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Islanders are being invited to make their experience of lockdown a piece of history by documenting island life through portraits and photographs that will form an archive for future generations.
As the island went into lockdown on Monday, the Société Jersiaise Photographic Archive issued an open call asking islanders to document their daily lives with the 'stay at home' restrictions implemented to slow the spread of covid-19.
With the photographs, the Société hopes to build “an archive of portraits and observations, full of small details that capture our current reality and show how these changes are affecting the life of islanders".
“Everyone’s experience is relevant to our understanding of the crisis, whether you or someone you live with is working on frontline essential services or self-isolating, or trying to balance family and work commitments from home or engaging with education online,” they added.
Photo Archivist and Executive Editor at the Société Patrick Cahill described the current situations as “an unprecedented time”, adding that the corona virus is affecting islanders of all backgrounds and demographics, causing profound changes in the way islanders work, relax, communicate and exercise.
Pictured: "Studying for school. Lockdown day one" by Sarah Martinez, from left Flynn, Holly and Aeryn.
“We have a unique opportunity to archive this experience for future generations to understand how self-isolation feels, what social distancing looks like, and how the community came together to get through some of the most restrictive measures ever introduced in peacetime,” he added.
“It’s at times like these that the personal becomes universal.”
Pictured: Patrick Cahill took part, snapping up the Société Jersiaise Photographic Archive temporary office, in his bedroom.
Mr Cahill explained that the Photographic Archive contains images dating back to the mid-1840s and that “the unique collections” help trace the social and cultural history of the island from the mid 19th century to modern times.
“We recognise that this is a nervous and uncertain time for many islanders and we would encourage everyone to take this opportunity to contribute to the cultural records of the island and to be part of the story that future generations read.”
Photographs, ideally high resolution JPG files, can be submitted via email or WeTransfer, either individually or as collections, and sent to photoarchive@societe-jersiaise.org.
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