Grandfather Was a Mysterious Street Photographer! British Photographer Inherits 5,000 Precious Street Photography Negatives Dusty for Half a Century
People often talk about “heritage,” but it’s more than just passing down material possessions like wealth or intangible assets like knowledge and ideas. True heritage means the next generation not only receives these legacies but also assumes the responsibility to carry them forward. This concept came to life for British photographer Dylan Scalet when he stumbled upon 5,000 film negatives left by his grandfather, Jack Sharp—revealing a hidden talent as a “pioneer of street photography.”
Like the posthumous fame of Vivian Maier, Jack Sharp’s works only gained public recognition after his passing. Born in the UK in 1928, Sharp moved to Switzerland in 1955 to work as an engineer at CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire). It was there that his passion for photography ignited, leading him to join the organization’s amateur photography club. Between the 1950s and 1970s, he captured thousands of images, whose legacy profoundly influenced grandson Dylan Scalet, inspiring him to delve into photography.
To honor his grandfather, Scalet spent the COVID-19 pandemic scanning over 5,000 negatives into digital files, sharing Sharp’s talent with the world. This act of preserving and digitizing the archive isn’t just a tribute—it’s a living testament to how photographic art transcends time, with each frame of mid-20th century British streets now rekindling a new generation’s love for visual storytelling.
