Being on Guernsey it is impossible to miss the island’s role in WW2. The Channel Islands were the only part of Britain that was occupied by German forces and, as a visitor, there are plentiful opportunities to explore that period with museums etc. that tell the story.
Even without doing that, and just by walking the coastline paths, you are constantly reminded by remarkably intact and massive artillery batteries, bunkers and gun emplacements. It became one of the most heavily fortified places on earth built by foreign prisoners of war and local islanders.
Before WW2 it was the French that was the enemy with Martello Towers, and previously Loop Towers, as visual reminders of when Guernsey and the other Channel Islands were a key part of our southern defence.
New thinking
Coinciding with this trip has been my recent engagement with the work of filmmaker and photographer Robert Golden. His initiative to invite fellow creatives to examine our motives for the photography we undertake struck a chord and I have participated in two of his recent zoom meetings.
Photography Making Meaning asks us to work out who we are and (I put this far more simply than Robert so ably does) what is close to our heart. Then to focus one’s work on supporting whatever those are – the environment, poverty, racism and so on are obvious examples.
I just want to go off at a tangent and then swing back to Guernsey.
At the meeting last night we spoke briefly about how young men in particular struggle today with what might be described as intellectual reflections. Crudely I guess it could be described as a dumbing down of the younger generation, more particularly seen in young men.
I immediately thought of the young people I’ve worked with for many years as a public speaking trainer. As the finale of the day’s training we asked the students to produce a speech on a topic of their choice. Boys nearly always struggled with this. Despite urging to think of a subject that was important to them they often turned to familiar topics – Renaldo vs Messi, Utd vs City, fav crisp flavour – 15 seconds in front of their giggling male friends and they were done.
Girls more often than not dug deeper.
Much more in touch with their emotions they were able, even the more introverted, to talk about subjects that were important to them – growing up, relationships, pressures of being a young person today, education, sexism, the environment and so on. And because the topics they chose were important to them their delivery was engaging and so we, the audience, were engaged too – often to the point of tears. Young men who identified themselves as LGBTQ+ were far more accomplished speakers too.
So what’s this got to do with island fortifications?
Thanks to Robert’s workshops I have been looking at these relics of war in a different way. Previously I would have created photographs simply looking for the best light, the most interesting interplay of colours, highlights and shadows – the usual stuff. Making an attractive shot to sit alongside others from the trip that I’ve included in my previous post.
Now I’m reflecting on these buildings as ‘male machismo follies’. Renaldo vs Messi, French vs the British.
Our world is full of these monumental structures where fear and hatred of others demands we ‘protect ourselves’ with weaponry to keep ‘the enemy at bay’, And it continues to this day of course, Trump’s Wall and, more lately, Golden Dome takes it to a new level while closer to home masked (mostly male) protestors in nearby Portsmouth slash lifeguard boats bringing in refugees. Machismo again negating the possibility of care and respect for fellow humans.
So my attempt now with these ‘holiday snaps’ of these fortifications is to indicate, as best I can with my compositions and edits, the feelings and emotions these buildings represent to me. In a way Robert’s urgings have encouraged me to use the advice I have given to students over many years ‘speak about what is important to you’ and re-direct that mindset to my photography.
These are of course just small steps along the way but I’m so grateful for the direction and insight these two workshops have given me.
Enough rambling, here’s some photos:
