Photographic Archive Review - Spring 2008

With this Newsletter we launch the 2008 Société Jersiaise Photography Competition; this event now being an annual fixture. As illustrated by the enclosed information leaflet the 2007 event was a great success and the exhibition continues at its second venue: Jersey Airport (airside). We are delighted to announce that the exhibition will now also move to a third venue: Grève de Lecq Barracks, from 7th May to 21st September 2008, open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am - 5pm (1-5pm Sundays). We are extremely grateful to our event partners the National Trust for Jersey for providing the exhibition space. This is a great opportunity to keep the images on show to the public and by the time of the exhibition ending we will be well underway with collecting the submissions for the 2008 event. The 2008 competition takes a similar format. One change to the rules this year increases the age limit of junior entrants to eighteen years. An innovation of 2007 makes all the entries from 2006 and 2007 accessible on an internet gallery at www.societe-jersiaise.org. Remember, the competition is open to all so please feel free to mention it to any aspiring photographers you know out there. Our thanks go to our sponsors: Framing Workshop Ltd; Le Masurier; HSBC Bank; iQ The Apple Shop and Islandprint.

The digitisation suite, installed in 2007, continues to prove its worth and work to capture the contents of our collection of photograph albums is progressing well. To date twenty-seven albums containing upwards of two thousand photographs have been digitised, meaning that this material can be efficiently consulted without the need to handle delicate originals. Work to upload this data to the Photographic Archive online catalogue is underway.

A current project in the Photographic Archive involves clarifying the incorrect attribution of a large number of images by French studio photographer Ernest Baudoux (1828-1897) of New Street, St Helier to Albert Smith (1854 – 1914). Baudoux's practice pre-dates Smith's as their life dates suggest, though much of his work has been subsumed into the Smith collection. Baudoux first appears in Jersey trade listings as a photographer in 1869. He sold his studio at 59, New Street along with his catalogue of negatives to John Stroud, a young photographer from London, sometime in 1887. Albert Smith had in turn acquired the business from Stroud by 1893, leading to the confusion surrounding origination. Baudoux sought an alternative occupation to photography and in 1890 was proprietor of the Royal Paragon Stables, 31/2, Grove Place, St Helier. Of a total of 3298 images attributed to the Albert Smith studio in the Photographic Archive, it is estimated that as many as 500 are in fact by Ernest Baudoux. In some cases image content instantly corrects an attribution; others can be more challenging. Useful information exists in multiple forms including: original negative references and inscriptions; process; format; costume; uniforms; architecture. The process is ongoing. What is clear is that Baudoux was highly skilled with the wet collodion negative and carbon print processes, both of which were difficult to master but offered rewards of great quality. Employing these methods he made fine views of the town of St Helier, including the example reproduced below.

Ernest Baudoux, View of St Helier, c. early 1870s

We would like to extend a collective appreciation to volunteers within the Photographic Archive department for the contribution being made to these and other projects.

Gareth Syvret, Photographic Archivist