Kegham Djeghalian senior, the grandfather.
Kegham Djeghalian: It’s very special, almost therapeutic. When I found these archives at my father’s place, I felt like an archeologist discovering an important historical artefact. It wasn’t immediately clear to me how important these images were, but I knew there was something about them.I was eager to get to know my grandfather – I inherited my passion for photography from him. That’s why I went ahead with the “excavations”, and as you can see, his photographs are a great discovery. He documented a side of Gaza that’s totally different from that which we see today.I found the boxes in 2018. Since then, I’ve faced many challenges, including my lack of experience in photographic conservation. Right now I’m trying to retrieve the rest of my grandfather’s archives which remain in Gaza so that I might combine them with what I found in Cairo. I really hope I can make that happen.
Kegham Djeghalian junior. Photo by Rania Shereen.
I never met him. He stayed living in Gaza and passed away in the early 1980s. Besides our shared passion for visual arts, I also really wish I had known him because of how people from Gaza react when I tell them I’m his grandson. He founded the first photography studio in the city and the mention of his name still arouses strong emotions in the memories of people who were living there at the time.
Kegham Studio in Gaza.
These photos raise more questions than they answer, for me. I look at them and wonder why an Armenian immigrant decided to settle in Gaza and not in Jerusalem. I wonder how a man who barely spoke Arabic earned such a high level of trust and love from people. My grandfather enrolled his children in Arabic schools where they also learned about the Islamic religion and the Qur’an. He never had a problem with that, despite being a Christian. He even followed the Islamic Aqiqah tradition [of sacrificing an animal] when his son was born. My grandfather loved and belonged to Gaza and its people. He documented the details of their lives both inside and outside his studio.
The Djeghalian family eating fattah, a typical dish from Gaza. Fattah or fatteh is eaten throughout the Arab world, but ingredients vary regionally.
I think there’s a bit of trauma involved. My family usually avoids these kinds of memories. It’s not been easy for my father. [Despite living in Egypt for over 50 years,] he still has Palestinian travel documents. [Millions of Palestinians are stateless. They do not have passports but laissez-passer documents granting them limited rights.]
Kegham junior’s grandfather and grandmother at the beach in Gaza.
Gaza has always aroused people’s curiosity, especially foreigners’, including many diplomats in Egypt. They are often shocked Gaza really used to look like this. Through social media, many people from Gaza have actually recognised themselves or family members in my grandfather's photographs. They got in touch with me and told me more about how the photographs were captured and who the people in the images were. It was almost like a reunion.
This one [See photo below].
Kegham junior's father and aunt.
A day at the beach.
A family having a picnic.
A family cleaning vegetables.
A man and his kids posing in front of a UN plane.
Three little girls from Gaza.
Women discussing art.
Two portraits of kids at the seaside.