Masterplan
The island of Jersey is one of the world’s leading offshore International Finance Centres. In the second half of the twentieth century Jersey’s economy has experienced a radical transformation from one based upon agriculture and tourism to a financial services industry which today commands over 50% of total economic activity. More than 100,000 people live in Jersey and in 2019, over 13,000 islanders are employed within the finance sector. Jersey Finance, the organization formed to promote the industry, stated that in 2018 the cross sector value of invested wealth held in Jersey’s banks, trusts, special purpose vehicles and funds is estimated at £1.3 trillion. Masterplan is a research project using photography, film and archives to tell the story of Jersey’s prosperity as an International Finance Centre. A visual record of contemporary Jersey is a question of what visual record there is of finance. And, what is a visual record of finance? Adopting both an exterior view of the sector from the outside and an interior examination of work within the industry it proposes to re-address parts of the legacy upon which Jersey’s economic growth and development in the past, present and future has been told.
Research Questions
Archive
Project Outcomes
Masterplan is a collaborative photographic research project by Martin Toft hosted at the Société Jersiaise Photographic Archive. The huge importance of the finance sector to the post-war economic trajectory of the island of Jersey is an area in which Photographic Archives until now remain deficient. Although the Société Jersiaise Photographic Archive contains rich documentary of Jersey and St Helier’s landscape, social and business histories in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, major post-war developments in landscape, infrastructure and society are not represented in a coherent visual narrative.
Production
Masterplan is a long-term visual research project developed in collaboration with our award winning design partner, Kummer & Herrman, leading to multiple outcomes:
Funding
Masterplan is seeking investment from partners who share our vision and understanding of the need for a visual record of the development and impact of the Jersey Finance Industry
Contact us for a full Masterplan Executive Statement and sponsorship details: investors@masterplan.je
