Shooting in Jersey
Jersey’s land mass is nine by five miles and floats between England and France, this came as a surprise to me considering I thought it belonged to the midlands… This beautifully compact island is at the mercy of the Atlantic Ocean and almost doubles in size at low-tide. The island dwellers have learnt to embrace the elements and landscape that surrounds them, if they don’t surf then they skateboard, if they’re not fishing then they’re sailing. This island, as small as it is, has a lot to offer, especially in terms of picturesque scenery.
Being a rather impromptu trip I was on a bit of a budget, but I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to take my Lubitel 166B, so I looked for cheaper options for medium format film. Kodak Gold 200 seemed the best value for money, I was a little unsure about how prevalant its yellow hue would be and to what degree it would affect the other colours in the photos, regardless, it was worth trying. Let me tell you, I am now deeply in love with this film stock, it has such wonderfully warm tone and instantly gives the photographs a feeling of late 90s nostalgia. When I edit my digital photographs, the one change I always make is increasing the warmth, so when I first looked over my scans from these Kodak Gold rolls I instantly felt connected to the photos because they already looked like my style, I had no desire to change them. They were warm and inviting, soft and reminiscent, my style encapsulated in a film stock and a cheap one at that! Fortunately, my visit linked up with the warmest weekend they had in Jersey that summer, clear blue skies and gorgeous sunshine blessed my visit, the sun beat down on my skin for days and the warmth of Kodak Gold only helped to capture that feeling.
On a large proportion of my scans I had consistent white patches on the sides of my images, some even had pink streaks, these were light leaks on my negatives. There didn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason as to which scans had them and which didn’t but nonetheless this 80s camera wasn’t entirely light tight anymore and that’s understandable. Some of the photos could be cropped down to exclude the light leaks but for others it was just a part of the photos DNA now. I haven’t had much experience with light leaks before, especially over a large amount of pictures but I don’t mind them too much, if anything they’re only signs of nature intervening with my practise and I welcome it with open arms. It is one of the reasons why I love shooting on film, because it is a chemical reaction, a direct interaction with your surroundings. The light bouncing off your subject reacts with the silver halide crystals on the film to create your image, this is a physical process and I think that is beautiful, like a chemical conversation between nature and camera.
This trip wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t met Barney de la Cloche at Noisily festival back in July, which also might not have happened if I hadn’t have taken my camera with me. Either way, I am grateful for the Butterfly Effect that has led to the making of this experience. Barney is a digital photographer often photographing his fellow surfers when he isn’t on a board himself and captures the power and serenity of the ocean that surrounds his life. You can check out his website and Instagram here: Apexiso.photo, Apexiso
One of the differences between analogue and digital is the speed of process, I find analogue is a much slower process so it was interesting to shoot the same landscape alongside a digital photographer. It would usually result in me remaining static for minutes longer than Barney who was most likely already photographing something else by the time I was happy with my focusing of the first photo.
Something I also discovered while photographing with a digital shooter was my love for teaching and imparting my knowledge of the analogue process. I forget that the majority of this generation are not familiar with how film cameras work, university left me with a cocoon of analogue minded people, it became the norm to chat about the ins and outs of film. I was quickly reminded in Jersey that most people my age don’t know about it and I had this wonderful bundle of knowledge that I could share with other people.
Here are some of the final shots from my visit in August, mostly taken around the West side of the island.
In October I visited a second time and for a longer period, but this time I made the decision to only shoot on back and white film. After switching to colour I had neglected my stock of Ilford black and white FP4 and HP5, some of these were expired, so this was the perfect opportunity to churn through a few of these rolls.
I still had the risk of light leaks in the camera that, after looking over the scans, were obviously coming in from the sides of the camera. At first I hadn't changed anything so some pictures still have light leaks but after a couple days I found some black electrical tape which is perfect! I taped up the side seams of the camera backing and this seemed to work quite well, the tape could be removed and reapplied a couple times before losing its stickiness so changing rolls on the go wasn't a problem.
This island has so much to offer, the North has a rugged coastline with lots of hidden inlets and on the North East corner is where you can find the dolman photographed above, this is a prehistoric burial site and there are multiple dotted around the outskirts of the island. Some of these dolman and burial mounds have been dated back earlier than the pyramids! Photographed above as well is Gorey Castle which can be found on the East side of the island. But where I spent most my time was on the West side and anyone that belongs to this area will regimentally stand by their motto, "West is best". The West does have some extremely scenic beaches, for example the unmistakable St Ouens which stretches for five glorious miles and can be seen from your plane window when leaving the island.
Some of my favourite spots have been; Beauport beach, which is sheltered beach in the South East, it is perfect for swimming but be careful for rocks just under the water's surface. The route down to the beach is also great for blackberry picking if you are there in late summer, early autumn. I walked to Portlet beach one day from St Brelades and I was greeted with an almost pink beach all to myself. The pinky hue of the sand, I'm assuming, comes from the large amount of granite found in Jersey. This gorgeous beach was prestine and I sat down by a rock and read a book for an hour before heading back. It also has a tower just offshore that was built in 1808 and is reachable on foot at low tide, just be careful not to get caught out. But my favourite place of all is Plémont, which is home to two thirteen-foot wicker puffins which were built to help bring awareness to the declining numbers of puffins on the island. Anyone that knows me, knows I absolutely adore these birds, real or wicker. A visit to this part of the island simply wouldn't be complete without saying hello (and hugging) these gentle giants. Not only does it have puffins but it also has amazing caves at either end of the beach which are pretty exciting to explore.
On the last full day in Jersey of my October visit, I was at Plémont on the North West corner of the island. The swell had picked up and we had spent our last couple days chasing and watching the waves, admiring their power and secretly hoping to get splashed. After exploring some caves it was time to go, I still had some shots left on my roll, I stood with my back to the sea and photographed the cliffs infront. Once again, I felt the familiar feeling of the camera's weight slip from my neck...The neck strap had come off and the Lubitel 166b was greeted by the beautiful peachy gold sand that had recently been doused by a wave. Wet sand everywhere. Have neck straps got a vendetta against me? Unfortunately, the fixed loop in the camera body that holds the neck strap had become brittle and snapped releasing one side of the strap. Well it was my last day and I had finished the roll so I brushed off as much sand as I could and called it a job for later on.
I have been lucky enough to have stayed for multiple extended trips here and live with the youth of Jersey, who make brilliant tour guides. It's a wonderful island which holds a place in my heart, it is perfect for anyone that enjoys outdoor exploration, serenity and sometimes chaotic weather. Below are a few more shots to round it off.
Catch you on the flipside Jersey,
Eleanor x
