Launch of Éditions Emile (ED.EM) - A new publishing imprint celebrating the unique collections held in the Société Jersiaise Photographic Archive.
Preview with drinks reception Wed 26 February 5:30 - 7:30 pm. Official opening by Olga Finch, Curator of Archaeology at Jersey Heritage.
Sale of ED.EM.01 and a set of six Limited Edition Prints, including an additional five Special Prints will be available for purchase at the launch.
The Société Jersiaise holds a unique collection of photographic materials dating from the 1840s to the present day. The quality and breadth of the collection is in a large part thanks to the work of Emile F. Guiton, contributing not only his life’s work photographing Jersey’s heritage but also playing an instrumental role in the collecting and cataloguing of photographs by other photographers.
Considered to be the founder of the Photographic Archive at the Société Jersiaise, Emile F. Guiton (1879-1972) was also a very apt photographer and made excellent use of a rapidly expanding medium in the early 20th century to record important archaeological sites and objects. He was the principal photographer at La Cotte de Saint-Brélade, one of the most important Palaeolithic sites in Northern Western Europe on numerous archaeological excavations producing images dating from 1910 to 1950s.
The new imprint Éditions Emile (ED.EM) is a 48-page photo-zine named in honour of Guiton’s endeavour and legacy. With plans to publish three editions annually, each issue of ED.EM will take a fresh look at a specific collection within the archive, by pairing it with either another collection or contemporary work, in order to re-contextualise the images, keeping the collections active and relevant for new audiences both in the island and beyond.
Photo-Archivist, Patrick Cahill comments; ‘For over a century the Société Jersiaise has been involved with the archaeological excavations at La Cotte de Saint-Brélade. In this issue we take a look at the changing nature of work at the site through archive images produced by Emile Guiton and others, alongside contemporary work by Martin Toft held in our collections at the Photographic Archive. For this edition digital scans of newly discovered images in our collection have been made showing a much broader selection of Guiton’s images from La Cotte.’
‘La Cotte Point from beach.’ E. F. Guiton, 1913.
Photographer, Martin Toft adds; ‘For the past six years I have been developing a number of photographic projects at the Société Jersiaise that always begin with research in its archives and accessing its historical image collections as creative starting points for contemporary photographic responses. Gution’s images of Jersey’s world-class Neanderthal site are exceptional, both technically and aesthetically. They are very valuable in our historical understanding of La Cotte and the evolving photographic recordings of current archaeological work undertaken.’
For each new issue of ED.EM a text produced by an expert on the subject is commissioned. For the La Cotte edition Dr Matt Pope, one of the archaeologists leading the La Manche Prehistoric research group working at La Cotte, has reflected on some of the images held in the Société Jersiaise, published here for the first time. Acknowledging their historical value as well as paying homage to some of his professional forebears, who conducted some of the important archaeological excavations in the 20th century, Dr Matt Pope explains:
‘I have spent a long time with the shadows of my predecessors at the site. Some, such as Professor Charles McBurney and Paul Callow have memories kept alive by many surviving family and contemporaries, while others such as Father Christian Burdo and Professor Robert Marret kept diaries and journals which give us enough to catch rounded glimpses of the people revealed through their professional correspondence. In the case of Marret we also have an autobiography which provides wonderful insights into the La Cotte excavations during the first quarter of the 20th century. But for many involved with this site, it has always been the case that our most powerful gateway to understanding and connecting with those archaeologists who worked there in earlier times is through the photographic archive of the Société Jeriaise.’
The first edition was produced with the generous financial support by Mr Stuart Weaving. For each subsequent edition we are looking for sponsorships which will enable the production and printing of ED.EM. Each sponsor will receive complimentary copies and a set of Limited Edition prints. Future editions will include subjects, such as Occupation (Pelz Collection), Henry Mullins (19th century portraits), Percival Dunham (St Helier Town), Social Housing and Historical Buildings. Please visit www.edem.je for more details.
‘Discovery of extension of cave.’ E. F. Gution, 1914.
By CCAI on 14/02/2020