A group of people walk in shadow under a large metal bridge, while vintage cars are parked along the street beside a railway station, with sunlight streaming through the glass roof above.Jack Smith is now the custodian of his granddad’s archives.

Late in 2021, Jack Smith opened the first of two carefully wrapped boxes filled with old photographic slides that had been sitting in his parents’ garage for his entire life. What he found was astonishing: his grandfather’s archive of 80,000 images taken across decades and 40 countries.

Jack had always known his paternal grandfather, Herbert, was a keen amateur photographer, but had no idea that he was so accomplished and so well-traveled. The discovery set off a chain of events that led to the birth of A Blank Wall, a project led by Jack showcasing Herbert’s remarkable photography.

Stacks of archive boxes and folders arranged in rows, with labels and colored dots for identification. Some boxes are open, and packets and envelopes are scattered on top. The background is plain white.The stacks of slides Jack opened in 2021.

The archive consists of roughly 65,000 color positive slides and 15,000 black and white negatives. Herbert, from Bolton in the North of England, started shooting with Rolleiflex in the 1950s. From the early 1970s, he traveled with his two Olympus OM-1s, later OM-4s, to far-flung destinations including South Africa, Bolivia, Fiji, and Russia.

“I think his style was a kind of fly-on-the-wall travel photography,” Jack tells PetaPixel. “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.”

Jack says that Herbert would go to remote areas of the world to take photographs. While it may be common to see a photographer on Instagram doing that today, in the 1960s and 1970s it was highly unusual.

A group of women in colorful traditional clothing walk barefoot in a line, each balancing an ornate offering basket on her head along a rural road with greenery in the background.Bali, Indonesia, circa 1976. Two young boys stand close together, one smiling widely and the other with a neutral expression. Both wear light-colored shirts, and one boy wears a white cap. The background is blurred and outdoors.Kabul, Afghanistan, 1975. A small child wearing a light blue sweater and a white headscarf is carried on an adult’s back with a colorful woven textile, showing only the child’s profile and part of the adult.Peru, 1978. An open square with parked cars and several benches, some occupied by people. Three buses are parked in the background, and a few individuals are walking or standing around the square. The ground is paved with patterned stones.Finland. Three women seen from behind, wearing colorful traditional Andean shawls and bowler hats. Their dark hair is braided, and they appear to be outdoors in a village setting with blurred buildings in the background.Bolivia, 1978. A row of red taxis waits at a taxi stand in front of tall office buildings in an urban area; some drivers are visible inside the cars.Possibly Hong Kong. A black-and-white photo of an older man in a trench coat holding a small, fluffy puppy. He looks at the dog fondly. Typed text below the image reads, "The photographer, my Grandad.Herbert Smith

Jack says that by going through Herbert’s archive, he can see his progression 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.”

Among the collection are Kodachrome 25 and II, Agfachromes and Fujichrome transparencies, Ilford black and white 35mm negatives, 127mm medium format negatives, and sporadic large format film. Jack has breathed fresh life into the once-forgotten archive by starting A Blank Wall, a website and Instagram featuring Herbert’s work.

A Blank Wall has over 250,000 followers online and Jack uses today’s social media to communicate his grandfather’s untold stories from the past. “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 says that his intergenerational story has struck a chord with the public. “People love delving into the past; they also love having some historical link to today, which is my Dad and me.”

A person wearing a tattered, hooded cloth stands against a weathered wooden door secured with a padlock, with only one eye visible. Faint chalk drawings and writings appear on the door.

Two men wearing caps and work clothes lean out of the window and door of a blue steam locomotive, looking ahead. The side of the train displays the number 4498.

A woman in a bright red saree sits on a stone ledge outdoors, surrounded by greenery, with tree-covered hills and a clear blue sky in the background.North India, circa 1974.
Two young boys stand near a wall. The boy in the foreground wears a red and white knit hat and looks at the camera, while the boy in the background wears a grey hat and looks away.Ecuador, 1983. An elderly man with a white mustache and beard wears a bright yellow and orange turban. He holds a wooden flute to his lips, appearing to play, and wears a white shirt. The background is softly blurred.North India, 1974-84.

An elderly person with glasses, a cap, and a mustache holds a prayer wheel in front of large spinning prayer wheels. The image is black and white, and the person wears traditional clothing.

Stacks of yellow Kodachrome film slide boxes, many labeled with handwriting. One box is open, revealing a blue photographic slide inside. The boxes fill the entire image, creating a colorful, vintage pattern.Some of the color film transparencies.

Jack, now in his late 20s, never met Herbert who died ten years before he was born but has gotten to know him better through his photos. While Jack’s father — who also happens to be a photographer — is the link between them, he’s also spoken to some of Herbert’s friends who tell him that he was a quiet and well-meaning man with a very British sense of humor — dry and witty.

“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.”

A young girl with flowers in her hair and a large necklace stands in front, looking serious, while a small child peeks over her shoulder from a cloth carrier on her back. The image is in black and white.

A smiling young girl holds a small child in her arms. Both are looking at the camera; the child is sucking on their fingers while the girl has an arm around them and is wearing hoop earrings. The image is in black and white.

Passengers sit on deck chairs under a large lifeboat on the side of a ship, looking out at the blue ocean as the vessel moves forward, leaving a foamy wake behind. The sky is clear and bright.

Three children stand together on a quiet cobblestone street outside a row of brick terraced houses with brightly painted green doors and windows. The scene appears to be from a past decade.UK, circa 1970s. A smiling man with light hair holds a framed black-and-white photo of two people, standing against a plain wall in bright sunlight.Jack Smith

Jack began the project when he was working in London. When he discovered Herbert’s archive, it became his creative outlet. The project has enabled him to learn more about 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 has something of a Vivian Maier vibe to it. However Herbert was not totally unknown: he was a fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and he was friends with a number of professional photographers, particularly Alf Gregory, who took the photographs of the first ascent of Mount Everest in 1953. Despite encouragement, Herbert never published any of his work, only putting a few up for competition and occasional shows to local photography societies.

A steam train at night emits smoke under a tall lamppost by the tracks; the scene is dimly lit, creating a dramatic silhouette against the night sky.

A person draped in light fabric lies on a stone floor with one arm extended and eyes closed, in a relaxed pose. The setting appears to be a spacious, sunlit area with stone columns nearby. The image is in black and white.

A black-and-white photo of two people sitting on the intricately carved wooden veranda of a traditional building, with one person facing away and a few people walking in the background.

An elderly person in traditional clothing stands among old stone ruins, with mountains and a vast landscape visible in the background under natural daylight.

Nine vintage Kodachrome film slides in red frames are arranged in a 3x3 grid. Each slide shows a dark or moody scene, possibly outdoors or at dusk, with varying colors and shadows.

As he’s got better at digitizing and archiving the slides, Jack has realized that at some point, he would like to pick up the same camera his granddad used and follow in his footsteps by traveling to the same areas Herbert visited.

“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.

To check out the A Blank Wall project, and to buy prints of Herbert’s work, head to Instagram and the website.

Image credits: Herbert Smith, courtesy of Jack Smith