WATCH: Photo mash-ups bring 'Occupation Ghosts' to life

Friday 13 April 2018

How different did Jersey look during the Occupation? To answer the question, one islander has decided to merge archive images with photographs taken in the exact same location today in a series called 'Occupation Ghosts', which brings history into the modern day.

Passionate about Jersey's history and in particular the Occupation, Paul Bourke used his laptop to bring what he calls the 'Occupation Ghosts' to life in a series of photographic mash-ups that have captured the imagination of islanders on social media.

During his childhood, Paul heard a lot of stories from both his parents, who were alive during the Occupation. His mum's family and his paternal grandfather didn't evacuate the island, but his father, uncle and paternal grandmother were able to leave. This nurtured his interest in the period and led him to make a short documentary about his dad and his brother's life during World War II. Entitled 'David and Terry's War', it can be watched at Jersey Archive. Paul says: "It is a hobby for me to make videos and short films. I interviewed my dad and uncle and gathered a lot of information to make this documentary. It was like a nostalgic trip for some people, it was a bit of history and also family memories."

A commercial director at Pallot Glass and Windows, Paul decided to try something different in 2007. Leaving filming to the side, he started working on photograph mash-ups, after spotting montages mixing old pictures with current ones on the internet. While he kept the mash-ups secret for a while, in the hope of maybe publishing a book some day, Paul recently started sharing them on the Unseen and the Channel Islands Occupation Society (CIOS) groups on Facebook.

Video: Paul's 'Occupation Ghosts' blend history with today's scenes for islanders to better understand their past.

"You could say I stole the idea from a Russian guy who did a similar thing in Berlin. I liked the idea of having a traditional photo on one side and a  more current one and of merging them together. I had a lot of archive photos sitting on my hardware so I thought I could do something with them. I saw that Adam Surrey was posting a similar work online, his series is called 'Ghosts of time.' I thought I could share mine as some people might be interested to see them."

While Ingrid Bihet commented on a post that the images bring history to life and "must take a lot of skill to line it all up", Paul says the hardest thing is getting the 'Now' picture right. He explained: "The original pictures come from archives, I found them either on the internet or in books. Once I have chosen one, I need to find the actual location. I always try to have a blue sky in the photo so there is more of a contrast. The colourful, the better. The trickiest part is to get the same type of photo. It is not just the position and the angle, it is also the focal lens and the zoom, etc. It is hard to get everything right."

After the photo is taken, then comes the montage part. Paul says it can sometimes take up to an hour. "It depends how much it lines up, it it lines up well it is all good and I'm done in 20 minutes. If not, it takes a little bit more work. I use Photoshop Elements to make the montage. I have been using it for work for customers. I am not formally trained in it, it's just something I am interested in."

Pictured: One of Paul Bourke's previously unseen 'Occupation Ghosts', showing the aftermath of bombs dropped by a German aircraft at the Dry Harbour, immediately prior to the Occupation.

Paul's time seems to have been worth it, as islanders have been enjoying seeing the series develop in the past few weeks. John Hickey commented on one of the montages that it was "amazing to see the past and the current pictures together", while Carmen Williams said it was a "spooky contrast." On another post she added: "Wonderful Paul, it really makes the time change seeing it as it was and how it is now, you can get a feeling of what it might have been like - with armed soldiers roaming our beautiful Island." Many also encouraged Paul to publish more mash-ups, even suggesting he make a book or exhibition out of them. 

Paul was pleasantly surprised by the feedback on Unseen Jersey, "a great Facebook page, full of history, that I recommend to anyone." "I love the reaction to the photos, it is really nice. I didn't expect it. Certain things are not there anymore, I just wanted to highlight it and show where they used to be. The Gorey bunker for example, some people might not be aware it was there. The photo brings it alive. 

"It is also important for young people to know what happened. We are really fortunate here. We live in a beautiful island which has a rich history as well. If I can make people interested in it in a small way, that is brilliant."