Becque á Barbe: Face to Face:

In 2019 I began to make a series of portraits based around the island of Jersey’s indigenous language of Norman French. Each portrait is titled with a Jèrriais word that each native speaker has chosen

In 2019 I began to make a series of portraits based around the island of Jersey’s indigenous language of Norman French. Each portrait is titled with a Jèrriais word that each native speaker has chosen to represent a personal or symbolic meaning, or a specific memory linked to childhood. Some portraits are darker in tonality to reflect the language hidden past, when English was adopted as the formal speech in Jersey and Jèrriais was suppressed publicly and forbidden to be spoken in schools. On a linguistic level the project is exploring the space between the formal, etymological and vernacular use of Jèrriais. In an island made of granite most names are forms of the Celtic, Norse and Latin words for rock. Juxtaposed with portraits of Jèrriais speakers are images of Jersey rocks that are all designated as Sites of Special Interest; important geological outcrops that are protected from development and preserved for future public enjoyment and research. The native speakers of Jersey French should be classified as People of Special Interest and equally be protected from extinction through encouraging greater visibility and recognition as guardians of a unique language that are essential in understanding the island’s special character.