Imagine stumbling upon a treasure trove of forgotten memories – 80,000 stunning travel photos taken by your own grandfather! That's precisely what happened to Jack Smith, and the story is as captivating as the images themselves. In late 2021, Jack unearthed two boxes of old photographic slides tucked away in his parents' garage, a legacy of his grandfather, Herbert. Little did he know, this discovery would spark a remarkable journey.
Jack always knew his grandfather was a keen amateur photographer, but the sheer scope of Herbert's work – spanning decades and 40 countries – was astonishing. This revelation became the genesis of "A Blank Wall," a project spearheaded by Jack to showcase Herbert's extraordinary photography to the world.
The archive is a mix of approximately 65,000 color positive slides and 15,000 black and white negatives. Herbert, hailing from Bolton in the North of England, began his photographic journey with a Rolleiflex in the 1950s. By the 1970s, he was traveling the globe with his Olympus OM-1s and later OM-4s cameras, venturing to far-flung destinations like South Africa, Bolivia, Fiji, and Russia.
"I think his style was a kind of fly-on-the-wall travel photography," Jack explains. "He was obsessed with people; he would go to Guatemala or Tokyo or South India, and half of his photos would be of people. He would often engage with them, stop them in the street, and ask for a situational portrait. As a result the collection is a highly personal take on the world as he saw it."
And this is the part most people miss... Herbert's dedication was truly ahead of its time. Jack notes that his grandfather would seek out remote locations to capture his photographs, a practice that was far less common in the 1960s and 70s than it is today with the rise of social media and travel photography.
By meticulously examining Herbert's archive, Jack has witnessed his grandfather's evolution as a photographer. "Early on, there’s a lot of holiday snaps, he’s experimenting and playing around," Jack says. "But it’s super interesting because you can see him developing his craft in the collection, particularly with black and white printing. He was a surgeon and a similar methodical, meticulous approach is evident. It’s clear that he was extremely dedicated and spent a lot of time on his photography."
The collection boasts a variety of film types, including Kodachrome 25 and II, Agfachromes, Fujichrome transparencies, Ilford black and white 35mm negatives, 127mm medium format negatives, and sporadic large format film. Jack has breathed new life into this forgotten treasure trove through "A Blank Wall," a website and Instagram account dedicated to sharing Herbert's work.
"A Blank Wall" has garnered over 250,000 followers online, with Jack leveraging today's social media platforms to narrate his grandfather's untold stories. "I discovered early on that people love the storytelling around his photography," he explains, "But people also love the storytelling around how his photography was found."
Jack's intergenerational narrative has resonated deeply with the public. "People love delving into the past; they also love having some historical link to today, which is my Dad and me." Jack, now in his late 20s, never met Herbert, who passed away a decade before his birth, but has come to know him intimately through his photographs. His father, also a photographer, serves as the link between them, and Jack has also spoken with Herbert's friends, who describe him as a quiet, kind man with a dry, witty British sense of humor.
"I know he had a deep respect for the creative arts and culture, generally," adds Jack. "So when he went on some of these trips in the middle of nowhere, it was out of curiosity more than anything else, which is a great thing to hear."
Jack initiated the project while working in London, viewing Herbert's archive as a creative outlet. This endeavor has also become a learning experience, allowing him to delve deeper into the craft of photography.
"At first, I didn’t know how to deal with the collection. I began by seeking advice from friends who are photographers and I realized that I ought to spend some time unearthing the untold stories behind the images. After discussing it with my family, I began learning how to document and archive his work."
The collection evokes a sense of the late Vivian Maier, but Herbert was not entirely unknown. He was a fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and associated with professional photographers, including Alf Gregory, who photographed the first ascent of Mount Everest in 1953. But here's where it gets controversial... Despite encouragement, Herbert never published his work, only occasionally entering competitions or displaying his photos at local photography societies.
As Jack has refined his skills in digitizing and archiving the slides, he's expressed a desire to follow in his grandfather's footsteps, using the same camera and visiting the locations Herbert captured.
"I also want to use the projects as a creative platform; not just highlighting my grandfather’s photography but to highlight other photography I like," he says, while adding that a book will come one day and possibly a move into longer-form video, too.
What do you think about Herbert's approach to photography? Do you have any family stories of hidden talents or forgotten legacies? Share your thoughts in the comments below! And don't forget to check out "A Blank Wall" on Instagram and their website to see Herbert's incredible work for yourself.
