When I arrived on Jersey at the end of April, six months felt like a very long time but already two thirds of that time has passed. I’ve been busy since then shooting, reading, meeting people and exploring the island (I’m glad to say I only have to check my map from time to time now, not like when I first arrived).

Still there is so much work left to do before the end of the residency and the exhibition of the work I have produced in September. I hope to post more here in the run up to the show opening, stay tuned!

Cyanotypes are a very early form of photography, using a type of light sensitive chemistry discovered by the astronomer William Herschell in the 1840’s. An object is placed on a piece of paper coated in the chemistry and then exposed to the sun, which causes a chemical reaction in the areas not covered by the object. When the paper is washed in water the result are these striking blue and white images.

I’ve wanted to try cyanotypes out for a long time and Jersey with it’s abundant sunlight seemed like the perfect place. I’ve been collected plants from around where I am staying in Grouville and using them to create these images. Each one is unique, as the plant is always positioned a little differently when it is moved from sheet to sheet.

Seeing as Jersey has treated me very well since I arrived two months ago I thought it would be nice to give something back and so have sold a few of these with the money going to local charities including the Société Jersiaise who are hosting me during my stay. I still have a few print left so if you would like one feel free to get in touch with me via the contact page on my website.

It’s hard to believe I’ve already been here a month. So far I’ve spent most of my time exploring the island on my bike, and getting down to some in depth research in the library of the Societe Jersiaise.

The photographic project idea I am researching relates to Jersey’s relationship with the United Kingdom, Brexit and the implications of these things for the finance sector in particular. Understanding these things means getting to grips with some quite complex reading and then trying to develop ways to make these very abstract topics visible, easier said than done!

Hello Jersey! My name is Lewis Bush and I am the Archisle photographer in residence until the end of September 2018. As well as spending the time exploring Jersey I’m looking forward to producing a work examining the implications of Brexit for the island and in particular for the financial services. As part of this I want to talk to islanders from all walks of life about their memories and experiences of how the island has changed over the last 50+ years. Alongside making this work I will also be running workshops, talks and classes in photography around the island, more details on these soon!

The Archisle Project is delighted to announce the appointment of Lewis Bush as International Photographer in Residence 2018. The Archisle Residency, now in its fifth year, brings international contemporary photographers to Jersey to create, educate and exhibit. The residency awards a bursary of £10,000 for an exhibition of new work responding to the culture of the Jersey and set of these works enter the Archisle Collection at the Société Jersiaise Photographic Archive for future public enjoyment.

Lewis Bush is a Photographer, Writer, Curator and Educator based in London. After studying History and working as a researcher for the United Nations Taskforce on HIV/AIDS he completed a MA in Documentary Photography at the London College of Communication in 2012. Since then he has developed a multifaceted practice encompassing photography, writing and curation to explore ideas about the way power is created and exercised in the world. In The Memory of History (2012) he travelled through ten European countries documenting the way the past was being manipulated in the context of the economic crisis and recession. This project was widely published and was exhibited at the European Union’s permanent representation in London in 2014. More recent works include Metropole (2015) which critiques the architectural transformation of London and the city’s growing inequality by subverting the imagery of London’s luxury and corporate developments. Bush’s new book Shadows of the State (2018) uses open source research to reveal numbers stations, cold war intelligence communications which remain in use today. Bush is a Lecturer on the MA and BA(hons) Documentary Photography Programmes at London College of Communication.

Bush comments: ‘I am grateful for this opportunity to spend such a considerable period of time developing new work, and excited to be doing it within the unique context of Jersey. In the aftermath of the Brexit vote the United Kingdom faces an enormous number of choices about how it orientates itself, and the path Jersey has taken over the last half century is seen by some as a possible model for the United Kingdom as a whole. I am looking forward to exploring these issues in collaboration with residents of Jersey.’

Bush’s projects often incorporate his writing and he also writes extensively on contemporary and historic photography for print and online titles including 1000 Words Magazine, FOAM Magazine, The British Journal of Photography, Hotshoe Magazine, Photoworks, Hyperallergic, Photomonitor, and The Photographer’s Gallery blog. Between 2011 and 2017 he wrote and edited Disphotic, a blog on photography and visual culture.

Archisle Project Leader Gareth Syvret said: ‘Following the success of the residencies in 2013-2017 Lewis Bush is a great appointment for 2018. Lewis plans to investigate the history and status of Jersey’s Finance Industry in the context of Brexit. The project is therefore timely and will mark an important contribution. Lewis’s strong profile as a photographic educator will also bring excellent opportunities to Jersey students of all ages through the Archisle Educational Programme.’

Rod McLoughlin, One Foundation Council Member commented: ‘The One Foundation is delighted to continue its relationship with the Archisle Residency which has been conspicuously successful in raising the standard of photography in Jersey, engaging many members of the community of all ages in workshops, exhibitions and talks.  Its programmes have been put together with great skill to draw on the particular qualities of each photographer, so we’re looking forward to the results of the latest partnership with great interest.’

Download the Media Release

by Lillie Godden
by Tilly Nolan
by Megan Williams
by Jess Moll

Few images made on the Photography Workshop during our visit to the Durrell Wildlife Park.

by Penny Best

by Penny Best

by Rebecca Coley

by William Lakeman

As Jonny Briggs and Tanja Deman, Archisle Photographers in Residence 2017 make final preparations for their upcoming exhibitions we are excited to launch the call for applications for the 2018 Residency Programme. This is a six month residency for international photographic artists on the Island of Jersey with the benefits of a £10,000 award for production and exhibition of new work, studio and production resources, accommodation, living expenses and travel costs. Full info here >>

This week I was mastering and printing the new series and upcoming exhibition ‘Sunken Garden’ for Jersey in Brighton @Spectrum Photographic and had a gorgeous experience working with these people. Thank you all for making these underwater photographs come alive in the most beautiful way on the paper. Would highly recommend them to everybody.
Exhibition openings: Sunken Garden by Tanja Deman and Unpalatable Truths by Jonny Briggs on 9th September 2017 in CCA Galleries International, St. Helier, Jersey

CCA Galleries International, 10 Hill Street, St Helier, Jersey

Monday 24 July : 13.00 – 14.00

Ahead of their exhibition at CCA Galleries International in September 2017 Archisle Photographers in Residence Tanja Deman and Jonny Briggs will be in conversation with Gareth Syvret Archisle Project Leader to discuss their practice and Jersey residency projects. Come along to get a preview of Jonny and Tanja’s exciting new bodies of work produced in Jersey in 2017 and hear about the development of the Archisle Jersey Contemporary Photography Collection.

Please RSVP to: enquiries@ccagalleriesinternational.com

 

Inspiring photography workshop with De La Salle High School students. Student Alexander Lee Briard performed a violin concert in on of the caves in Plemont just for our group.
by Matt Luce

Congratulations to photography students of the Beaulieu Girls Catholic School for the wonderful work made in St.Catharina’s woods.
by Ellie Morley
by Leah Finch

Inspiring afternoon on an analog photo collage workshop with Les Quennevais students, pointing to the world around us. Thank you everybody for a great participation!

Fantastic morning session with Le Rocquier art students who were making analog photo collages using their own photos and b&w photos from the Société Jersiaise archive. Excellent participation everybody! Very much enjoyed it.

Day session with Highlands College art and media students exploring analog photo collage. Well done everybody!
Photo by Kuba, ‘Shae’
Photo by Poppy, ‘Multi couloured horse’

Congratulations to young Jersey photographers: Leon Brown, Leah Finchc, Alex King, Kieran Lee, Jude Luce and  Jasmine Therin who participate in the Photo Academy 2017 this April in St. James Youth Centre in St. Helier and created amazing photographic works. Also special thanks to Gareth Syvret and Karen Biddlecombe from Archile for organising it and everybody in the St. James Youth Centre for hosting the workshop and the final exhibition and for taking us around the island on amazing photo shoots. For those who missed ‘Six Seasons’ photography exhibition of the participants take a look at few photos here.

Photo by Alex King
Photo by Jude Luce

Photos by Leah Finch
Photo by Jasmine Therin
Photo by Kieran Lee

Young photographers Leon Brown, Leah Finchc, Alex King, Kieran Lee, Jude Luce and Jasmine Therin taking part in Photo Academy 2017. Exhibition opens on the 14th of April at 17:00 in St. James Youth Centre in St. Helier. Join us!

Hello Jersey, you stunning island. I’m very excited to be here and to have an opportunity to discover you, to meet your people and to get to know your wonders. My name is Tanja Deman, visual artist from Split, Croatia and this year International Photographer in Residence at Archisle, Société Jersiaise, together with artist Jonny Briggs. On Jersey I’ll be developing a new body of work for a duo photography exhibition that opens on the 7th of Sepetember 2017 in CCA Gallery International. During my residency I’ll be also sharing my knowledge on photography and art through public talks and workshops. Updates on these activities will be posted on Archisle website, so please join me on this journey by bookmarking this blog! Thank you.

Archisle: The Contemporary Photography Programme at the Société Jersiaise Photographic Archive is delighted to announce the re-launch of the Jersey International Photographer in Residence Programme in 2017 in a new expanded format with the appointment of two photographers for the first time. Re-launching in 2017 following the success of the 2013-15 programmes the Archisle Residency brings international contemporary photographers to Jersey to create, educate and exhibit. The Residency awards winning photographers from an international submission £10,000 for an exhibition of new work responding to the culture of Jersey with a set of these new works entering the Archisle Collection at the Société Jersiaise Photographic Archive for future public enjoyment.

The award winners and 2017 Archisle Photographers in Residence are Tanja Deman and Jonny Briggs. Commenting on the growing international interest in the project Gareth Syvret, Archisle Project Leader said: ‘For each residency we try to innovate and faced with such outstanding submissions for 2017 we set our sights on expanding the programme to host both Tanja Deman and Jonny Briggs whose artistic practice, experience and projects offer incredible opportunities for the development of the visual arts in Jersey. Hearing what Jonny and Tanja have planned for their time in Jersey I have no doubt that the 2017 programme will be greater than the sum of its parts.’ During their Archisle Residencies Tanja and Jonny will deliver an extensive programme of bespoke contemporary lens-based-media workshops to participants across schools, youth groups and adult education. Their Jersey projects will culminate in a major two-person show at CCA Galleries International in September 2017.

We are extremely grateful to One Foundation and Government of Jersey Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture Department (EDTSC) for supporting the project. Sophie Le Blond, One Foundation Coordinator commented, ‘One Foundation are proud to have annually supported the Archisle Project since its inaugural residency which was held in 2013. Having seen the project evolve with new artists visiting each year, it’s great to see the project take another leap forward in 2017 by inviting two artists to work on the Island. The community impact of this project has surpassed our expectations every year and we are really excited to see what Tanja and Jonny can bring to the Island with their diverse knowledge and creative influences.’

Born in Split, Croatia in Tanja Deman’s art is inspired by her interest in physical and emotional perceptions of specific spaces, architectures, geological formations and sites. Deman’s works, incorporating photography, collage, video and public art, as well as sociological research, are evocative meditations on urban space, landscape and human relationships with nature. Observing the legacy of modernism within the natural landscape Deman’s images reflect upon the dynamics hidden beneath the surface of built and natural environments. She obtained her BFA and MFA from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. Her work has been exhibited widely including: Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb / Kunstmuseum Bonn / 15th Venice Biennial of Architecture, 2016 / The Central House of Artists, Moscow / Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka. In 2015 Deman was commissioned to produce a monumental photographic public art project titled ‘Sommerfreuden’ which presented a wrapping of the Ringturm Tower on the bank of the River Danube in the city of Vienna.

Born in London, UK, Jonny Briggs obtained his MA in Photography at the Royal College of Art. Saatchi Gallery and Channel 4 New Sensations Winner and 2014 Foam Talent, Briggs, who was Workshop Artist in Residence at Tate Modern and Britain 2015-2016 uses ‘photography to explore my relationship with deception, the constructed reality of the family, and question the boundaries between my parents and I, between child/adult, self/other, nature/culture, real/fake in an attempt to revive my unconditioned self, beyond the family bubble. Although easily assumed to be photoshopped or faked, upon closer inspection the images are often realised to be more real than first expected. Involving staged installations, the cartoonesque and the performative, I look back to my younger self and attempt to re-capture childhood nature through my assuming adult eyes.’

Deputy Murray Norton, Assistant Minister with responsibility for Culture, added, ‘EDTSC is delighted to support the outstanding work of the Archisle project.  It’s a really exciting prospect that two professional photographers, with widely different backgrounds and interests, will be working in the community and also producing work which will enhance the Island’s photographic archive.  Already it promises to be one of the cultural highlights of 2017.’

Download the Media Release

 

 

ATLANTUS  is a collaborative project between photographer Martin Toft and Gareth Syvret at Archisle: The Jersey Contemporary Photography Program at the Société Jersiaise Photographic Archive, St Helier, Jersey, UK. This major creative research project connects photographic archives and contemporary photographic practice as tools for exploring historical and cultural links between Jersey and New Jersey.

The project is inspired by the 350th anniversary, in 2014, of the naming of the State of New Jersey, USA in 1664 by Jerseyman, Sir George de Carteret. As part of this project Martin Toft will be producing new photographs both in (old) Jersey and New Jersey, exploring both places’ unique cultures, histories, geographies and identities. Funded by States of Jersey External Relations, in 2015 we will be distributing an innovative dual functioning pop-up exhibition/newspaper across educational and cultural venues in both Jersey/ New Jersey to coincide with major celebrations. The long term objectives of the project are to make exhibitions, publications and establish contemporary photographic archives in Jersey and New Jersey.

We will posting updates, photographs and other developments here and through Atlantus Facebook page. A current edit can be seen here on our Gallery. In July 2015 we produced a multi-functional newspaper and pop-exhibition in collaboration with Kummer & Herrman. See more details below or purchase a copy here.

Thursday 20 October 2016: Atlantus our transoceanic newspaper about the connected histories of Jersey and New Jersey has been selected to be part of the exhibition SCAN PhotoBooks within the Scan Tarragona Photography Festival, opening from 19 October to 8 January 2017 at Tinglado 4 in Tarragona Port. Spain http://www.scan.cat/scan/

 

Sunday 04 September 2016: We are pleased to be teaming up with Gazebook: Sicily Photobook Festival#ATLANTUS will be on display – OFF Circuit! We have 20 free copies of ATLANTUS to give away and be picked up in Sicily! Share this post to win a copy – see here for more details http://goo.gl/qGohIl

Check out the amazing programme of talks, workshops, exhibitions, portfolio reviews, slide luck, speaker’s corner, book launch – including free lemonade and watermelon! All in the wonderful setting of Punta Secca in South-East Sicily… #cometogazebooksicily

Monday 22 August 2016: Here is a recent conversation about the concept and making of Atlantus with Martin Toft, Gareth Syvret and paula roush, curator, photographer, publisher (msdm publications) and lecturer (photobook publishing.)

Download the (20 pages A5 zine) pdf here http://www.msdm.org.uk/…/uploads/2016/08/uh-books-zine-2.pdf

Wednesday 13 July 2016: Atlantus popping up in Redbank, New Jersey. Thank you Mary Eileen Egan Fouratt and team at Monmouth Arts Council.

Saturday 09 July 2016: Atlantus pop-up at Cosmos Arles Book, with a brief guest appearance by our designer, Arthur and Jeroen at Kummer & Herrman…get yourself a copy of our newspaper shortlisted for the Prix de Livre Book Award. Other goodies include a Dossier about our new project, Masterplan – a visual record of finance, Ung i Randers – a 96 page newspaper with photographs of youth gangs in Denmark in the 1970s by photographer Finn Larsen and information about Archisle and the launch of the 2017 International Artists-in-Residence programme offering 6 months living and making new work in the sunny island of Jersey.

Thursday 07 July 2016: Atlantus on the walls at the Second Edition of BYO Paper during Les Nuits de la photographie at Papeteries Etienne. Pasting together with Reiner Riedler…check out his great work WILL about lifesaving machines next to us!

Saturday 02 July 2016: Happy that Atlantus has been shortlisted for Prix de Livre Author Book Award at Les Rencontres de la photographie, Arles, where our multi-functional newspaper will be exhibited not once but twice! Pasted on to the walls at the Second Edition of BYO Paper during Les Nuits de la photographie at Papeteries Etienne Thursday 7 July and a special pop-up event on Saturday 9 July at  Cosmos Arles Books 2016 where we will hand out 100 free copies of our newspaper. Thanks to everyone who has been involved in making this project, in particularly, Finn Larsen, Robin Sluijs, Jeroen Kummer and Arthur Herrman and many more. Thanks also to the States of Jersey for their financial support and our cultural partners in the US, New Jersey State Council on the Arts and New Jersey State Archives.

Wednesday 29 June 2016: Atlantus exhibition is opening tonight at Ə /UH/-BOOKS: A PROJECT SPACE FOR MATERIAL PUBLISHING – a year long programme exploring paper photobook publishing as artistic research.

Curated by, Paula Roush at MSDM – a London-based photography and photobook publishing studio.

ə/uh-books is located in two galleries recto & verso 
103 Borough Road (London South Bank University Student Centre) London. Open until 28 August Monday through Friday, 9am–9pm
See more here http://uh-books.tumblr.com

Thurs 23 June 2016: Atlantus our transoceanic photography project has arrived in the US! Tomorrow on New Jersey Day 24 June, 1000 copies will be distributed to 432 libraries in the state of New Jersey and a special exhibition at the States Building, Trenton will celebrate our shared heritage. Prompted in part by the 350th anniversary in 2014 of Sir George Carteret naming of the State of New Jersey, USA after Jersey his island home in 1664, the project asks how two places that share a name on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean perceive each other within archives and cultural memory? Thanks to all our cultural partners in making this possible, especially New Jersey State Council on the Arts, New Jersey State Archives and the States of Jersey.
Here is a link to an interview on BBC Radio Jersey earlier today http://bbc.in/29076Pl

Fri 17 June 2016: Atlantus will be making its way to Cosmos for a special pop-up event Saturday 9 july where you can pick up a free copy of our 80 pages/ 5 stories multifunctional newspaper designed by Kummer & Herrman – hope to see some of you in Arles.

Fri 10 June 2016: Come to Photobook Bristol to look, feel and learn about all things photo books. Great atmosphere, great people! Atlantus is on a display at the Firstbook and Dummy table.

Fri 15 April 2016: Excited to say that Atlantus Project is taking its transoceanic journey across the Atlantic from Jersey to the East Coast of New Jersey, USA. Many thanks to New Jersey State Archive for all their support in making this happen and New Jersey State Council on the Arts for funding the distribution of copies to 432 libraries statewide. A gallery exhibition of Atlantus will open later in the summer at the New Jersey Department of State building, Trenton New Jersey.

Wed 30 March 2016: Atlantus, our multifunctional newspaper and DIY exhibition has recently been turned into a semi-permanant installation on the hoarding of Jersey’s International Finance Centre on the Esplanade site in the capitol St Helier. This makes for an interesting link to our new long-term project, Masterplan exploring Jersey’s offshore finance industry, corporate culture and governance. Special thanks to Kummer & Herrman, Signtech and  Jersey Development Company for design, installation and support. ‪#‎atlantus‬

Click here to view a selection of images from the Masterplan project.

Wed 16 Dec 2015: ‘Atlantus is a Swiss Army knife of a publication…’ pleased to see our publication included on Alec Soth and team at Little Brown Mushroom’s Best Books of 2015 on Photo Eye.

         

 

Tue 15 Dec 2015: Atlantus is now available at PhotoBookStore. Get your copy…it would make a nice stocking filler.

 

Wed 9 Dec 2015: Atlantus made on to Pierre Bessard’s top 5 photo book list on PhotoBookStore

 

Mon 7 Dec 2015: ATLANTUS LIMITED PRINTS. In conjunction with the exhibition Quintessence a set of limited edition prints from the series ATLANTUS are available for purchase. Money raised through print sales will be used to develop our new lens-based project, Masterplan exploring contemporary Jersey corporate culture and the island’s finance industry.

The four images are printed to the highest quality using Spectrum Photographic.

Sat 5 Dec 2015: Recent coverage of Atlantus and exhibition QUINTESSENCE celebrating the first five years of Archisle: Jersey Contemporary Photography Programme currently on show at the Berni Gallery, Jersey Arts Centre.

 

Sun 29 Nov 2015: Four images from Atlantus project is exhibited in Quintessence – a group exhibition celebrating the first five years of Archisle: The Jersey Contemporary Photography Programme. Since its launch in 2011, Archisle has engaged diverse approaches to contemporary lens based media to lead creative research into the condition of ‘islandness’ In Quintessence, Curator, Gareth Syvret contrasts work in the Archisle collection in a group exhibition for the first time to ‘analyse the ways in which the islands’s culture and landscape has been interpreted by Jersey and international photographers.’ Artists represented in the Archisle collection were invited to nominate colleagues who have influenced or inspired their own visual language. The exhibition features works by: Martin Parr / Tony Ray-Jones / Jem Southam / Michelle Sank / David Goldblatt / Yury Toroptsov / Elsie Wright & Frances Griffiths / Tom Popé / Peter Finnemore / Mark Le Ruez / John Gibbons / Martin Toft / Finn Larsen.

Sat 14 Nov 2015: L’Ascenseur Végétal brilliant stand at Le Photobookfest in Belleville with a few pages from Atlantus newspaper displayed on the wall. Despite the awful and horrific attacks in Paris this weekend fringe events of Paris Photo stay open.

 

Thur 12 Nov 2015: If you’re at Paris Photo this weekend, get a copy of Atlantus – our transoceanic journey told in five stories and designed as a multi-functional newspaper / pop-up exhibition by Kummer & Herrman at a special price of €10.00. Sold at Polycopies by Tipi Bookshop and at Le PhotobookFest by L’Ascenseur Végétal where you also can find many other fine people, photo books and zines.

         

 

Tue 10 Nov 2015: Atlantus film projected on to the wall of Normans as part of Skipton Art Series Projection Gallery, an event organised by Jersey Arts Trust currently being screened every night at 5;30 pm in St Helier, Jersey from 11-14 Nov 2015.

Mon 9 Nov 2015: This week from Tue 10th to Sun 15th Nov the Skipton Arts Series Jersey Projection Gallery starts at 5:30 pm with night screenings on the facade of Normans, Commercial Buildings, St Helier. Our 12 mins Atlantus film will be screened, featuring photographs and out takes from our newspaper. Images are mixed with the voices from some of the central characters in our transoceanic journey. Listen to Herdsman Bryan Le Brocq speaking in a Jersey accent of his time when he brought cows across the Atlantic Ocean from Jersey to New Jersey in the 1960s and hear Linda Lee Wagner talk about her memories of receiving Precious Galinthia, a Jersey heifer given to her as part the tercentenary celebrations in 1964. The outdoor display also includes work from Jersey Heritage, Photo-Archive Societe-Jersiaise, Archisle: Jersey Contemporary Photography Programme and CCA Galleries International Collections among others. Viewing will be from the Steam Clock, where Coco Rico will be selling crepes and hot drinks.

 

Thur 5 Nov 2015: Atlantus – our five stories newspaper is reviewed on the blog The Photobook. Cheers Douglas Stockdale

You can purchase it here http://www.archisle.org.je/shop/

 

Fri 23 Oct 2015: Atlantus featured on Virtual Bookshelf JC

 

Wed 30 Sept 2015: Connections: Jersey Festival of Words – a new and inspiring literary event will begin tonight with a tribute to the late Alan Jones. Atlantus will feature in a number of ways with a pop-up exhibition at Jersey Library, Hautlieu School and a special event on Saturday 3 October where Atlantus will take to the streets of St Helier, capitol of Jersey on a specially made mobile unit with photography students handing out copies of our multi-functional newspaper. Part of the DIY concept behind Atlantus is to reach an audience outside the contemporary photography bubble and engage with people in off beat locations. Please come and meet us Saturday between 1 and 4 pm or get your advanced copies here on the http://www.archisle.org.je/shop/ ‪#‎JerseyWordFest‬ ‪#‎atlantus‬

 

Thur 24 Sept 2015: We are delighted that Atlantus has been selected to be part of the Impressions Gallery Photobook Fair. Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to browse and buy a huge range of photobooks and zines, including newly published work alongside rare and limited edition publications. ‪#‎atlantus‬‪#‎PhotobookIG‬

 

Wed 16 Sept 2016: Atlantus hanging on the wall at The Prinsengrachtziekenhuis ready for Unseen Photo Fair & Festival. Thanks to Inês & Ilja, interns at Kummer & Herrman for installing our newspaper and pop-up exhibition. If you can’t make it to Amsterdam this weekend where you can get a copy at the Unseen Book Fair through indie book sellers Tipi Bookshop and Café Lehmitz Photobooks, it is also available from Claude Lemaire at L’Ascenseur Végétal ‪#‎unseen‬ ‪#‎atlantus‬

       

       

 

Fri Sept 11 2015: Atlantus is being assembled at the Societe Jersiaise. If you want to see the completed installation visit Unseen Photo Fair & Festival where it will be exhibited at Prinsengrachtziekenhuis as part of the Hidden Treasures programme http://www.unseenamsterdam.com/events/556 ‪#‎unseen‬ ‪#‎atlantus‬

 

Thur 3 Sept 2015: We’re delighted to announce that Atlantus is setting sail for Unseen Amsterdam this September #‎unseen2015‬

 

Sat 15 Aug 2015: The first pop-up display of Atlantus inside the walled garden at St Ouen’s Manor, the ancestral home of the de Carteret family, whose famous mariner Sir George Carteret was granted the land east of Hudson River by James Duke of York, brother of King Charles II in 1664, naming the state of New Jersey after Jersey his island home. In five stories responding through image and text to the people, politics, landscapes, industries and identities of these places our Atlantus project connects memories, archives and imagined lands on opposite side of the Atlantic World. Designed as a multi-functional newspaper and exhibition in collaboration with Kummer & Herrman, Atlantus is a transoceanic story in which estranged lands of incomparable scale come together in poetic gestures that ask: what’s in a name?

         

Wed 1 July 2015: We are delighted that our multi-functional newspaper and pop-up exhibition is finally printed and ready for distribution. Atlantus is a transoceanic photography project between Martin Toft and Gareth Syvret at Archisle: the Jersey Contemporary Photography Programme, hosted by the Société Jersiaise Photographic Archive on the Island of Jersey. Prompted in part by the 350th anniversary in 2014 of Sir George Carteret naming of the State of New Jersey, USA after Jersey his island home in 1664, the project asks how two places that share a name on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean perceive each other within archives and cultural memory? In five stories that respond through image and text to the people, politics, landscapes, industries and identities of these places the Atlantus Project connects memories, archives and imagined lands on opposite sides of the Atlantic world through contemporary visual discourse.  Atlantus is a transoceanic narrative in which estranged lands of incomparable scale come together in poetic gestures that ask: what’s in a name?

Multi-functional newspaper & DIY exhibition

– Designed by Kummer & Herrman

– 80 pages

– 56 colour and 5 monochrome ills.

– Five Stories

– £10 / €15

Purchase a copy here

Browse Atlantus newspaper

                        

       

Thur 25 June 2015: ATLANTUS – a transoceanic photography project – is slowly emerging from a low tide and is finally ready for printing. The publication will include 60 photographs by Martin Toft and 5 stories written by Gareth Syvret, Photo Archivist, Société Jersiaise and Programme Leader, Archisle: the Archisle: Jersey Contemporary Photography Programme. Designed in collaboration with Kummer & Herrman the multi-functional newspaper and exhibition will be ready for distribution soon. More to follow http://www.archisle.org.je/atlantus/

Fri 3 April 2015: In between Christmas and New Year I revisited Jersey Shore to experience how this busy coastline and popular holiday resort feels like in the winter. Driving from one end of Long Beach Island to the other I was amazed with so few cars on the road and people too, compared to my visit last summer. I wanted to spend some time in Barnegat Light at the very top of LBI, a community I felt some connection to for a number of reasons. Primarily a fishing hamlet established by Scandinavian fishermen arriving in 1926 it also has a famous lighthouse and a large protected dune area, quite unique on the Jersey Shore. Similarities with St Ouen’s Bay on Jersey’s west coast are obvious but it is also the people who live here which share a strong sense of belonging to a particular landscape and a way of life. To my surprise, I not only met a Dane during church service at St Peter-at-the-light who was brought up in North New Jersey, but I also spoke with two members of the congregation who told me that their ancestors had originally migrated from Jersey, Channel Islands some time in the 19th Century. Back home in the isle of Jersey we found both family names in the census records, Davidge (born in St Martin’s in 1846) and Diamond, changed from either Dimond or Dymonds (French names.) For New Year we drove to Asbury Park, another place on the Eastern Seaboard that I found fascinating on my earlier road trip.  Of course, Asbury Park is a lot more than the famous boardwalk and its musical heritage. There seems to be three distinct areas in Asbury Park. Apart from the Boardwalk there is Downtown with trendy cafes, restaurants, galleries and shops situated around Cookman Avenue and then Main St/Westside around the railroad. On my first visit in the summer people warned me not to cross the tracks and enter the black communities situated west of town. But, in fact, those areas attracted me the most and on both occasions I met some incredible people there. I must admit…I prefer the winter to summer on the Jersey Shore…quiet, cold, friendly.

 

Barrier Peninsula (North looking South), New Jersey, United States, 26 December 2014 © Martin Toft

Sandy Hook, New Jersey, United States, 26 December 2014 © Martin Toft

Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island, New Jersey, United States, 27 December 2014 © Martin Toft

Viking Village, Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island, New Jersey, United States, 27 December 2014 © Martin Toft

Dunes, Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island, New Jersey, United States, 29 December 2014 © Martin Toft

Youth, Surf City, Long Beach Island, New Jersey, United States, 29 December 2014 © Martin Toft

Ron Diamond’s family portraits, Surf City, Long Beach Island, New Jersey, United States, 29 December 2014 © Martin Toft

Mon 26 Jan 2015:  Here are ten photographs from North Jersey. Within a relatively short distance from the Jersey Shore you can find yourself in the mountains that are bordering New York State. I arrived in Vernon, a township in the Kittatinny Valley which is a section of the Great Appalachian Trail that stretches 700 miles from Canada to Alabama. A part from a ski resort and a water park such as Mountain Creek, Vernon is also home to an alternative music scene and I found myself on a mountain top at Let Me Show You Something Festival on Ricky’s Farm. After all, Woodstock is a only  an hour and half drive away.

Closer to Mahwah you will find the Ramapough Mountain Indians who are living around the mountains of Bergen and Passaic counties. In 1980, they were recognized by the state of New Jersey as an Indian tribe but have not gained federal recognition. Their ancestry is multiracial and their tribal office is located on Stag Hill Road on Houvenkopf Mountain. According to legend (or folklore) the community was frequently referred to as the ‘Jackson Whites’ and it is assumed that they were descendants of runaway and freed slaves (Jacks in slang) and whites (Europeans) believed to have included Dutch settlers (reflected in surnames common among the people) and later Hessian soldiers, German mercenaries who fought for the British during the American Revolution. On my flight over the Atlantic I was watching a film, Out of the Furnace starring Christian Bale that is based on a fictional story that deals with the communities living in the Ramapough Mountains. While in Mahwah, I later learned that members of the community around Stag Hill Road, some whom share the same surname of the movie’s antagonist, DeGoat filed suit against the makers of the movie, claiming that it portrays a gang of criminals who are lawless, drug-addicted, impoverished and violent. The suit was dismissed, but this was not the first time that this community had been involved in controversy as they have participated in litigation against the Ford Motor Company regarding poisoning from a former toxic landfill, portions of which were subsequently used in the 1970s as sites for affordable housing for the Ramapough people. A documentary film, Mann v Ford was released in 2011 which follows the five years of the Ramapough pursuing the law suit and how they reached settlement.

At the end of my road trip I came to Paterson, a city that I had been looking forward to visiting mainly due to its industrial past, but also because it is a place that New Jersey photographer, George Tice has been studiously photographing since the 1970s. Tice is often referred to as the ‘Robert Adams of New Jersey’ and his photo books, Paterson (1972) and Paterson II (2006) are seminal books about the social landscape of this city. Today, Paterson is no longer the cradle of the industrial revolution in America (textiles, firearms, silk and railroad locomotives) and has involved into a major destination for Hispanic emigrants as well as immigrants from the Arab and Muslim world. In popular culture the city of Paterson is referenced from Allen Ginsberg poem, Howl, to the dramatisation in the 1999 Denzel washington film The Hurricane, based on the controversial arrest and conviction of boxer Rubin “Hurricane’ Carter and  the the Great Falls of the Passaic River was featured in the first season of The Sopranos, where a a drug dealer is tossed over the falls by associates of the notorious New Jersey mob family.

 

Let Me Show You Something Festival, Vernon, New Jersey, United States, 23 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Diamond and Pearl Woods, Vernon, New Jersey, United States, 23 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Ricky’s Farm, Vernon, New Jersey, United States, 23 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

June Montgomery, Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, United States, 24 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Black Stud, Stag Hill Road, Mahwah, New Jersey, United States, 25 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Disused Factory, Paterson, New Jersey, United States, 26 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Joel Padilla, Paterson, New Jersey, United States, 26 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Olin Simmons Jr, Paterson, New Jersey, United States, 27 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Straight St, Paterson, New Jersey, United States, 27 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Garrett Mountain, Paterson, New Jersey, United States, 27 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Mon 10 Nov: While we are editing a final selection for a forthcoming publication we our continuing with updating our online archive with a post from Hunterdon County, New Jersey’s premier dairy farmland and agricultural area. What is remarkable about Hunterdon County is not only that in 2014 it is celebrating it’s own 300th anniversary, but that it has direct historical link with the Isle of Jersey through one of its most treasured exports, the Jersey Cow. The photographs here are centered around one particular narrative, namely the story about ‘Precious Galinthia’ – a young Jersey calf that was presented to Linda Lee Wagner (nee Harrison) for her achievements as a 4-H young farmer in Stockton, Hunterdon at the World Fair in New York on June the 24^th 1964.

Precious Galinthia was a gift from the Isle of Jersey and given to Governor Richard Hughes by an official delegation that included the Bailiff Robert H. Le Masurier, his wife and St Helier Constable, Mr Dennis Ryan whom were visiting the Tercentenary celebrations of the naming of New Jersey, by Sir George de Carteret in 1664. The calf was breed by Jersey dairy farmer, Edward Cottillard and was transported across the Atlantic by Paul J. Spann and Sons from Far Hills Farm in Oldwick, Hunterdon. From the beginning of the 20^th Century, the Spann family have had a long tradition of visiting the Channel Islands and buy the very best young Jerseys and selling them on at auctions to American cattle breeders. The young heifer had spend over a month in quarantine in Clifton, NJ and had been well looked after by Jersey herdsman, Bryan Le Brocq (see previous post from 11 July which also include a portrait of Idris Cottillard, daughter of cattle farmer, Edward)

The last photographs in this post follow in the footsteps of places visited by the Jersey delegation. A private diary including press cuttings and official photographs from Mrs Le Masurier provide detailed accounts of a week of tercentenary events. Their visit included being invited to the State Capitol in Trenton where her husband, the Bailiff spoke to a full house in the General Assembly Chamber and presented Governor Hughes with a miniature copy of the Royal Mace. A tour of Princeton University were later followed by dinner at Morven House, the official residence of the Governor. The couple stayed at The Nassau Inn which houses the famous Yankee Doodle Tap-room, a favourite meeting place of Princeton undergraduates.

 

Max Spann, Far Hills Farm, Oldwick, New Jersey, United States, 19 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Jersey Cattle Sales Catalogues, Oldwick, New Jersey, United States, 19 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Family Kitchen, Far Hills Farm, Oldwick, New Jersey, United States, 19 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Bird Feeder, Far Hills Farm, Oldwick, New Jersey, United States, 19 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Elizabeth Kneser (nee Spann), Far Hills Farm, Oldwick, New Jersey, United States, 19 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Stillwater Lake, Mt Pocono, Pennsylvania, United States, 22 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Triple-Lee Jerseys, Hamlin, Pennsylvania, United States, 22 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Linda Lee Wagner (nee Harrison), Triple-Lee Jerseys, Hamlin, Pennsylvania, United States, 22 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

James (Jim) Louis Wagner, Triple-Lee Jerseys, Hamlin, Pennsylvania, United States, 22 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Myranda Bond, Hunterdon County Dairy Princess, Flemington, New Jersey, United States, 20 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Sam Fasolo, Retired Farmer, Hunterdon County Fair, Flemington, New Jersey, United States, 20 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Tractor Pull, Hunterdon County Fair, Flemington, New Jersey, United States, 20 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

James Cafaro, Hunterdon County Fair, Flemington, New Jersey, United States, 20 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Robert (Bob) Johnson, Johnson’s Farm, Stockton, New Jersey, United States, 21 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Deer Hide, Johnson’s Farm, Stockton, New Jersey, United States, 21 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Doris Johnson, Johnson’s Farm, Stockton, New Jersey, United States, 21 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Theodore (Ted) Johnson, Johnson’s Farm, Stockton, New Jersey, United States, 21 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Dining Room, Johnson’s Farm, Stockton, New Jersey, United States, 21 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Landon (Buck) Johnson, Johnson’s Farm, Stockton, New Jersey, United States, 21 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Hunterdon Concrete, Flemington, New Jersey, United States, 21 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Freight Train, Delaware River, between Phillipsburg, NJ and Easton, PA, United States, 22 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Nadia Ayakowsky, Actress and Singer, Hotel National, Frenchtown, New Jersey, United States, 21 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

State Senate Chamber, New Jersey State House, Trenton, New Jersey, United States, 18 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Yankee Doodle Tap Room, The Nassau Inn, Princeton, New Jersey, United States, 18 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Mon 29 Sept: Turning the corner of Cape May and heading back up along the Delaware Bay you are entering South Jersey – geographically, culturally and economically a very different area than the prosperous Jersey Shore. Covered in swamplands, creeks, salt marshes and pine forests the landscape is part of the Atlantic Coastal Plain that extends all the way down from New York Bight to Florida. Locally, they call South Jersey ‘the Mississippi of the North’ with a historic divide between black and white communities. Religion is on display everywhere with a different church on every corner. The climate here is subtropical, dense, still, and humid. Commercial farming is still dominating the area known as Pine Barrens where its nutrient-poor soil are ideal for growing acidic fruits such as cranberries and blueberries. Rural poverty is visible in and around Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton area with many key industries gone or closing down, such as lumber mills, the glass factories and the oyster industry in the ghost towns of Port Norris and Bivalve. In Cumberland County alone you have four prisons within a 10 mile radius which not only provide jobs for thousands of people in the penal industry but also brings with it crime related problems. Out of sight out of mind. Many people from North Jersey has never been down south. The atmosphere is one of desolation and redemption, but as in many economically deprived areas you will also find the most warm and generous of people. There is no real comparison to any communities living in the Isle of Jersey, except that time on the west coast of the island stands still in the same way as it lingers on in South Jersey, at its own pace and carefree of outside influences.

 

Shiloh Baptist Church, Gouldtown, New Jersey, United States, 13 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Justin Fearon, Gouldtown, New Jersey, United States, 16 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Farm Park, Gouldtown, New Jersey, United States, 16 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Empty Pool (used for Baptism), Gouldtown, New Jersey, United States, 16 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Crucifix, Maramatha Baptist Church, Bridgeton, New Jersey, United States, 16 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Prayer, True Vine  Pentecostal Church, Gouldtown, New Jersey, United States, 17 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Scarecrow, Lower Hopewell, Bridgeton, New Jersey, United States, 14 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Joel Allen, True Vine  Pentecostal Church, Gouldtown, New Jersey, United States, 17 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Zamarah Corley, True Vine  Pentecostal Church, Gouldtown, New Jersey, United States, 17 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Posted Private Property, Gouldtown, New Jersey, United States, 17 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Pastor Hopeton Bartley, True Liberty Church, Bridgeton, New Jersey, United States, 17 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Pauline Fearon, Usher, True Liberty Church, Bridgeton, New Jersey, United States, 17 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Shopping Mall, Vineland, New Jersey, United States, 17 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Wall Display, Farm Market, Vineland, New Jersey, United States, 17 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Angelo Favretto, Farmer, Vineland, New Jersey, United States, 17 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Overgrown House, Bridgeton, New Jersey, United States, 15 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Eleanor Favoretto, Retired farmer, Vineland, New Jersey, United States, 17 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Christmas Decorations, Angelo’s House, Vineland, New Jersey, United States, 17 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Texas Roadhouse, Millville, New Jersey, United States, 17 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Pastor Wayne Slaughter’s 60th Birthday Party, Cornbread House Restaurant, Gouldtown, New Jersey, United States, 16 August 2014 © Martin Toft

King Crab Ranch and Marina, Port Norris, New Jersey, United States, 13 August 2014 © Martin Toft 

Shell Pile, Bivalve, New Jersey, United States, 13 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Port Norris Town, New Jersey, United States, 13 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Roadside Memorial, Millville, New Jersey, United States, 14 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Steven Thomas, Racedriver, New Jersey Motorsports Park, Millville, New Jersey, United States, 14 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

New Jersey Motorsports Park, Millville, New Jersey, United States, 14 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Millville Army Air Field, Millville Airport, New Jersey, United States, 14 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Millville Army Air Field Museum, Millville Airport, New Jersey, United States, 15 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Walter S. Kocielski, WWII War Veteran (4th Marine Div Iwo Jima), Millville Army Air Field, Millville Airport, New Jersey, United States, 15 August 2014 © Martin Toft

Hangar, Millville Army Air Field Museum, Millville Airport, New Jersey, United States, 14 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Paul Simmons, Micro-Brewer, Glasstown Brewing Company, Millville Airport, New Jersey, United States, 14 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Residential House, Bridgeton, New Jersey, United States, 14 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Christopher Brown, Gas Attendant, Bridgeton, New Jersey, United States, 14 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Farm Area, Hopewell Township, Bridgeton, New Jersey, United States, 14 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Water Tower, Lower Hopewell, Bridgeton, New Jersey, United States, 14 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Juan Diaz, Bridgeton, New Jersey, United States, 15 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Porch, Diaz’s Farm, Bridgeton, New Jersey, United States, 15 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Yeicob Diaz, Puerto Rican Farmer, Bridgeton, New Jersey, United States, 15 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Barn, Hopewell, Bridgeton, New Jersey, United States, 15 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Irrigation, Lower Hopewell, Bridgeton, New Jersey, United States, 15 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Dale Watson, Retired Farmer, Lower Hopewell, Bridgeton, New Jersey, United States, 15 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Eastside, Bridgeton, New Jersey, United States, 15 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Marquise, Dershawn and James, Eastside, Bridgeton, New Jersey, United States, 15 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Empty Shop, Main Street, Millville, New Jersey, United States, 16 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Maria McFarland, Breakfast Attendant, Quality Inn & Suites, Millville, New Jersey, United States, 16 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

‘Village on High’, Art Community, Millville, New Jersey, United States, 16 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Marcus Owens, Millville, New Jersey, United States, 16 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Sharp Stream Dam, Millville, New Jersey, United States, 16 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Deer Trophy, Rob’s House, Bridgeton, New Jersey, United States, 16 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

James (Rob) Warren, Retired Navy Petty Officer, Bridgeton, New Jersey, United States, 16 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Yard Sale, Bridgeton, New Jersey, United States, 16 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

‘Do Not Touch’, Car Park, Shopping Mall, Rio Grande, New Jersey, United States, 13 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Car Crash, Millville, New Jersey, United States, 15 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Mon 15 Sept: Atlantic City is the subject in this post of our ongoing online archive of Jersey – New Jersey. In 1964, the Bailiff of Jersey, Sir R. H. Le Masurier and his wife spend a weekend here as part of their official visit for the tercentenary celebrations. They stayed in the Presidential Suite at the historical Claridge Hotel and enjoyed a magnificent view of the Atlantic Coast and the famous Boardwalk below. Imagining what they saw 50 years ago I followed in their footsteps and spend a weekend too, at the Claridge. Gambling seems to be on the wane, with a number of well known casinos already closed or in the process of closing down.  Although thousands of people from Philidelphia, New York and beyond still flock to the card tables and slot machines with hopes of winning it big, the city did feel a little exhausted from its bright lights and spinning wheels. Coincidently, Jersey in the Channel Islands has for some time been debating if Fort Regent (a large sports facility in St Helier) should become a casino and gambling hall. Recently, new plans have been submitted for a state-of-the-art sport and leisure complex and it seems Jersey is thinking twice about introducing legalised gambling in a small island community. Atlantic City too, is going through a period of transition trying to reinvent itself as a modern resort town that offers more than roulettes and black jack tables. It shall be interesting to see what will happen to an ageing city, that once served as the inspiration for the original version of the board game Monopoly.

 

Route 30 to Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 8 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Atlantic Wonder Park,  Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 8 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Thomas Broadbeck, Table Games Dealer, Bally’s, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 8 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 Steel Pier, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 8 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 8 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Empty Casino Floor, The Claridge Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 8 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Slot Machines, Bally’s, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 8 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Hallway, Bally’s, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 8 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

James Green, Security, The Claridge Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 9 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Church of the Ascension, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 9 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Joseph Perry, Street Entertainer, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 9 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Parking Lot, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 9 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Broken Tiles, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 9 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Showboat, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 9 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Bashir (Bash) Smith, Professional Poker Player, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 9 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

State Marina, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 9 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Car Park, Golden Nugget Casino & Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 9 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Golden Nugget Casino & Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 9 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

The Boardwalk, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 9 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 9 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Korean War Memorial, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 9 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Karaoke, Tropicana Casino and Resort, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 9 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Caesar, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino,  Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 9 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

The Claridge Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 9 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Abraham Dukely, Street Cleaner, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 10 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Brigantine Bridge, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States, 9 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Mon 8 Sept: This post follows on from previous dispatch from Asbury Park and Ocean Grove and features the Jersey Shore, a coastal region that encompasses about 127 miles of ocean front from Sandy Hook in the north to Cape May in the south. It seems everybody in New Jersey flocks to the Atlantic Coast in the summer, or ‘going down the shore’ as locals would phrase it. Famous for its many boardwalks, amusement arcades and water parks as well as it white sand it’s not only a popular vacation spot for New Jerseyans but it attracts people from New York, Philadelphia and Quebec and various other states in the Northeastern USA. In Jersey, Channel Islands the most popular beach is the five mile road in St Ouen’s Bay which too attract both locals and visitors alike. The Atlantic Ocean washes up on both shores but leaves different traces in the sand. Winter storms here can wreck havoc on sea defence systems, but nothing like Superstorm Sandy which damaged many communities along the Shore. Two years later many houses, boardwalks and coastal protection barriers have been rebuild along with a renewed spirit of having fun again. However, Jersey Shore is more than sunshine and sandy beaches. Here in this selection of photographs from communities situated both along the ocean front and the bayside you will find a Catholic retreat, training grounds for the National Guard and old fishing villages, not to mention Atlantic City. But that destination, perhaps NJ’s most famous or infamous place on the Atlantic coast will have its own post next.

 

Chapel Beach Club, Sea Bright, New Jersey, United States, 31 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Pool, Chapel Beach Club, Sea Bright, New Jersey, United States, 31 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Sea Bright, New Jersey, United States, 30 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Patricia Townsend, Deal, New Jersey, United States, 31 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Long Branch, New Jersey, United States, 31 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Ocean Avenue, Deal, New Jersey, United States, 31 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Brittany Forte, Branded Surf Skate, Long Branch, New Jersey, United States, 31 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 Iron Gate, Deal, New Jersey, United States, 31 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Raymond Falack, Surfer, Deal, New Jersey, United States, 31 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Bayside, Sea Bright, New Jersey, United States, 30 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Mark Morsella, Retired Research Engineer, Loch Arbour, New Jersey, United States, 31 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Belmar, New Jersey, United States, 4 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Storage, National Guard Militia Museum, Sea Girt, New Jersey, United States, 4 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Specialist Colin M. McGrath, New Jersey Army  National Guard, Sea Girt, New Jersey, United States, 4 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Saddam Hussein, National Guard Militia Museum, Sea Girt, New Jersey, United States, 4 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Disused Shed, Regional Training Institute, New Jersey Army National Guard, Sea Girt, New Jersey, United States, 4 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

Damaged Beach House (Superstorm Sandy), Normandy Beach, New Jersey, United States, 5 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft 

The River Queen, Brielle, New Jersey, United States, 4 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Pool Area, Point Pleasant Manor, Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, United States, 5 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

New Seaside Houses, Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, United States, 5 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

Michael Ragozine, Demolition Man, Mantoloking, New Jersey, United States, 5 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

Bungalows, Ocean Beach, New Jersey, United States, 5 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

Beach, Ocean Beach, New Jersey, United States, 5 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Bruce Springsteen, Seaside Heights, New Jersey, United States, 5 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Claudia Reed, Seaside Heights, New Jersey, United States, 5 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Elvis, Funtown Pier, Seaside Heights, New Jersey, United States, 5 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

James (Jim) Mahon, Retired Restaurant Manager, EJ’s Bar, Boardwalk, Seaside Heights, New Jersey, United States, 5 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

Casino, Seaside Heights, New Jersey, United States, 5 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Boy, Seaside Park, New Jersey, United States, 5 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Residential area, Barnegat, New Jersey, United States, 6 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Emilie Lette and Cassandro Mokracek, Waretown, New Jersey, United States, 6 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

‘Loyal to Our Duty’, Graveyard, Barnegat Friends Meeting House (1767), Barnegat, New Jersey, United States, 6 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft 

Gerardo Gazcon, Construction Worker, Waretown, New Jersey, United States, 6 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Billboard, Manahawkin Bay, New Jersey, United States, 6 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Joe Nicolaisen, Retail Assistant, Barnegat, New Jersey, United States, 6 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Road Sign, Adult Superstore, Manahawkin, New Jersey, United States, 6 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft 

 

Houses on Stilts, Manahawkin Bay, New Jersey, United States, 6 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Louis Puskas, Retired Fisherman, Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island, New Jersey, United States, 8 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Museum, Viking Village, Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island, New Jersey, United States, 8 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Barnegat Lighthouse, Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island, New Jersey, United States, 6 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft 

 

Ice, Bait, Tackle, Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island, New Jersey, United States, 6 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Michele Kelly, Owner, Kelly’s Old Barney Restaurant, Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island, New Jersey, United States, 7 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft 

Assembly Hall, Barnegat Light Borough Hall, Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island, New Jersey, United States, 7 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

Barnegat Light Museum, Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island, New Jersey, United States, 7 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft 

 

Marion Larson, Hollybush East (1863), Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island, New Jersey, United States, 7 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Barnegat Light House Chair, Hollybush East (1863), Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island, New Jersey, United States, 7 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft 

Sunset Cruise, Miss Barnegat Light,  Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island, New Jersey, United States, 7 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Nicholas (Nick) Zlotnik, Captain, ‘Bear’, Scallop Dragger, Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island, New Jersey, United States, 7 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

Packing Sheds, Viking Village, Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island, New Jersey, United States, 7 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Fun Fair, Surf City, Long Beach Island, New Jersey, United States, 7 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Joe Popps Shore Bar and Restaurant, Ship Bottom, Long Beach Island, New Jersey, United States, 7 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Beach, Beach Haven, Long Beach Island, New Jersey, United States, 7 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft 

Oyster Creek, Leeds Point, New Jersey, United States, 8 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Sister James, Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Villa Maria by the Sea Convent, Stone Harbor, New Jersey, United States, 13 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

Residential area, Stone Harbor, New Jersey, United States, 11 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

The Heenans, Stone Harbor, New Jersey, United States, 10 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

View of Stone Harbor from Grassy Sound Bridge, New Jersey, United States, 10 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

Mansion, Avalon, New Jersey, United States, 10 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Boardwalk, Wildwood, New Jersey, United States, 10 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Jamie Bottoms, Waitress, The Lobster House, Fisherman’s Wharf, Cape May Harbor, New Jersey, United States, 11 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

SS Atlantus, Sunset Beach, Cape May Point, New Jersey, United States, 11 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Santos Andujer and Jasmin Andujer, Beach, Cape May, New Jersey, United States, 11 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Fire Control Tower No. 23 Bunker, Sunset Boulevard, Cape May Point, New Jersey, United States, 11 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft 

 

Liquor Store, Cape May, New Jersey, United States, 11 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Lobby, Congress Hall, Cape May, New Jersey, United States, 11 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Front Garden, Congress Hall, Cape May, New Jersey, United States, 11 Aug 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Sun 17 Aug: The third dispatch from New Jersey features a series of photographs from two very different communities situated side by side along the Atlantic shore. Asbury Park has a rich history as a seaside destination with changing popularity over the years from its growth in 1890s Victorian era to its decline after WWII with the construction of Garden State Parkway, culminating in race riots in 1970 and people deserting its famous boardwalk for other places to visit along the Jersey Shore. In recent years, Asbury Park has experienced a cultural revival with new younger communities moving down from New York bringing with them a renewed creativity of music, arts and food culture. If Asbury is noisy and vibrant then Ocean Grove is calm and conservative. Founded in 1869 by a group of Methodist clergymen as a summer camp meeting site on the New Jersey shore it boasted a set of unique laws, including one that made it illegal on Sundays to have cars on the streets of Ocean Grove (the beach was closed on Sunday, too). This community situated on a square mile of prime coastal land is also known for its many tents put up around its most prominent architectural structure, the Great Auditorium build in 1894 as a theatre-style arena with cushioned seating capacity for 6250 pilgrims. Historically, the Isle of Jersey also has a strong Methodist influence, both in legislature and culture. Tourism in the island similarly began during Queen Victoria’s reign with improvements of transport links with mainland England and reached it’s heyday in the postwar period from 1950s to the 1980s. Today, the tourism industry is not a major contributor to the local economy although a re-branding of Jersey as an attractive holiday destination is taking place.

 

Tamika Tolliver, Beach, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 1 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Casino Entrance, Boardwalk, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 3 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Westside, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 2 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Paradise, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 2 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 Faith van Wart, Sales Associate, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 2 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

The Stone Pony Summer Stage, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 2 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Back Alley, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 2 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Golden Clippers, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 2 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Sister, Our Lady of Mt Carmel Roman Catholic Church, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 3 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Father George, Our Lady of Mt Carmel Roman Catholic Church, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 3 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Signs, Our Lady of Mt Carmel Roman Catholic Church, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 3 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Sherman Thomas, Sound Engineer at LA Vision Studio, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 3 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Tupac & Biggie, LA Vision Studio, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 3 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 Waiting Room, Golden Clippers, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 2 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Unisex Hair Salon, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 3 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Lois White, Artist and Executive Director, Exhibit No. 9, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 2 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Crystal Ballroom, Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel Asbury Park (originally named Berkeley-Carteret Hotel), New Jersey, United States, 1 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Eran Silverberg, Wedding Reception, Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 1 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Matt Kelly, Cook, Boardwalk, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 1 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Residential home, Asbury Park Avenue, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 3 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 Leroy Williams James, Landscape Gardener, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 3 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

A Chat and A Nibble, Asbury Park Avenue, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 3 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Deal Lake, Between Deal and Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 30 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Richard Thomas and Sam Rock, Police Officers, Boardwalk, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 1 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Karl, 1st Avenue, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 1 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Boarded Up, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 3 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Rasul Darryl, Shop Owner, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 2 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

James H Bradley, Founder of Asbury Park, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 1 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Dan Waszay, Musician, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 30 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Colonial Motel, Asbury Park Avenue, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 3 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Atlantic Ocean, Asbury Park, New Jersey, United States, 1 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Residential Home, Ocean Grove, New Jersey, United States, 4 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Tent City, Ocean Grove, New Jersey, United States, 4 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Ocean Grove Auditorium, Ocean Grove, New Jersey, United States, 4 August 2014 © Martin Toft

Ronald Naldi, Tenor Soloist, Ocean Grove Auditorium, Ocean Grove, New Jersey, United States, 4 August 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Tue 12 Aug 2014: Imagine what Philip de Carteret and his entourage from Jersey saw as they entered Raritan Bay, New Jersey at the Southern area of Lower New York Bay in August 1665. The Bay is named after the Raritans, a branch of the Lenape Indians who lived in the vicinity of the bay for thousand years prior to the arrival of European colonists. Here is a selection of photographs from communities of Monmouth County living along Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook Bay. Sandy Hook is a large sand barrier peninsula and a recreational park with uninterrupted view of the Manhattan skyline. Managed by Gateway National Recreation Area, it’s six miles of sand and bay beaches is a popular place for 2 million visitors annually who enjoy its historic landmarks, natural areas and recreational facilities. At the very tip is the Sandy Hook Lighthouse and the U.S. Army deactivated Fort Hancock, which served as an active military installation from 1874 until 1975. Most people who live in Jersey, Channel Islands will head to St Ouen’s Bay for relaxation and a sense of wilderness. Sandy Hook Bay shares that same purpose, both geographically and culturally.

 

 Rah’miere Sanders, Raritan Bay Waterfront Park, South Amboy, New Jersey, United States, 28 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Keansburg Amusement Park, Keansburg, New Jersey, United States, 28 July 2014 © Martin Toft 

Pizzabar, Keansburg Amusement Park, Keansburg, New Jersey, United States, 28 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

William Anderson, Keansburg Amusement Park, Keansburg, New Jersey, United States, 28 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Belford Seafood Co-operative, Belford, New Jersey, United States, 28 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 Inlet, Belford Seafood Co-operative, Belford, New Jersey, United States, 29 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 Philip Kaylor, Maintenance, Belford Seafood Co-operative, Belford, New Jersey, United States, 29 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Maintenance Workshop, Belford Seafood Co-operative, Belford, New Jersey, United States, 29 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Frank Way, Deckhand, Belford Seafood Co-operative, Belford, New Jersey, United States, 29 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Disused Packing House, Belford Seafood Co-operative, Belford, New Jersey, United States, 29 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Edward Alesoz, Belford, New Jersey, United States, 29 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Fork Truck, Belford Seafood Co-operative, Belford, New Jersey, United States, 29 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 Shore Casino, Atlantic Highlands Marina, New Jersey, United States, 30 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Top Floor, East Pointe Apartment Block, Highlands, New Jersey, United States, 30 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Mason Wye (92), Retired.  (A bombardier from WWII stationed in Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge, UK) East Pointe Apartment Block, Highlands, New Jersey, United States, 30 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Mason’s English forefathers, East Pointe Apartment Block, Highlands, New Jersey, United States, 30 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Lobby, East Pointe Apartment Block, Highlands, New Jersey, United States, 30 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Gabriella Titusville, Student, Highlands, New Jersey, United States, 30 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 Bay Avenue, Highlands, New Jersey, United States, 30 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Sandy Hook Bay Marina, Highlands, New Jersey, United States, 30 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Damaged property (Hurricane Sandy), Sandy Hook Bay Marina, Highlands, New Jersey, United States, 30 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Herdsman, Robert (Bob) Flood with a Jersey Cow, Leonardo, New Jersey, United States, 29 July 2014 © Martin Toft

Margaret Spears daughter of herdsman, Robert (Bob) Flood, Leonardo, New Jersey, United States, 29 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Navesink River, New Jersey, United States, 29 July 2014 © Martin Toft

Mural, Red Bank, New Jersey, United States, 29 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 Jason King, Boat Handler, Twin Light Marina, Highlands, New Jersey, United States, 30 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Highlands Reach, Highlands, New Jersey, United States, 30 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Captain Joseph Azzolina Memorial Bridge, Highlands, New Jersey, United States, 30 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 South Beach Area C, Sandy Hook, New Jersey, United States, 30 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 Connor & Kyle, Free Concert, South Beach Area E, Sandy Hook, New Jersey, United States, 30 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Fort Hancock, Sandy Hook, New Jersey, United States, 30 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Manhattan Skyline, Sandy Hook Bay, New Jersey, United States, 30 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Sat 2 Aug 2014: The town of Elizabeth in New Jersey, USA was where Phillip de Carteret, the first Governor of the State, settled in August 1665 having arrived from the Isle of Jersey, travelling from England on his ship ‘Phillip’. They had entered the Raritan Bay and travelled up Arthur Kill (an anglicisation of the Dutch language achter kill meaning back channel) – a tidal strait and major navigational channel separating Staten Island, New York City from mainland New Jersey. This stretch of water is also referred to as Chemical Coastline due to its vast area of petroleum and chemical plants situated along its shores. Here is a selection of photographs of people and places, including the Borough of Carteret along this coastal area stretching from Elizabeth to Perth Amboy.

 

Daquin and Tae, Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States, 24 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 Cleaning, Oak Grand Motel, Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States, 24 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Samuel Saul Hart, African-American, Retired Railroad worker, Elizabeth, New Jersey, Unites States, 24 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Joyce Chiu, Taiwanese, Owner of Martin’s Restaurant, Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States, 24 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Bust of Elias Boudinot, Boxwood Hall, Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States, 24 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Frank D’Adamo, Italian, Barber, Martin Building Barbershop, Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States, 24 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Iglesia Cristiana El Redentor, Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States, 24 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Sajado Stuckey, African-American, Musician, Elizabeth River, Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States, 24 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

New Jersey Turnpike, Elizabeth River, Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States, 24 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Elizabeth River, Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States, 24 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Warehouses, Elizabethport, Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States, 24 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

John Ogden’s Bible (founding father of Elizabethtown) Geneva Edition, 1599 − 1610, First Presbyterian Church, Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States, 25 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

First Presbyterian Church, Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States, 25 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Sheila Robinson, Cook and Honorary Member of the First Presbyterian Church, Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States, 25 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Singer Factories, Elizabethport, New Jersey, United States, 25 July 2014 © Martin Toft

Angel Luis Cedeno, Puerto-Rican, Owner of George’s Lunch, Singer Factories, Elizabethport, New Jersey, United States, 25 July 2014 © Martin Toft

George’s Lunch, Singer Factories, Elizabethport, New Jersey, United States, 25 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Rezearti Beshi, Albanian, Truck driver and owner of Alpha I Transport, Singer Factories, Elizabethport, New Jersey, United States, 25 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Derelict bridge, Elizabeth River mouth, Elizabethport, New Jersey, United States, 25 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Duarte-Marti School, Elizabethport, New Jersey, United States, 25 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Daniel and Junior, Baseball practice, Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States, 25 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Bayway Refinery, Port of New York and New Jersey, Linden and Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States, 25 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Entrance to New Jersey Turnpike, Carteret, New Jersey, United States, 26 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Major Singh, Gardener, Carteret, New Jersey, United States, 26 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Joseph Medwick Mobile Park, Carteret, New Jersey, United States, 26 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

16 Birthday party, Port Reading, Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, United States, 26 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Steven Aleno, Demolition contractor, Carteret, New Jersey, United States, 28 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Carteret Abattoir, Carteret, New Jersey, United States, 27 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Disused railroad track, Port of Carteret, New Jersey, United States, 26 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Petroleum Tanks, Port Reading Refinery, Woodbridge, New Jersey, United States, 27 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Personal photographs, James Palfi, Hungarian, retired Electrical Contractor, Veteran’s Pier, Carteret Waterfront Park Boat Launch, Carteret, New Jersey, United States, 26 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Tyra and Khalil, Veteran’s Pier, Carteret Waterfront Park Boat Launch, Carteret, New Jersey, United States, 26 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

JFK, Mayor’s Office, Memorial Municipal Building, Carteret, New Jersey, United States, 28 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Daniel J. Rieman, Mayor of the Borough of Carteret, Mayor’s Office, Memorial Municipal Building, Carteret, New Jersey, United States, 28 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Industrial Park, Carteret, New Jersey, United States, 27 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Sikh Temple, Port Reading, New Jersey, United States, 27 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Michel Costes, Retired M.D., Carteret, New Jersey, United States, 27 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Kinder Morgan Terminals, Industrial Park, Carteret, New Jersey, United States, 27 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 Puerto-Rican Wedding, Alvin P. Williams Memorial Park, Sewaren, New Jersey, United States, 27 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Jyan Aenrique, Equadorian, Waterfront, Perth Amboy, Sewaren, New Jersey, United States, 27 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Mon 21 July:  This year’s 350th anniversary of the naming of New Jersey by Sir George de Carteret in 1664 is the main inspiration behind our project. The photographs in this last post from Jersey’s west coast are from St Ouen’s Manor, the ancestral home of the de Carteret family. These images attempt to show both in a factual and a poetic way how this manor house, which dates back to the 12th Century emerges from an ancient past as the traditional home of the Seigneur of St Ouen to a modern leisure venue staging private weddings and corporate functions without loosing its historical significance and charm for people in the Channel Islands. In a few days we will be making our way to New Jersey to begin our journey of mapping, in a new photographic document both the historical and the contemporary between two places who share the same name, but are separated by the Atlantic.

 

Charles Mallet de Carteret, Seigneur of St Ouen, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 18 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Restorations, Ruth Rolls, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Squirrel ornaments, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 7 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Reflection, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Roman Catholic Priest, François Scornet Memorial, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 18 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

François Scornet Memorial, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 18 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

François Scornet’s Axe and Woggle, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 7 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Fire in the Attic, German Occupation, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Marquee Chairs, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 7 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Adele Mallet de Carteret, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 7 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Paul Botrel, Grounds Manager, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Letter from King Charles II, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

White Horses, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Dove Cote, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Wedding Marquee, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 28 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Jim Hardey, Joiner, Basement, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Walled Garden, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 28 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Wedding Reception, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 28 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 Vivier, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 28 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Trumpeteer, François Scornet Memorial, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 18 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 28 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Branchage, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 2 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Best Man, Wedding Reception, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 28 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

American Visitors, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 2 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Dusk, St Ouen’s Manor, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 28 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Fri 11 July: St Ouen is often perceived as the most traditional of Jersey’s parishes partly owing to its farthermost geographic position from St Helier, the island’s capital. However, as traditional lifestyles such as farming and fishing slowly diminish and new folk move out west, identities shift and add to the social landscape. A parish is a microcosm which can only thrive when its inhabitants actively engage in their community through work or leisure. This post features photographs of parish life, both private and public.

 

 Officer’s Mesh Uniform, Major Michael John Barthorpe, La Croute, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 15 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

  Major Michael John Barthorpe, La Croute, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 15 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

German Identity Cards, Michael Ginns, Les Geonnais de Bas, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 21 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Michael Ginns, Author and Honary Secretary of Jersey’s Occupation Society, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 21 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Dining Room, Les Geonnais de Bas, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 21 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Carolyn Folliot, ‘La Fantasie’, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 5 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Michelle Smith, ‘La Fantasie’, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 5 June 2014 © Martin Toft

Charlie Smith, ‘La Fantasie’, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 5 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Removal Boxes, ‘La Fantasie’, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 5 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Gloria le Guilcher, St Ouen’s Youth and Community Centre, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 16 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Spring flowering, St Ouen’s Youth and Community Centre, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 17 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 Taye Le Monnier, Miss Jersey Battle of Flowers 2013, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 8 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Parish Hall, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 7 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

David Myatt, Consul Honoraire de France, (resident of St Ouen), Jersey, Channel Islands, 6 May 2014 © Martin Toft

Queen Elizabeth II, Parish Hall, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 7 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Brian Follain, Boxing referee and retired Police Officer, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 28 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Claire Follain, Barrister, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 28 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Manor Farm, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 17 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Kitchen, Middlewood Farm, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 7 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Geese, Middlewood Farm, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 7 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Bryan Le Brocq, retired Cattle Farmer, Middlewood Farm, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 7 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Bryan in America in the 1960s, Middlewood Farm, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 7 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Burnt Rubbish, Middlewood Farm, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 7 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Box trailer, Middlewood Farm, St Peter, Channel Islands, 7 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Pedro Manuel Coelho Terinho, Joiner apprentice, Middlewood Farm, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Firewood , Middlewood Farm, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 July 2014 © Martin Toft

Meadow, Middlewood Farm, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

  Grading potatoes, Fose Au Bois Farm, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 14 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Time sheets, Fose Au Bois Farm, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 14 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Michot Tgczak, Tractor driver, Fose Au Bois Farm, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 14 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Packing shed, Fose Au Bois Farm, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 14 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Rafal Kusek, Farm worker, Fose Au Bois Farm, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 14 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Yard, Fose Au Bois Farm, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 14 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Farm workers accommodation, Fose Au Bois Farm, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 14 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Angelika Tabor, Farm worker, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 12 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Yard, Goodlands, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 27 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

String, Goodlands, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 27 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Peter Houguez, Cattle farmer, Goodlands, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 27 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Goodlands, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 27 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Idris Cottillard (daughter of Edward Cottillard), Les Catel, St John, Jersey, Channel Islands, 4 October 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Monika Grebosz and Rafal Koxub, Farm workers, Classic Farm, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 6 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Manure, Classic Farm, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 6 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Diary, Classic Farm, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 6 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Charles Quénault, Young Farmer, Classic Farm, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 6 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Reception room, Classic Kennel, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 6 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

La Maison du Marais, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 26 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Hay Baling, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 26 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Kevin Le Brocq, Farmer’s Inn, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 8 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Thrift Club Tote, Farmer’s Inn, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 8 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Rear Bar, Farmer’s Inn, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 1 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Karl Kukk, Horse trainer, Farmer’s Inn, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 12 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Interior, Farmer’s Inn, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 12 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Badlabecques, Farmer’s Inn, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 30 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Farmer’s Inn, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 26 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 Wedding reception, Farmer’s Inn, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 12 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Funeral, St Ouen’s Church, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 2 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

MP3 Tower, Battery Moltke, Les Landes, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 24 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

German Bunker, Battery Moltke, Les Landes, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 24 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 Bozena Pazdro, Jersey Choice, Grantez, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 11 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Residential Entrance, Grantez, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 25 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Manuel Oliveira, Handyman, Grantez, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 18 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 Maison de Grantez, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 25 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

The naming of Rue Henri Gonay, Grantez, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 14 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Chris Mousdale, Howling Soul Brothers, Summer Concert, Dolmens des Monts Grantez, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands,  27 June, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Foodswap, Jersey in Transition, Greve De Lecq Barracks, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 31 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 Officer’s Quarters, Greve De Lecq Barracks, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 31 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Open Gardens, Oaklands, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 Jeremy Bond, Greve De Lecq Barracks, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 31 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Greve De Lecq, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 31 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Gregorie Lucas Da Silva, Small-holder, Greve De Lecq, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 15 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Ville au Neveu, Greve De Lecq, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 12 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Lucas’s son, Greve De Lecq, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 12 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Accommodation, Ville au Neveu, Greve De Lecq, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 12 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Gary Bisson, Airfield Operator, Jersey Aero Club, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 28 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Jersey Aero Club, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 28 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Dave Nixon, Pilot, Jersey Aero Club, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 28 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Porsche, Jersey Aero Club, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 28 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Landing Lights, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 22 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Model aeroplanes, Martin Willing, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 31 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Anne-Marie Willing, retired Dancer, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 31 May 2014 © Martin Toft

Captain’s Uniform, Martin Willing, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 31 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

La Ville de Marette, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 3 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Grandchildren’s toys, Lambert and Betty Carré, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 3 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Lambert Carré, retired Farmer, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 3 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Conservatory, Lambert and Betty Carré, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 3 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Betty Carré, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 3 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Conifer, La Ville de Marette, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 3 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Track Engineer, La Rosier Desalination Plant, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands, 29 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

La Rosier Desalination Plant, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands, 29 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Start, Half Marathon, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 15 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Half Marathon, L’Etacq, St Ouen, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 15 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Listed Wall, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 22 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

David Priaulx, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 16 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Boundary Trees, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 15 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Residential House, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 15 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Dry Stone Wall, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 15 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Emily Pinel, Park Ranger, Amazin Adventure Park, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, © Martin Toft, 6 July 2014

 

Farm Animals, Amazin Adventure Park, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, © Martin Toft, 6 July 2014

 

La Ville Vautier, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, © Martin Toft, 28 June 2014

 

David Coen, Stonemason, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 23 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Fields, Grantez, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 15 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Oliver McGrath, Student, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands, 19 April 2014 © Martin Toft

St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands, 19 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Wedding photographs, Dennis and Sylwia Le Brocq, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 17 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 Granite Wall, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 22 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 ‘Coin Girl’, Tractor Plough Day, Trinity, Jersey, Channel Islands, 26 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Window display, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, © Martin Toft, 7 June 2014

 

Road junction, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, © Martin Toft, 17 June 2014

 

Ron Vibert, Manor Farm, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 17 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Plemont Bay, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, © Martin Toft, 29 June 2014

 

Youth, Plemont Bay, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, © Martin Toft, 29 June 2014

 

Pontins Holiday Camp, Plemont Bay, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, © Martin Toft, 11 Jan 2014

 

Reception, Queen’s Birthday Honours List, Government House, St Saviour, Jersey, Channel Islands, 20 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Queen’s Birthday Honours List, Government House, St Saviour, Jersey, Channel Islands, 20 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Young Guard, Queen’s Birthday Honours List, Government House, St Saviour, Jersey, Channel Islands, 20 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Tue 1 July: St Ouen’s Bay is the largest unspoilt area on the west coast of Jersey stretching from Corbière Lighthouse (South) to L’Etacq (North.) Here is a series of photographs made in the last few months showing the epic and mundane, the ordinary and extraordinary of this area’s unique identity, history and geography.

 

Bedroom, Spion Kop Farm, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 29 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Arthur Le Blancq, Spion Kop Farm, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 29 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Cupboard, Spion Kop Farm, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 29 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Newspaper clipping, Spion Kop Farm, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 29 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Outbuilding, Spion Kop Farm, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 29 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Tractor calendar, Spion Kop Farm, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 29 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Spion Kop Farm, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 29 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Fir Trees, Spion Kop Farm, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 29 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Easyjet, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 19 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Frances Brookner, former barmaid, Chateau Plaisir, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 24 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Emile ‘Shorty’ Ruellan’s bedroom, (former manager of Chateau Plaisir), St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 2 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Help for Heroes Charity Shop (former nightclub Chateau Plaisir), St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 29 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Finlay Arenz, Chateau Plaisir, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 12 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Accommodation, Chateau Plaisir, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 24 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Col Mourant, Chateau, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 12 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Chateau Plaisir, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 26 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Cypress Fir trees, Five Mile Road, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 26 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

L’Etacq, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 29 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

John Baudains, Low-water fishing, L’Etacq, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 28 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Fish Tanks, Faulkner Fisheries, L’Etacq, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 29 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Chris Vautier, Faulkner Fisheries, L’Etacq, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 29 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Murial, Faulkner Fisheries, L’Etacq, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 29 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

German Tourist, Faulkner Fisheries, L’Etacq, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 29 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Roads (near Mont Huelin), L’Etacq, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 15 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Le Grand Etacquerel, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 29 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

German Bunker, Faulkner Fisheries, L’Etacq, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 29 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Waves, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

‘My father was a Captain’, Joan Syvret-Thompson’s family album, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 10 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Fallen Cypress Fir tree, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 22 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Rock, L’Etacq, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 29 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

View across the bay, L’Etacq, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 11 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Digging potatoes, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 14 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Electricity pole, Les Pres, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 10 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Folly, Les Pres, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 10 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Interior, Arthur Quérée’s house, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 10 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Joan and Don Syvret-Thompson, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 10 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Pilot’s Notes, Flight-Litenant, RAF, Don Syvret-Thompson’s, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 10 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Jersey Scout Centre, St Ouen Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands,  25 May, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Decorations, Sian and Tim Silvester’s wedding, Jersey Scout Centre, Five Mile Road, St Ouen Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands,  25 May, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Jude Usher, Jersey Scout Centre, Five Mile Road, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands,  25 May, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Swing, Five Mile Road, St Ouen Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands,  9 April, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Brian Riant, Jersey Model Aero Club, Les landes, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands,  31 May, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

La Moye Golf Club, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands,  9 April, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Hole 7, La Moye Golf Club, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands,  9 April, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Changing rooms, La Moye Golf Club, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands,  9 April, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Car Park, La Moye Golf Club, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands,  9 April, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Rock, La Corbière, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands,  13 June, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

German Bunker, La Corbière, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands,  13 June, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Elise Surf Centre, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 24 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Laneez Surf Centre, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 24 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Le Porte, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 24 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Surfing, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 24 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

RNLI Lifeguards, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 24 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

St Ouen’s Bay (from Le Porte), Jersey, Channel Islands, 10 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Dead Rabbit, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 10 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

German Bunker, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 10 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Weathered Cypress Fir tree, Five Mile Road, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 24 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Slipway, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 10 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Antennas, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 24 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Granite Fireplace, Lake Vale, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands,  13 April, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Tom Rolls, Surfer, Songs of the Sea, Le Grouet, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands,  16 April, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Sand Racing, La Braye, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 14 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Leo Gomes, Sand Racing, La Braye, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 14 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Sand boarding, Dunes, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 17 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 Seawall, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 24 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Coming into Landing, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 7 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

White Cloud, Les Pres, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 5 June 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Quarry, La Haut de L”Etacq, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 14 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Wedding, La Mare au Seigneur (St Ouen’s Pond), St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 31 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

David Lister, Registered Celebrant, La Mare au Seigneur (St Ouen’s Pond), St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 31 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Dunes, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 17 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Residential houses, Five Mile Road, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 25 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Wayne Du Feu, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 29 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Flag, La Robeline, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 18 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Fields, La Robeline, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 18 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Hameau D’Orge, La Robeline, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 18 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

The Vautier Family, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 April 2014 © Martin Toft

Thistle, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 6 July 2014 © Martin Toft

Philip Le Gresley, retired Woodcarver, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 6 July 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Display, Channel Island Military Museum, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 6 July 2014 © Martin Toft

Maison St Mare, Sunset Nurseries, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 18 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Sunset Nurseries, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 18 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Storm, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 17 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

David Turner, Corbière Lighthouse Guardian, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands,  13 June, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Entrance, Corbière Lighthouse, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands,  13 June, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Kitchen, La Maison des Pres, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands,  5 June, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 Frank Carré, La Maison des Pres, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands,  5 June, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 Frank’s Boxing Trophy, La Maison des Pres, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands,  5 June, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

La Maison des Pres, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands,  5 June, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Ian Rolls, Artist, Songs of the Sea, Le Grouet, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands,  16 April, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Willoughby Pirouet, La Basseligne, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands,  18 May, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Children’s Play Area, Le Mont Matthieu,  St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands,  15 April, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Ron Le Main, Dolmens des Monts Grantez, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands,  7 April, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Stone wall, Dolmens des Monts Grantez, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands,  7 April, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Summer Concert, Dolmens des Monts Grantez, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands,  27 June, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Monica’s birthday, White House, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands,  14 June, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Birthday Party, White House, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands,  14 June, 2014 © Martin Toft

Sunset, Watersplash, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands,  14 June, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

White House, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands,  14 June, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Open Deck, Watersplash, St Ouen’s Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands,  14 June, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

1781 Jersey Militia, (at the 15-gun salute of frigate, HMS Iron Duke), Corbière, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands,  20 June, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

15-gun salute of frigate, HMS Iron Duke, (near Radio Tower), Corbière, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands,  20 June, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Royal Marine Cadets and Jersey Officials,  Corbière, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands,  20 June, 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Wed 4 June: It is natural to island geographies that fishing is a primary source of livelihood. The evidence of oyster shells found at La Hougue Bie, Jersey a Neolithic passage grave constructed between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago is indicative of ancient fishing and maritime traditions. Jersey has been the birthplace of adventurous mariners over the centuries. From as far back as the sixteenth century Jersey ships ventured across the Atlantic Ocean to exploit the rich cod fisheries off the coast of British North America (Canada). By the nineteenth century a number of prominent Jersey mercantile families had established well developed trade bases in Canada, South America and Europe completing what Rosemary Ommer has described as the Jersey ‘cod trade triangle’.[1] Managed from the island metropole, this triangular trade system involved the capture and processing of dried cod fish in Canada for transportation and sale in the ports of Brazil where vessels were loaded with return cargoes including coffee, sugar and hardwood ballast. Today Jersey fishermen predominantly fish local waters for high value shell fish catches such as lobster and crab. Here is a set of photographs from Grève de Lecq on the North Coast of St Ouen which still hosts a small fishing community. This bay with a sandy shore is also a very popular leisure spot for locals and tourists alike.

 

 

Steve Lemprière, Semi-retired Fisherman, Grève de Lecq, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 27 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Boat Park, Grève de Lecq, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 27 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Chris Casey, Fisherman, Grève de Lecq, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 27 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Scott Samson launching Banana Split, Grève de Lecq, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 27 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Finley Taylor, RNLI Lifeguard, Grève de Lecq, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 27 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Alan Carré, Semi-retired Fisherman, Grève de Lecq, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 27 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Sea Kayak Symposium, Grève de Lecq, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 27 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Eric Martin, French Visitor, Grève de Lecq, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 27 May 2014 © Martin Toft

John Baudains, Semi-retired Fisherman, Grève de Lecq, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 27 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Ken Journeaux, Semi-retired Fisherman, Grève de Lecq, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 27 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Vernon Le Brocq, Retired Fisherman, Grève de Lecq, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 27 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Wilfred ‘Bill’ Carré, Retired Fisherman and Slaughterman, Grève de Lecq, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 27 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Play Area, Romany Cafe, Grève de Lecq, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 27 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Tourists, Romany Cafe, Grève de Lecq, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 27 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Kim, Danish Tourist Guide, Albatros Travel, Grève de Lecq, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 27 May 2014 © Martin Toft

Window Display, Romany Cafe, Grève de Lecq, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 27 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Maria Batista, Kitchen Porter, Romany Cafe, Grève de Lecq, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 27 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Thurs 22 May: Faith is often very strong and omnipresent in a small island community permeating political, cultural and social attitudes. Jersey is no different and religion has a complex history and much diversity, considering the size of the island. Here are a few photographs from some of the more traditional church communities.

 

Polish Altar Server, Easter Sunday, St Thomas Catholic Church, Jersey, Channel Islands, 20 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Stairway to Choir Gallery, Good Friday, St Thomas Catholic Church, Jersey, Channel Islands, 18 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Bethesda Methodist Church, St Ouen’s Bay, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 19 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Sunday Service, Bethesda Methodist Church, St Ouen’s Bay, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 11 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Reverend Ian Pallent, St Ouens Church, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 6 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Congretation, St Ouens Church, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 6 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Sunday School, St Ouens Church, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 6 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

Sunday Make & Bake Pre-school, Bethesda Methodist Church, St Ouen’s Bay, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 11 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Anthony Pezet, Altar Server, Good Friday, St Thomas Catholic Church, Jersey, Channel Islands, 18 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Good Friday, St Thomas Catholic Church, Jersey, Channel Islands, 18 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Prayer, Methodist Church, Trodez, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Francisco Brazao, Good Friday, St Thomas Catholic Church, Jersey, Channel Islands, 18 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Dr Omissi’s Chair, St Saviour, Jersey, Channel Islands, 16 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Krystian Skarbek, Polish Altar Boy, Easter Sunday, St Thomas Catholic Church, Jersey, Channel Islands, 18 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Montsignor Nicholas France, Good Friday, St Thomas Catholic Church, Jersey, Channel Islands, 18 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Men’s Breakfast Club, St Andrew’s Church, St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands, 19 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Robyn Pullin, St Andrew’s Church, St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands, 19 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Methodist Church, Trodez, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 24 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Hugh Lince, Methodist Church, Trodez, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Graveyard, St Ouens Church, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands,  30 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Hannah Vibert, St Andrew’s Church, St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands, 19 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Mon 12 May: The 9th May is Liberation Day in Jersey and the other Channel Islands. This public holiday marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Channel Islands from World War Two military occupation by Nazi Germany 1940-1945. Flags are the adopted symbols of national identity on Liberation Day and on 9th May you will see both Jersey’s own flag – showing the red saltire cross and the three leopards of Normandy surmounted by a crown – alongside the union flag hung from windows, doors and flag poles throughout the island. For islanders Liberation Day is the opportunity to reflect upon the experience and history of German Occupation and to celebrate freedom. Through the establishment of the tradition of an annual celebration of Liberation during a public holiday the event has also gained momentum as the island’s ‘National Day.’ While official ceremonies and government meetings take place in the Jersey capital of St Helier and the eleven other parishes, Liberation Day is marked in public and private ways across the island. These photographs, mainly taken near the west coast of Jersey, show the 69th anniversary of Liberation as it happened in 2014.

 

Liberation Day, La Ville De La Croix, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

German Tourists, Liberation Day, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Liberation Service, Methodist Church, Liberation Day, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Mrs Elaine A’Court, Worship Leader, Methodist Church, Liberation Day, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Flags, Liberation Day, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 May 2014 © Martin Toft

Charlie Blampied, Trade Council, Jersey Slave Workers Memorial Service, St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

The Lieutenant-Governor Sir John McColl, the Bailiff of Jersey Sir Michael Birt and Chief Minister Ian Gorst, Jersey Slave Workers Memorial, Westmount, St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 May 2014 © Martin Toft

Lt-Colonel, Sergey Savunov, Assistant Air-Attache to the Embassy, Russian Federation, Jersey Slave Workers Memorial, Westmount, St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Official’s cars, Jersey Slave Workers Memorial, Westmount, St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 May 2014 © Martin Toft

Val and June’s Street Party, Liberation Day, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 May 2014 © Martin Toft

Anita Smith, Val and June’s Street Party, Liberation Day, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 May 2014 © Martin Toft

Liberation Day BBQ, Heathmount, Liberation Day, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 May 2014 © Martin Toft

Shots, Heathmount, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 May 2014 © Martin Toft

Rocksteady’s 7th Birthday Liberation Party, Watersplash, Liberation Day, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 May 2014 © Martin Toft

Watersplash, Liberation Day, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 May 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

Fri 2 May: The generosity of people I have met during my travels around the west coast of Jersey has been tremendous. As in most cases the camera has been an invitation for residents to open up their home and to some extent their lives telling me stories about times gone and times to be had. In this post, I want to celebrate three incredible individuals that have welcomed me inside and allowed me to record both in pictures and interviews memories of a life lived. They have one thing in common which is, that they are all widowed and often they spoken lovingly about their deceased partner. First up, is Osmund Simon who as a teenager during the German occupation of Jersey from 1940-45 made illegal crystal radio sets. Also living through the war years, and experiencing a great deal of adversity in her long life is Mrs De La Haye, or ‘Midge’ as she is known locally in the parish, who last year in November celebrated her 100 year birthday. Lastly, we have Gerald Rowland who grew up in St Ouen’s farming and working as a joiner. His passion is music and he has taught himself how to play, first the organ and then afterwards the accordion.

Osmund Simon, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 5 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Crystal Radio Set, Osmund’s house, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 5 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Dining room, Osmund’s house, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 5 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Family Bible, Osmund’s house, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 5 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Osmund’s house, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 5 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Remembering ‘my young lady’, Osmund Simon, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 5 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Alice De La Haye (‘Midge’), St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 17 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

‘Midge”s Bedroom, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 17 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

‘Midge”s Living room, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 17 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Photo album, ‘Midge’s 100 year birthday, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 17 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

‘Midge”s Kitchen, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 17 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

‘Midge’s Front Garden, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 17 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

‘Bell Pete’, entrance to Gerald’s House, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 23 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Gerald Rowland, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 23 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Birthday cards and music lyrics, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 23 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Rueben, Gerald’s old cat, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 23 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Songbooks, Gerald’s house, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 23 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Gerald playing, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 23 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Mon 27 April: Following on from visiting the Rifle Ranges on the North coast of Jersey, I have edited a set of other pictures from this part of the island. The scenery here is wild, the terrain ruggedly beautiful with steep heather and bracken-clad cliffs that soar high above perfect little bays situated below. Although these photographs are made around some well known sites and events from the island’s cultural calendar, they attempt to show the ordinary of people and places that inhabit this coastal area.

 

Boundary trees, Les Colombiers, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands, 6 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

The Sea, North coast, St John, Jersey, Channel Islands, 30 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Laundry, Le Rondin, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands, 6 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Farm workers’ accommodation, Le Rondin, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands, 6 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Nikita and Danielle Conan, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 16 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Jordan McConnell and Robert Conan, St Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands, 16 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Family Roast Easter Sunday, Vinchelez Farm, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 20 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Transmitting Station Masts, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 15 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Entrance Ronez Quarry, St John, Jersey, Channel Islands, 9 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Motocross, Sorel Point, St John, Jersey, Channel Islands 9 March 2014, © Martin Toft

 

The Devil’s Hole, St John, Jersey, Channel Islands 30 March 2014, © Martin Toft

 

Wolf’s Caves, St John, Jersey, Channel Islands 30 March 2014, © Martin Toft

 

Members of Channel Island Occupation Society (Jersey), Battery Moltke, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands 30 March 2014, © Martin Toft

 

1943 Inscription, Battery Moltke, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands 30 March 2014, © Martin Toft

 

Grosnez Point Lighthouse, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands 21 April 2014, © Martin Toft

 

Gregorie Ciejka, Labourer, La Mare Wine Estate, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands 31 March 2014, © Martin Toft

 

Vat Room, La Mare Wine Estate, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands 31 March 2014, © Martin Toft

 

Sandor Megyes, Production Chef Assistant, La Mare Wine Estate, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands 31 March 2014, © Martin Toft

 

Heather on the headland, Les Landes, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands 13 April 2014, © Martin Toft

 

First Race Easter Monday, Jersey Race Course, Les Landes, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands 21 April 2014, © Martin Toft

 

Members tent, Jersey Race Course, Les Landes, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands 21 April 2014, © Martin Toft

 

Crown and Anchor, Jersey Race Course, Les Landes, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands 21 April 2014, © Martin Toft

 

21st Birthday party, Jersey Race Course, Les Landes, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands 21 April 2014, © Martin Toft

 

Beryl and Ken Vibert (ex-Constable of St Ouen), Grosnez Farm, Les Landes, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands 24 April 2014, © Martin Toft

 

Trophies from Cattle Shows, Grosnez Farm, Les Landes, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands 24 April 2014, © Martin Toft

 

Tue 22 April: It’s been a busy two weeks shooting with 1000s of new photographs to edit. Here is a selection of images from a few weeks ago when I visited the Shooting Ranges on the North coast. Jersey has a long tradition of producing good shooters and there are many different types of gun and archery clubs on the island.

Bruce Horwood, Competition Secretary, Jersey Riffle Association, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Nick Atkins, Chief Range Officer, Jersey Riffle Association, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Shooter, Jersey Riffle Association, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

500 Yards, Jersey Riffle Association, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

C. C. Mallett Jnr, President, Jersey Riffle Association, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Young Shooter in the Butts, Jersey Riffle Association, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Targets, Jersey Riffle Association, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Entrance Riffle Range, Jersey Riffle Association, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Mary Norman, Coach, Jersey Riffle Association, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Richard Gledhill, Jersey Pistol Club, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Inspecting Targets, Jersey Pistol Club, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Young shooter, Jersey Pistol Club, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Derek Bernard, JSF Honorary Secretary, Jersey Pistol Club, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

25 Yards Practice Range, Jersey Pistol Club, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Targets, Jersey Pistol Club, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Wall display, Jersey Riffle Association Club House, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

The Club House, Jersey Pistol Club, St Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Mon 7 April 2014: Entrepot is interested in documenting particular familes that have lived on the west coast of Jersey for generations. Some of these families are associated with traditional lifestyles, such as growing potatoes and other vegetables. Vinchelez Farm is operated by the only husband and wife team, Didier and Christine Hellio in St Ouen parish. Didier’s father, Francis at 90 is still involved in running the organic farm shop. Francis prefers to speak in Breton French.

 

Francis Hellio, Vinchelez Farm, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 5 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Christine Hellio and Elmo, Vinchelez Farm, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 5 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Empty potato boxes (from Vinchelez Farm), field in St Lawrence, Jersey, Channel Islands, 30 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Lifting the first Jersey Royals, Cotils on the North Coast, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 5 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Farm worker with hand plough, Cotils on the North Coast, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 5 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Pawel Luchiet and Kinga Kanie, Cotils on the North Coast, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 5 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Marcin Ziomek, Farm worker, Vinchelez Farm, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 5 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Farm workers living quarters, Vinchelez Farm, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 5 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Work clothes, Vinchelez Farm, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 5 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Francis Hellio, Vinchelez Farm, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 5 April 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Tue 1 April 2014: Entrepot in 2014 will mainly be focusing on the west coast of Jersey in and around the parish of St Ouen. St Ouen is the largest of the 12 Jersey parishes by area, occupying the north-west corner of the Island. The Parish is one of the most traditional of the parishes with much of the territory of the parish forming a peninsula. A number of prehistoric sites are located in St. Ouen, including the dolmen des Monts Grantez and the prehistoric site at Le Pinacle. St Ouen’s Bay is perhaps the most famous of Jersey’s beaches with its local nickname, the ‘five-mile road’ which features a vast open space of a bay with the best surf for a large community of board riders. St Ouen’s Bay also have many other unique features such as sand dunes, a wetland’s pond and it’s famous sandy soil for growing the finest Jersey Royal potatoes. We will keep updating with photographs from Jersey’s west coast as work progress. Here are a few pictures of a few people and places about St Ouen’s unique identity and geography.

 

David Coen, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 23 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Jason Simon, the Sand Quarry, St Ouen Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 22 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Yellow house, St Ouen Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 23 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Laneez Surf Center, St Ouen Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 30 March 2014 © Martin Toft

Miniramp, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 23 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Jersey cow, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 23 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Charred tree, La Pulente, St Ouen Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 22 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

L’Etacq, St Ouen Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 23 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

German bunker, La Portelets, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands, 22 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Flag, L’Etacq, St Ouen Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 23 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

La Maison de Trodez, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands, 23 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Plane in the Sky, St Ouen Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 22 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Tim Le Cocq and Jake Willis, Kite surfers, Le Braye, Jersey, Channel Islands, 22 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Tue 25 March 2014: As part of Entrepot we are interested in vernacular architecture. Eugene Atget’s ‘simple documents’ of empty Parisian courtyards will always be a benchmark, but here is a typology of traditional entrances to homes on the west coast of Jersey in an area known as La Sergente near an ancient burial chamber.

 

La Sergente, St Brelade,Jersey, Channel Islands, 22 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

The Drifters, La Sergente, St Brelade,Jersey, Channel Islands, 22 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

Zouz ar Mar, La Sergente, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands, 22 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

Maison Blanche, La Sergente, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands, 22 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

Vilamoura, La Sergente, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands, 22 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

(No house name), La Sergente, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands, 22 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

Rocky Ridge, La Sergente, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands, 22 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Haut du Pse, La Sergente, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands, 22 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

Morland, La Sergente, St Brelade, Jersey, Channel Islands, 22 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

Fri 21 March 2014: Last Sunday I visited the Open Day at the RAF Air Cadets at Lord Sandhurst Hall in St Brelade, Jersey. Everybody there was very welcoming despite rank and order.

 

Young Cadets, RAF Air Cadets, 7 Overseas (Island of Jersey) Squadron, Jersey, Channel Islands, 16 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

Peter Clarke, Acting Chairman Royal Air Forces Association (Jersey Branch oldest in the world formed in 1925),Jersey, Channel Islands, 16 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Sgt Richard da Silva, RAF Air Cadets, 7 Overseas (Island of Jersey) Squadron, Jersey, Channel Islands, 16 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

First Aid tent, RAF Air Cadets, 7 Overseas (Island of Jersey) Squadron, Jersey, Channel Islands, 16 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

Wed 19 March 2014: Here are a selection of photographs from St Helier Harbour. There is a lot of activity between Fishermen, Fish merchants and Shell handlers as well as general Jersey folk that com down to watch the sea and wonder what’s on the other side of the pond…?

Huelin Renouf Depot, Victoria Pier, St Helier Harbour, Jersey, Channel Islands, 12 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Victoria Pier, St Helier Harbour, Jersey, Channel Islands, 12 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

Shell Handler, Richard le Blond, Victoria Pier, St Helier Harbour, Jersey, Channel Islands, 15 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

Jersey Lobster, Victoria Pier, St Helier Harbour, Jersey, Channel Islands, 15 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

Peter Gay, Captain Lobster, Skipper on Loupe de Mare, Victoria Pier, St Helier Harbour, Jersey, Channel Islands, 15 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

Victoria Pier, St Helier Harbour, Jersey, Channel Islands, 15 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

Jonathan De Gruchy, Marine Engineer, Victoria Pier, St Helier Harbour, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

Evening Fog, Victoria Pier, St Helier Harbour, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

Security Fence, Victoria Pier, St Helier Harbour, Jersey, Channel Islands, 13 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

Obsolete Crane, Victoria Pier, St Helier Harbour, Jersey, Channel Islands, 15 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

 

Charlie Michael and Emily Goodchild, La Collette Marina, St Helier Harbour, Jersey, Channel Islands, 15 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

Roger Leonard, La Collette Boat Park, St Helier Harbour, Jersey, Channel Islands, 15 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

Rubis Petrol Merchants, La Collette,Jersey, Channel Islands, 15 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

 

Alison Matthew and Hayley Ricou with Daisy and Dora, La Collette,Jersey, Channel Islands, 15 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

Energy Waste Plant, La Collette,Jersey, Channel Islands, 15 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

 

Harbour Mouth (view of Elizabeth Castle), St Helier Harbour, Jersey, Channel Islands, 12 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Fri 14 March 2014: The first set of pictures from week 1 visiting an auction for vintage surf boards, planting potatoes and spending some time with one of St Ouen’s old farm families, the Larose

Ashley Johnson, Jersey Surf Club, St Ouen Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 7 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Water Splash, St Ouen Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands, 7 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

A gang of Polish farm workers planting Jersey Royals, Jersey, Channel Islands, 8 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Peter Lamy, Farm Owner, Somerleigh Farms, Jersey, Channel Islands, 8 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

Jersey Royals, Somerleigh Farms, Jersey, Channel Islands, 8 March 2014 © Martin Toft

 

A Polish farm worker, St Ouen Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands 8 March 2014, © Martin Toft

 

Seagulls chasing the plough, St Ouen Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands 9 March 2014, © Martin Toft

 

Theresa Larose, St Ouen , Jersey, Channel Islands 9 March 2014, © Martin Toft

 

The Larose’s family kitchen, Jersey, Channel Islands 9 March 2014, © Martin Toft

 

Bob and June Le Marchand, Grantez, St Ouen, Jersey, Channel Islands 9 March 2014, © Martin Toft

Sunbathing, North Coast, Jersey, Channel Islands 9 March 2014, © Martin Toft

 

Ronez Quarry, North Coast, Jersey, Channel Islands 9 March 2014, © Martin Toft

 

Adam Bradbury at Motocross, Sorel Point, Jersey, Channel Islands 9 March 2014, © Martin Toft

The Archisle Residency in back! After taking a break in 2016 the call for applications for the Archisle International Photographer in Residence Programme 2017 is now live. The residency invites photographers to live, work and teach in Jersey for six months. The winning artist receives a £10,000 award for the production of new work. Full details here >>

Our new exhibition of Jersey and International Contemporary Photography is open at Jersey Arts Centre.  

 

Quintessence is a group exhibition celebrating the first five years of Archisle: The Jersey Contemporary Photography Programme. The Archisle Programme, hosted by the Société Jersiaise Photo Archive promotes contemporary photography through an ongoing programme of exhibitions, education and commissions. Archisle connects photographic archives, contemporary practice and experiences of island cultures and geographies through the development of a forum for creative discourse between Jersey and international artists. Quintessence selects works commissioned for the new Archisle Contemporary Collection at the Société Jersiaise Photographic Archive since 2011 to celebrate, critique, contrast and discuss what has been achieved over the first five years of the project. The exhibition features works by:

Martin Parr / Tony Ray-Jones / Jem Southam / Michelle Sank / David Goldblatt / Yury Toroptsov / Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths / Tom Pope / Peter Finnemore / Mark le Ruez / John Gibbons / Martin Toft / Finn Larsen

Since its launch in 2011, Archisle has engaged diverse approaches to contemporary lens based media to lead creative research into the condition of islandness, ‘a complex expression of identity that attaches to places smaller than continents and surrounded entirely by water’ (Stratford 2008).  Quintessence contrasts works in the Archisle collection in a group exhibition for the first time to analyse the ways in which the Island’s culture and landscape has been interpreted by Jersey and international photographers. The Archisle project recognises that Jersey as a small island community needs to go out and discover the world because the world will not come looking for us! Through internationalism we have developed a growing network of colleagues, friends, influences and inspirations. To reflect these connections, for Quintessence, artists represented in the Archisle collection were invited to nominate colleagues who have influenced or inspired their own visual language. Quintessence Curator Gareth Syvret remarked, ‘We do not travel alone; we take with us the histories, knowledge, influences and ideas of others; others we have met and other places we have known.’

Alongside photographs produced in Jersey during the last five years, the exhibition includes Jem Southam one of Britain’s leading landscape photographers and David Goldblatt, the seminal documentarist of apartheid era South Africa. Photographs by the brilliant observer of the British at work and leisure, Tony Ray-Jones (1941-1972) and the famous ‘Cottingley Fairies’ photographs by Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths are presented in collaboration with the National Media Museum, Bradford, UK. Curator Gareth Syvret continued: ‘The Archisle project is about educating, creating, exhibiting and collecting original contemporary photographic art and plugging the Jersey community into the international scene. This exhibition reflects our journey over the first five years of the project and points to an exciting future.’

It’s my pleasure to invite you to my new solo exhibition, I Am Not Tom Pope, You Are All Tom Pope, taking place at The Old Town Police Station, 11 Royal Square, St Helier, Jersey. There will be a private view 6pm Thursday 17^th September.

A participatory performance will take place in the exhibition space at 6pm Thursday 24th September: Terminating Martin Parr’s Liberation Photographs: a collaborative project between Tom Pope, Martin Parr and Archisle.

The performance offers you the chance to destroy a Martin Parr photograph and potentially save one! If you’re interested in destroying a Parr photograph, for more details please visit: http://www.archisle.org.je/terminating_martinparrs/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am in the midst of completing the pre-production for my new film. The film will see me, with the help of the Jersey community, push a 13.7ft boat across the island and out to the Atlantic ocean.

On July the 16th, starting from Gorey harbour i will set off with the boat heading West to St Ouen’s Bay. The underlying principle of the film is centred on how it’s an impossible task for me to complete alone. As a photographer and performer it will not be viable to record the process of pushing the boat across Jersey while actually doing it. I will require assistance from the public if i want to succeed in moving the boat and recording the performance. The resulting video footage will be used to create a 20-25minute film.

Photo by: Albert Smith 1924-34

The people of the local community become actors and crew in this film. Their contribution, by way of offering methods to move the boat, physical participation and recording of the event, is fundamental to how the performance progresses and the final film plays out. Everyone is welcome to help and support the event. It should make for quite an interesting day.

Jersey is around 9 miles wide, as the crow flies. Starting in the East and heading West, I estimate the distance travelled will be around 13 miles.

The boat we will be pushing out is a 13.7ft Skiff. I purchased in Jersey from the local auction house. Here i am leaving the auction house with it:

 

Photo by: Philip MorelLaurens (A small boat on a set of wheels being horsedrawn to launch)

Naturally, a first point of reference for this is Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo, as an absolute classic film i’m not intending to remake it. There is no untouched rubber territory where i’m heading. In the instance of this performance i’m interested in the act of undertaking something without knowing how the event will unfold. Once i set off from Gorey Harbour i have no idea what will happen. Serendipity and spontaneity will be fully embraced. Why go to all the pains of taking a boat from one harbour, pushing it over land, only to push it back out to sea. Maybe this will become clearer upon completion, maybe not.

1953 (Three children carrying small boat)

The event of pushing the boat out will take place on 16th July, starting at 5.30am from Gorey Harbour. If you are in Jersey and would like to participate in helping film, moving the boat or assisting with the shoot then please do not hesitate to come and join in. I envisage the performance taking the entire day to complete. You are welcome to join me for the entire shoot, or for a shorter amount of time.

The film will be made up of footage shot by the people of Jersey and a cameraman. It would be wonderful if you send me any video footage you have recorded that you would like to be considered to be in the resulting film.

To get in contact with me you can find me in my studio at the  Societe Jersiaise or email me: tom.pope@societe-jersiaise.org

As the evening presses on, I have finally got around to penning this update. Tomorrow sees the Private View of Photo London, a new Photography festival based at Somerset House, London, that from the looks of things will not be to dissimilar to Paris Photo.

I will be performing at the Royal College of Art Stand at 2pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

I will also be giving a reading of Rut Blees Luxemburg and Alexander García Düttmann’s book The Academic Year on Saturday from 1pm till 1.30pm at Ruts installation The Teaser.

The college where I studied my Masters in photography, the Royal College of Art, will exhibit a selection of 9 alumni from the past 4 years. I have been invited to perform potentials, a performance I was commissioned to develop by TimeFrame; On The Legacy of Performance, a symposium and exhibition examining the recording and documentation of performance art.

Potentials.01

The performance exists for the act of capturing its own existence, yet with the potential of it never being able to achieve this.

60 apples are thrown at the cable release. Each apple has the potential to hit the cable release and produce a photograph, and yet the possibility remains that every attempt may be futile. These performed photographs highlight concerns with documenting performance using photography.

Potentials.01 mechanism

Above is a picture of the mechanism I would throw my apples at. This DIY aesthetic generally occurs because I am ill equipped with regard to a workshop when fabricating props. I also enjoy the sport of kitchen table building.

Rather than re-perform Potentials, and also due to the decision made by the powers that be that I probably shouldn’t be throwing 60 apples around at an art fair, I decided to further develop the performance.

One of my main concerns with Potentials is the visual vs conceptual balance, as a conceptual work, it floats, but the visual for me just doesn’t excite me anymore. So for Potentials.02 I wanted to capture the object being thrown. I was also eager to create a process where the more successful I am the more I disrupt the image I have strived to create.

And so came some research. Firstly, into a system where I could store energy, so I wouldn’t have to throw something in a hard manner at the mechanism to fire the shutter of the camera (in the original performance, I needed to throw the apple with a great deal of force, so the cable release would fire the Hasselblad), I found that a cross bow mechanism might play a part here, where I could store energy an use substantially less energy to release it.

Secondly, was thirst for a method of disrupting the image if I was hitting the target. So came a sheet of Marlon, a variant of strengthened Perspex used on boats.

Potentials.02 test

By subverting the crossbow mechanism and adding a sheet of Marlon that I will throw objects at I was set. Design’s were drawn up on odd scraps of paper, but mostly this kind of thing exists in my head, and I have to try my best to describe it to those around me from whom I seek council with such odd builds.

The Crossbow mechanism

I’m happy with the finished mechanism, built partly in London, shipped to Jersey, completed on the island and now ready to be flown back to London to be used in my performance. The addition of a sheet of clear Perspex, adds another layer to the achievable/graspable and ungraspable, it’s like walking down Sloane Street, the fashion shops glass is maintained to an intense degree of clearness, to at once invite us in, allow us to reach forward and touch the product, live the life, yet, just as we come to grasp it, alas the pain of glass keeps us out, blocks us. We are left unable to see due to the build up of mist from our breath on the window. Suiting for a contemporary art fair I’m sure.

Build in progress

Build in progress

Build in progress

Build in progress

Build in progress

Build in progress

Although I had bigger plans for the mechanism, currently the performance works in a way that when I hit the Perspex a photo is made and the object disrupts the image. I would prefer to have it work in a way that when the object hits the Perspex it stays attached to it, so as the performance progresses, visibility becomes less clear. I think this will be worked into the design for Potentials.03.

About Potentials.02

Potentials.02 sees the artist throw an object at a sheet of Perspex that sits in front of the camera lens. If the artist is successful in hitting the Perspex, it will trigger a firing mechanism that results in a Polaroid being shot. Within each successful image, we see the fine lines of the clear Perspex within the frame, and also the object thrown frozen in the image. Through chance the object will obstruct and disrupt the image. If the artist is triumphant in recording his success in the performance, he also has the chance of destroying the image that records that very performance. With each performance there will be a potential of 10 Polaroid’s being shot to record the event, yet there is also the potential of no images being shot, and no record of the performance existing.

 

Potentials.02 Test

During my time on the Island I shall be running a series of workshops to a wide demographic of Jersey people. Taking place in schools, colleges and youth centres, the workshops will explore performed photography and play. Through a series of activities, we will look at the roll chance and failure can play in the image making process.

 

Here I am demonstrating one of the activities with a student from Highlands College.

By performing the act of making an image, the photographer no longer remains still movement is required. Many of the activities borrow concepts from sport and theatre.

Here is an image a student made playing catch with another student using an orange.

 

 

 

Come Play With Me

We can play games, invent new games or just play. Generally, a game has a clearly defined structure and set of rules. Whereas play, can spontaneously exist without the need of regulations. Ad hoc contests, office games and challenges invented and played once; all are forms of play that can exist within the everyday.

I am inviting you to play with me and create photographs in the process. It could be anywhere and at any time. I have developed a series of games that we can play, but would like to invent new games and ways of playing with you.

Through play and collaboratively invented games, chance can be encountered and in the moment anything can happen. Rules can be made and even broken. The potential for what happens in boundless.

To take part or find out more, please email me: tom.pope@societe-jersiaise.org

Good evening, I’m Tom Pope a London based photographer and film maker and this years International Photographer in Residence at Archisle. Archisle is an international photography programme organised and run by the Société Jersiaise. I have been commissioned to create a new body of work that records Jersey in my style of shooting photographs and film, a solo exhibition of these works will take place in Jersey in September. Alongside this I will be leading a series of workshops for the people of Jersey.

I intend to use this blog to keep you updated as to my progress while also using this platfom to invite those people based in Jersey to participate with the works i make. Taking inspiration from the Société Jersiaise’s extensive archive, photographs and films will be created through improvised game play and orchestrated situations.

“We must develop a systematic intervention based on the complex factors of two components in perpetual interaction: the material environment of life and the behaviours which that environment gives rise to and which radically transform it. …Our action on behaviour, linked with other desirable aspects of a revolution in mores, can be briefly defined as the intervention of games of an essentially new type.”

Guy Debord, Report on the Construction of Situations and on the International Situationist Tendency’s Conditions of Organization and Action, June 1957

The Société Jersiaise Photographic Archive has launched a Fundraising Appeal to support the care and development of this vital cultural collection. This is an exciting time in the development of contemporary photography in the Channel Islands. 2015 will bring the third edition of the Archisle #3 International Open Call exhibition. Tom Pope Archisle International Photographer in Residence 2015 arrives in Jersey in April. Design of the first publication from Atlantus our collaborative project with photographer Martin Toft working with Kummer & Hermann is in progress. ‘From Childhood’s Hour I Have Not Been’, the first solo exhibition by Berlin based Artist Mark Le Ruez in Jersey for over ten years opens at Jersey Arts Centre on 27th April. We have many more projects in the pipeline and all of our projects are achieved through sponsorship and donations. Please support our appeal and spread the word! Download the Appeal Info here >>

We are delighted to announce that Tom Pope is 2015 Archisle International Photographer in Residence.

The Archisle Project is delighted to announce the appointment of Tom Pope as International Photographer in Residence 2015. The Archisle Residency, now in its third year, brings international contemporary photographers to Jersey to create, educate and exhibit. Sponsored by One Foundation, the residency awards a bursary of £10,000 for an exhibition of new work responding to the culture of the Jersey and a set of these works enter the Archisle Collection at the Société Jersiaise Photographic Archive for future public enjoyment.

Born in Bristol, UK in 1986 Tom Pope’s artistic practice is primarily based within performed photography. Pope’s playful and whimsical approach orchestrates situations and performed gestures of social interaction. Within these settings the public become willing participators and collaborators where the act of taking photographs is a social event. Spontaneity is embraced and chance encouraged. This upfront strategy of direct social engagement can be edgy and exciting. Pope’s practice does not make artwork for a community; it creates a community through the act of making art through play, improvised events and social intervention. Many of Pope’s works are interdisciplinary, combining performance, photography and moving image. His use of photography and video both documents and transforms these happenings that take place in a variety of locations from the street to art galleries. The resulting improvised images depict the excitement and often absurdity that develops through his connections with members of the public who have been active participants within the making process.

Talking about the upcoming project Pope commented: ‘The Archisle Residency Programme is a fantastic opportunity to immerse myself into the Jersey community. The work I intend to carry out in Jersey will explore notions of play and how we conduct ourselves in public. Gathering inspiration from the Société Jersiaise Photo Archive and collaborating with the Jersey community, performances and situations will be initiated where the act of taking and making photographs becomes a social event.’

Tom Pope studied Photography in the Arts at Swansea Metropolitan University and received his Masters in Photography from the Royal College of Art in 2011 where he was also the recipient of a Deutsche Bank Award. His works are in the National Museum of Wales and National Portrait Gallery. Pope won the Night Contact/Photoworks commission 2014. The resulting film Silent Fore to Aft made in collaboration with Terry Smith premiered at Brighton Photo Biennial 2014.

Archisle Project Leader Gareth Syvret said: ‘Following the success of the residencies of Michelle Sank and Yury Toroptsov, Tom Pope is a great appointment for 2015 that reflects the diversity and fresh thinking in contemporary photography that drives Archisle. In a year when Jersey hosts the Island Games it’s fascinating to think where Pope’s ideas about the “history and appropriateness of play” will lead.’

Rod McLoughlin, One Foundation Council Member commented: ‘Archisle’s residency programme has swiftly established itself as an important component in Jersey’s artistic life thanks to the willingness of the visiting photographers to engage with the community not just as subjects but also as collaborators in their photographic practice. Tom Pope is an especially interesting choice for 2015 – his arrival in Jersey is eagerly anticipated!’

Download Media Release here >>

Archisle: The Jersey Contemporary Photography Programme, hosted by the Société Jersiaise (Jersey Society) in the British Channel Island of Jersey promotes contemporary photography through an ongoing programme of exhibitions, education and commissions. The Archisle project connects photographic archives, contemporary practice and experiences of island cultures and geographies through the development of a space for creative discourse between Jersey and international practitioners.

In addition to making open calls, Archisle welcomes residency and project proposals from international artists, curators, archivists, writers and researchers seeking to engage with and contribute to our growing community of practitioners exploring the above or related themes.   

Applicants are requested to submit:

– Statement of objectives for the residency/project
– Statement describing current practice
– Examples of recent work (min 10/max 20 images)
– A current CV including details of past exhibitions/publications
– An indication of funding requirements and potentials

Archisle Programme has an excellent track record of actively collaborating with artists to identify and secure funding sources for selected residencies and projects. If you have a proposal you would like to discuss with us please get in touch!   

Applications may be made by post or email to:

Archisle Photographer in Residence Programme 2015
Société Jersiaise
7 Pier Road
St Helier
Jersey
Channel Islands
UK
JE2 4XW

Email: archisle@societe-jersiaise.org

Any enquiries/questions about the residency should be sent to the above email address.

Websites: www.archisle.org.je and www.societe-jersiaise.org

Société Jersiaise and Jersey Museum & Art Gallery, St Helier, Jersey, home of the Archisle Programme.

Eight Degrees, a photo exhibition of students of the Photo Academy at La Motte Street Youth Centre opened to the public at 62 Halkett Place in Saint Helier. A big bravo to the Photo Academy participants (aged 13-18): Alfie, Cameron, Charlotte, Christianna, Emma, Josh, Olivia and Sol for an intense week of hard work and dedication. I hope that the aperture and shutter priority modes don’t hold secrets for you anymore. Thank you to Karen for being the soul of the academy, Janni for his helping presence, and Gareth for making it all happen. Special thanks to Rod McLoughlin for sparing a moment in his busy schedule to come greet the students, award the certificates of completion and open the show. Take a look at the gallery before it opened to the public:

We are delighted to be hosting ‘An Evening with Martin Parr’ at Jersey Arts Centre on 4th April 2014. Speaking in Jersey for the first time in this illustrated talk will illuminate his practice and career to date as of the world’s most celebrated and influential photographers . Parr is acclaimed for his projects which take a critical look at globalisation and consumerism. He has travelled extensively and his observations of holiday-makers offer a unique perspective on the international tourist industry.

Hosted by Archisle: The Jersey Contemporary Photography Programme in partnership with Guernsey Photography Festival, this event is timed to coincide with the exhibition Martin Parr: Liberation at Jersey Museum from 4 April – 11 May 2014.

Tickets available from Jersey Arts Centre Box Office  or online: www.artscentre.je/

 

We are pleased to announce that Yury Toroptsov is 2014 Archisle International Photographer in Residence.

Born in 1974 in a rural community near Vladivostok, Yury Toroptsov left his native Russia in 1998 to study at the New School for Social Research in New York as a Muskie Fellow. Nourished by his Far-Eastern origins, American travels and the current residence in Europe, Yury Toroptsov keeps at the core of his work what constitutes a common denominator for those distant cultures: people and their identity and the permanence of myths. Memories, metamorphosis, profane and sacred are the recurring themes in his photographs. Toroptsov lives and works in Paris. His photographs have been featured in numerous solo and group shows including at the Maison Europeenne de la Photographie in Paris (2008), Moscow House of Photography (2013) and Le Bal, Paris (2011). His first book, Marilyn and I was published by Verlhac Editions in 2011. Yury Toroptsov is represented by Galerie Photo 12, Paris.

Download Media Release here: Archisle_IPR_Appointment_Media_Release_2014

An exhibition of new work by Martin Parr about Liberation Day in Jersey commissioned by Archisle as a partnership project with Guernsey Photography Festival will premier at Jersey Museum in April 2014.  Extending Parr’s examination of national and regional characteristics, this exhibition presents photographs of Jersey’s Liberation Day celebrations in 2013 alongside photographs made in Guernsey on 9th May 2012.  To coincide with the exhibition Martin Parr will present a lecture about his work and career at Jersey Arts Centre on Friday 4th April 2014 at 7.30pm. See http://artscentre.je/ for bookings.      

Archisle Photo School during May half-term was a success with the students learning new skills, shooting new projects and taking part in an exciting group exhibition. The Photo School students gave us feedback which you can read below…

Chrissie Knight

“I really enjoyed Photo School, It was really fun to meet new people and try something a bit different as I am used to doing art and music activities. It was a very informative week I learnt how to focus on the subjects of images, use self timer and crop images manually. It was great to be with such a wide range of different students of different ages, interests and schools. I think it has built up my confidence in terms of speaking to new people when asking to take their photographs. It was also great to have a professional photographer look at my photos and give me advice on how I can improve. Overall I had lots of fun and had a great experience at Photo School.”

Reese de Vares

“I have learnt how to look at photographs in a different way and change the lighting in the studio. I really enjoyed this course and meeting new people.”

Emma Nott

“At Photo School I have learnt how to see the photos I am taking in a different light and have learnt to frame them up before taking them. I have also met really nice people here and have enjoyed seeing the photos they have taken and learning from them. Having an exhibition at the end of the week is also a great opportunity; it has been fascinating looking at the process.”

Nicole O’Reagain

“I have really enjoyed working with Gareth and Michelle as their advice has been invaluable to me, they have helped me to take photographs in a more unique and interesting way. I particularly liked that we were given freedom in the subjects we photographed as it encouraged me to make my own creative decisions. I also liked working with a variety of people who had completely different ideas from my own as it encouraged me to be more experimental in my own work. Thank you for the knowledge you have given me.”

Sophie Johnson-Mills

“I have learnt a various amount of new skills that I can use to further my photography projects. I have enjoyed working with new people and Michelle and Gareth have been very good teachers and I have achieved good studio and street work and had fun in the editing and viewing of photographs.”

Louise Statt

“The course has been really interesting in giving an insight into professional photography and gaining feedback on our own work. Michelle’s assistance in taking and editing the photos has been a very valuable experience that I believe will benefit me for many year to come as it has taught me many new skills. I would like to thank Gareth, Connor and Michelle for this experience and the brilliant help they have provided us with. My fellow students have also done a great deal to ensure the week has been a lot of fun and I hope our friendships will extend beyond the course.”

Chloe Johnson

“I really enjoyed this course, things like this are not something I do often and I was really nervous at first. However, everyone was really welcoming and I was much less nervous as the week went on. This course has helped me develop my photography skills and have began to use these skills to try our new styles of photography. I also found that the group discussions and group editing of our work, although scary at first were really helpful. Thank you Michelle and Gareth.”

Read more about Photo School by clicking here.

 

This year commercial shipping containers will once again be lowered into Weighbridge Place to mark the start of the island’s sixth Skipton Open Studios.  Continue reading Skipton Open Studios

Archisle Photographer in Residence Michelle Sank‘s new work ‘In My Skin’ is featured in the Guardian Weekend Magazine’s ‘Big Picture’ this week and online here

Archisle Photographer in Residence Michelle Sank’s new collection of work is currently on show at the Ron Mandos Gallery, Amsterdam with paintings by Katinka Lampe. Check it out at:   http://www.ronmandos.nl/ . View the collection at:   http://www.michellesank.com/in-my-skin

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Michelle Sank as Archisle International Photographer in Residence 2013.

Download the Media Release here. Click here to view Michelle Sank’s work.