have created a calmer environment where people can really use their brains and get there minds wrapped around the meanings of my page spread. I wanted to create something that showed how bustling the harbour and trade still is , without throwing it in peoples faces.
Page Spread Seven
This page spread is very minimal, to leave something to be subjective, rather than bombarding people with text.
The use of daylight and colour popping and also a white background creates a major contrast, a massively bright image that gave me a good level of control to make the whole images vibrant and pop but without looking messy or childish. I think the light reflects the distance in which the images were taken from, a up-close image which is reflected from a glare on the sign, or a further away image which is reflected by the length. There is a lot of patterned repetition within the images, repeated use of colour and anchorage. This creates a conceptual feeling or modernism, allowing me to create that smooth shift from black and white histories.
Page Spread Eight
I have laid out three images so that there us no text bombarding again, leaving this to be seen and interpreted.
These images were taken in three different instances of daylight, as you can see the shift of the sun between them, it creates a contrast of our stormy harbours. In this page spread I have included imagery of the riches, a golden boat and also a description of images that include simple trade. By using a café you are creating a trade, which shows just how alive it still is as these cafes are in use every single day. I used a layout which creates harmony between the three images.
Last Page
I have put this image sideways to crate a more out of the ordinary zine. A zine is basically a silly magazine, something that doesn’t really need to be formatted to influence and attract an audience, it is very informal.
This image is very technical it manipulates the brain by the use of texture and detail, but portraying hoe historic this is but also how real it is. It makes you think about what would happen if trade went under, us as a small island would be in the dark and have nothing. A lot of people see the harbour as something that is aged and old, although it is that it us important to incorporate how it is still vividly in use every day.
Overall Evaluation
Overall I think all my planning and work that went into my zine made it turn out to have the exact narrative I planned. I wanted my zine to be a timeline and I think that I have created that through the use of key things like conceptual feelings and colour popping. Although I did miss a photoshoot day I think that my other photoshoot made up for that, and gave me all the create tools that I needed to create a timeline narrative about trade in st heliers harbours.
I printed out all of my zine photos onto one big sheet of A3 paper, fitting 18 images to a page. I then cut the images out and laid them onto A4 paper which I had folded to create a small book.
The reason I did this was to create a smaller scale mock-up of my zine so I could see how my images worked together. I was not able to print my images in colour, and the images are of course not to the scale how I would have them in my final print, but I wanted to just create a small mock-up to really see if I enjoyed my storyline and how well it all flowed together. I also have not added my text anchorage to my mock-up because some people will just not even bother with reading the text, so I think this gives me more of a feel of what the real one would be like than if I did add my text.
**I took these photos on my phone and then emailed them to my school account so therefore they may not be the best quality. **
Cover Page
I will have this image fit the whole page and have a title but I think it is a good historic cover page.
1st Page Spread
These images will also have text, and create historic anchorage and cover both pages.
2nd Page Spread
For my second page spread I have kept with the black and white theme, but will include some colour popping to smoothly transition to newer modern photos.
3rd Page Spread
This image will be bigger across the page as a bold statement.
4th Page Spread
This image will be bigger with colour to create a better sharper transition
5th Page Spread
I want this page spread to be the start of the modernisms.
6th Page Spread
I want to use this page spread as a visual, something to make people think rather than just telling them the answer.
7th Page Spread
This will be a very factual page, meaning it will include text with facts about ferry speed and the pier.
Back Page
My last page is more of a loop, a final connection to the cover page.
I wanted my cover page to be in black and white so that I could tell a story through my work, having the last page being in colour. Almost like watching a film turn to colour. I have also chosen this title because I think that my story portrays Jerseys trade and the way people communicate to carry that out.
Page Spread 1
I want my first page spread to keep with the black and white theme like a story line. I wanted to include 2 images for contrast between modern and old ways of trade and fishing. I also wanted to include some text as an almost introduction to portray the story that I am trying to tell.
Page Spread 2
I wanted to have a page with just images to leave some things to peoples imagination before I add some text explaining what I am portraying. I wanted to allow people to have their own guess, but I have already interpreted in their minds a nostalgic/historic feeling due to the black and white elements and old brick building’s which have connotations of history.
Page Spread 3
I wanted my next double page to ease into colour, using a colour popping image to smoothly move into a modernist time. I wanted to still include some text to be able to explain the contrast and my reasoning why. I wanted my image to be big so that it would mostly catch someone’s eye.
Page Spread 4
I wanted to continue with the text to further explain and give people some facts about changes within the harbour to make it what it is today. I also wanted to include signage that says ‘goodbye’ because I wanted to shift peoples gaze and thoughts onto a different element of the harbour.
Page Spread 5
I wanted this page to have a massive contrast, a massive jump in time scale. I have included a lot of text so that I can really explain what I am doing and give a true meaning of out harbour today and why these things are so important.
Page Spread 6
I wanted my last double page to include only images. I wanted to leave things to the imagination.
Last Page
I wanted my final page to be a landscape side image. I wanted people to have to move my zine to see it in the way that they want.
I wasn’t able to make this trip so therefore my options for images was very limited, but I was still able to edit some too incorporate within my zine.
Selected and Edited Images
Reasoning
I chose these photos because I think they fit into the historical element of my storyline about trade. I have edited them to be black and white to give off more of that old school historic vibe. When people see images in black and white they get an instant feeling that the image itself is old, due to everything now being in colour. I think that having these images at the start of my zine will create and old timey feeling allowing for development to shift the motif to modernism.
The processes of making changes to images or text, deciding what will be removed and what will be kept in, in order to prepare it for being printed or shown.
a photo sequence means putting a bunch of pictures in the order the viewer will receive those images, it can be for a book, an exhibition walking tour, or just the reading order of a few photographs displayed on a wall, sequencing is ordering the visual flow, some will say storytelling.
Why?
I want to edit my images so I have both black and shite images and coloured images. This is so I can show the historic values of the St. Helier harbour and also the modern values.
I wanted to sequence my zine in a way that it would flow, almost like a time line.
Creating nostalgia for the viewer but also something or there time so they can relate too it, something they walk past everyday and take no notice of.
What Is The Difference Between Story And Narrative?
A story is a format, almost like a genre, whereas narratives are forever changing. For example if a big event happened and the police came to ask about it the event would be a story and the way that the witnesses’ describe it would be the narrative. You can tell narratives of the same story. It is very subjective and hybrid, with different people telling different narratives, or some people even having the exact same way of thinking.
Narrative can start to be constructed when two and two go together, your titles of your zine has to flow with the images within, which each have to flow with each other. For example you couldn’t have a zine that’s half birds and then half apples. The way that you select your images and how you sequence them within the zine will construct your narrative.
Your title plays a big part in identifying what you are trying to tell, it creates the story line, a base and format leaving the mind to link the connotations between your images and your text.
What Is A Zine?
The word ‘Zine’ is a slang word for magazine. Zines are short informal magazines, created to more entertain rather than educate. Magazines are paid productions of media, created by media conglomerates that create revenue by advertising and selling, whereas zines are more personal and hand made, they do not aim to create money so there are generally free and do not contain any adverts.
What Will Be My Story?
My zines story is going to be about the St. Helier harbour. I wanted to create something that shows the trade and exchange in Jersey, something that portrays how useful our waters and quays are.
Describe In Three Words
Jersey Trade & Communication
Describe In A sentence
An observation of the essentiality of Jerseys harbours and relationships.
Describe With A Paragraph
I want to tell a story about how important Jerseys trade and communications is. Jersey is a very small island, which means we are heavily dependant on other people. Although Jerseys harbours are seen as historic, just a maritime museum, I am going to portray how important they still are. We need trade to survive, without it we would collapse as a whole, that’s why keeping communications up is so important.
How Will I Create A Narrative And Tell My Story?
Anchorage with the title.
Use black and white images to portray history.
Use colourful images to create liveliness.
Use images with people in to observe communication.
Have images that flow, and all relate to trade and communicating.
Use images from different sections of the harbour to show trades impact.
Use images that portray wealth so I can show how trade has impacted our island.
Use an image of the trade being sold for goods (Quayside Café)
Use create fonts and words to tell a unique story.
Maybe include some images from the photographic archive to show the history of trade.
Use some image captions to add a signified meaning.
Maybe add a short introduction to let people know what I want them to interpret.
Much of the harbour infrastructure is ageing and no longer meets the needs of today’s passengers or vessels. The Harbour Master Plan aims to modernise the facilities which have developed piecemeal over many centuries.
The regeneration will safeguard the long-term viability of the harbour, serving both passengers and freight, improve customer experience, and realise the area’s potential as a leisure, cultural and tourism destination.
Saint Helier Harbour is named after Helier (or Helerius), a 6th-century ascetic hermit from Belgium. The traditional date of his martyrdom is AD 555. His feast day, marked by an annual municipal and ecumenical pilgrimage to the Hermitage, is on 16 July.
The medieval hagiographies of Helier, the patron saint martyred in Jersey and after whom the parish and town are named, suggest a picture of a small fishing village on the dunes between the marshy land behind and the high-water mark.
Harbour History
Over the years, the harbour did develop a lot. From the 19th century to the 21st century, the size, technicality and involvement has changed dramatically as the roads and land grew near the harbour.
In the 19th Century the Old Harbour was constructed. The Chamber of Commerce urged the States Assembly to build a new harbour, but they refused, so the Chamber took it into their own hands and paid to upgrade the harbour in 1790. To shelter the jetty and harbour a new breakwater was constructed and in 1814 the merchants constructed the roads now known as Commercial Buildings and Le Quai des Marchand’s. They did this to connect the harbours to the town and in 1832 construction was finished on the Esplanade and its sea wall. In 1837, a rapid expansion in shipping led the States of Jersey to order the construction of two new piers.
The main harbour is the Victoria quay and the North quay.
Marinas
There are three marinas — the La Collette Yacht Basin, the Saint Helier Marina (built in 1980) and the Elizabeth Marina. The La Collette Yacht Basin is the only one of these to provide non-tidal, 24-hour access to the sea and is home to Jersey’s commercial fishing fleet.
Since 2008, Saint Helier Marina has been the venue for the annual Jersey Boat Show.
A photo story is the intentional use of pictures and words assembled into a story. One of the best ways you can tell a photo story is in a photo book. To better understand what a photo story is, it can be helpful to understand what a photo story is not.
In photography, visual storytelling is often called a ‘photo essay‘ or ‘photo story’, to convey one single message.
How do you create a picture story?
Questions are the best way to elicit a decent plan for your pictures to tell a proper story. Here are some of our favorites:
What is your story’s goal?
What genre does it fit within?
Who are the key characters? How can you gain their trust?
What research do you need to do on your subject or location?
How much time do you have?
What level of access do you have?
What equipment and props do you need?
When and where are you going?
What lighting and weather will you need to prep for?
What’s the arc of your story? How will you capture the beginning, middle, and end?
How will you share your story? What medium will you use?
Examples of picture story’s
In 1948, it was commissioned by Life Magazine, Smith spent 23- days with Dr. Ernest Ceriani and produced a photo essay about Colorado’s country doctor.
Eugene Smith’s at-times almost unsettlingly intimate pictures illustrate in poignant detail the challenges faced by a modest, tireless rural physician—and gradually reveal the inner workings and the outer trappings of what is clearly a uniquely rewarding life.
Another Example
Afghanistan by Simon Nor flock. Simon Norfolk is a Nigerian landscape photographer from Lagos whose work mainly focuses on the nature of battlefields and conflict zones in their various forms. The war in Afghanistan has been going on for nearly 30 years now and because of this the landscape has been very much changed by the conflicts over this long period of time. This 12 picture series is one chapter in a continuous project Norfolk has been creating which attempts to understand how war and the need to fight war has shaped our world. The project also explores how daily life is influenced by military conflict through the technology we use and films we watch for example.
My Plan
I want to create a more informal photobook, but also one that is more relatable. My plan is to make one about teenage life and teenage culture, and also include the historical context of Jersey. For example I would like too make a mini book promoting Jersey and Jerseys teenagers, since there is a lot of superstition about them being so evil.
Photography turns ordinary into the extraordinary. It transforms what it describes, and reveals so much but keeps so much too itself, which frames reality. It can be objective and subjective because it is told by a persons intuition. It fixes the shadows, before the event of digital tools. You need darkness too see light.
Aberlardo Morell & Camera Obscurer
To use a camera obscurer, you need a blackout room, basically a box of light. Creating a small hole frame to let light in. The image is then portrayed on the wall upside-down and 2x bigger, the rays of light pass through the small hole. The reason this happens is because light travels in straight lines. The Latin name obscurer means dark chamber. Aberlardo Morell born 1948 is a contemporary artist known for transforming rooms into camera obscurers. He started his series in 1992, and was awarded with the Infinity Award from the International Centre of Photography.
Pinhole photography
A pinhole is a smaller homemade version of the camera obscurer, it is a simple camera without a lens but with a tiny aperture called a pinhole. It is a light proof box with a small hole in one side. Light from a scene passes through the hole creating an inverted image on the opposing side of the aperture. The size of the image depends on the distance between the object and the pinhole. Pinhole cameras operate based on the concept of rectilinear light motion, which explains that light moves in straight paths. The pinhole camera is the simplest kind of camera. It does not have a lens.
Nicephore Niepce & Heliography
Joseph Nicephore Niepce born 1765, was a French inventor and one of the earliest pioneers of photography. He created heliography, a technique which is used to create the worlds oldest surviving products of a photographic process. Niépce conducted photographic experiments with the goal of meeting the increasing demand for inexpensive pictures by copying prints and capturing real-life scenes in the camera. During the following ten years, he experimented with various chemicals, materials, and methods in order to improve the process that he later named héliographie, meaning ‘sun writing.’
An old method of photography, héliographie, creates photoengraving’s on metal plates coated with asphalt. In general, it is considered a form of photography. Heliography, from the Greek words helios (meaning “sun”) and graphein (meaning “writing”). This process was used to create the first surviving photograph from nature, View from the Window at Le Gras. Niépce created the heliograph by mixing light-sensitive bitumen with oil of lavender and spreading a thin layer on a polished pewter plate. He placed the plate inside a camera obscura and placed it close to a window in his upper-level work space. After being in the sun for days, the plate showed a representation of the courtyard, outbuildings, and trees.
Louis Daguerre & Daguerreotype
Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre was a French artist and photographer, recognized for his invention of the eponymous daguerreotype process of photography. He became known as one of the fathers of photography He learned architecture, theatre design, and panoramic painting from Pierre Prévost, the pioneer French panorama painter, during his apprenticeship.
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 a negative. The process required great care. The silver-plated copper plate had first to be cleaned and polished until the surface looked like a mirror. The daguerreotype technique allowed for the reproduction of images from a camera obscura and their conservation as physical objects. It was the initial functional method of photography and marked the beginning of a fresh era of visual potential.. Daguerreotypes are commonly stored in small cases with hinges, which are constructed from wood and wrapped in leather, paper, fabric, or mother of pearl. Unlike photographic paper, a daguerreotype is rigid and heavy.
Henry Fox Talbot & Calotype
William Henry Fox Talbot, his research in the 1840s paved the way for the development of the phytoglyphic engraving technique, which eventually evolved into photogravure. He owned a contentious patent that influenced the initial growth of commercial photography in Britain. He was a recognized photographer who also played a role in the advancement of photography as an art form. Talbot developed a method for producing moderately light-resistant and long-lasting photographs that was the first one accessible to the general public; nevertheless, it was not the initial process of its kind invented or publicly disclosed.
The calotype looked like a mouse trap. It was an improvement of the daguerreotype. A sheet of paper coated with silver chloride was exposed to light in a camera obscurer. The areas that were hit by light became a dark tone yielding like a negative image. He discovered gallic acid could be used to develop the image on the paper, basically accelerating the silver chloride’s chemical reaction making the process speedy.
Robert Cornelius & Self-Portraiture
Robert Cornelius stood alone in the yard of his family’s Philadelphia gas lighting business. . In front of him was a makeshift camera, its lens fashioned from an opera glass. He’d already determined the daylight was adequate to expose the carefully prepared metal plate within the camera and take a photograph of himself. Last but not least, he had to remain motionless and gaze forward for 10 to 15 minutes — no easy task .He managed Cornelius & Co. (later known as Cornelius & Baker) and had great success with his invention of the “solar lamp”. At the time, whale-oil was used in lamps but had become very expensive. Cornelius revised a British lamp design which forced additional air into the burner and allowed for the burning of lard rather than whale oil. He applied for and received a U.S. patent for the “solar lamp” in 1843. The lamp proved extremely popular and was sold in the U.S. and Europe. Two large factories in Philadelphia manufactured the lamp.
The study of self-portraits, known as self-portraiture or auto portraiture, focuses on the history, methods, distribution, reception, styles, and interpretations of self-portraits. The growth of language is ever-changing and factual. For instance, the word selfie was only coined in the 1980s. Robert Cornelius took the first ever selfie. He pathed the way, selfies and self portraiture is still used today by billions of people all around the world, it has developed to be as easy as just turning your phones camera on.
Julia Margeret Cameron & Pictorialism
“From the first moment I handled my lens with a tender ardour,” she wrote, “and it has become to me as a living thing, with voice and memory and creative vigour.” Photography became Cameron’s link to the writers, artists, and scientists who were her spiritual and artistic advisors, friends, neighbours, and intellectual correspondents. “I began with no knowledge of the art,” she wrote. “I did not know where to place my dark box, how to focus my sitter, and my first picture I effaced to my consternation by rubbing my hand over the filmy side of the glass.” She was indefatigable in her efforts to master the difficult steps in producing negatives with wet collodion on glass plates. Cameron had no interest in establishing a commercial studio, however, and never made commissioned portraits. Instead, she enlisted friends, family, and household staff in her activities.
Pictorialism was a global movement and aesthetic movement that was prevalent in photography in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A style where the photographer alters a regular photo to create an image instead of just capturing it. Usually, a visual image seems to have a blurry focus, is produced in colours other than black-and-white, and may display brush strokes or surface alterations. A photograph was a means of conveying emotional intent to the viewer, much like a painting, drawing, or engraving. Pictorialism flourished from around 1885 to 1915, with certain individuals advocating for it until the 1940s. Pictorialism lost its popularity slowly after 1920, but it remained popular until the conclusion of World War II. In this era, the trend of Modernist photography became popular, and people became more interested in highly detailed images like those found in Ansel Adams’ work.
Henry Mullins & Carte-de-Visit
Henry Mullins was the most productive among the initial Jersey photographers in the mid-1800s. Between 1848 and 1873, he created numerous portraits of locals at his thriving studio in the prestigious Royal Square, St Helier. As a professional photographer, he always welcomed the fast technological advancements that coincided with his career. Despite the establishment of several photography studios in St Helier during the 1850s and 1860s, Henry Mullins remained the preferred photographer for prominent individuals in Jersey society and prosperous local and immigrant families. Mullins’s work quality matched his productivity level, as demonstrated by the detailed portraits of Victorian islanders found in his photo albums.
Carte-de-visite was originally a visiting card, particularly one adorned with a photographic portrait. Highly favored during the mid-1800s, the carte-de-visite was promoted by Parisian portrait photographer André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri, who patented the technique in 1854. Disdéri employed a camera with four lenses, producing eight negatives measuring 3.5 × 2.5 inches (8.89 × 6.35 cm) on a single plate. The big print created from the plate was divided into small portraits and each one was individually placed on cards sized around 4 × 3 inches (10 × 7.6 cm). These cards were cost-effective compared to other portrait options, as they allowed for eight different poses in one session and needed no editing.
