Jack’s wartime photos – Jaffa St, Jerusalem c. 1943
Below is a photo of Jaffa Street, Jerusalem, taken by my Grandfather, Jack Keaton, in about 1943. Jack was serving with the Australian Army during WWII and was posted in what was then commonly called British Palestine. He was a keen photographer and took many images of his tours in the Middle East. I acquired many of his negatives after his death, scanned them all and later created a book of around 65 photos for my mother’s 70th birthday.
After scanning this negative I cleaned up the dust and scratches with a combination of scanning software and Photoshop tools. Recently, I created a large digital negative of this image and made a contact print on silver gelatin photographic paper in my darkroom. With proper care this image will outlive me by several centuries!
I have also included a version of the raw scan of the negative which shows the extent of dust and scratches which were cleaned up for the final print.
I am not sure of the exact address of Jack’s photo. I have also clipped a section from Google maps of a recent view of Jaffa St, Jerusalem, showing a similar style of architecture as appears in the background of his photo. Given the derelict state of these buildings and the presence of a crane in the background, I wonder if they will be preserved or are ultimately to be demolished. I would welcome any additional information about this area of Jerusalem others can provide.
Jaffa St, Jerusalem, c. 1943, by Jack Keaton
Initial negative scan
Jaffa St, Jerusalem, today, from Google maps