Country: Palestine
Collection Type: Museum University
Collection Size: 1,000-10,000
Period: 1930-1960
Type of Material & Format: Black and White images Digital files
Website: http://www.birzeit.edu/institutes/museum

Birzeit University Museum is a pioneering art space that produces and promotes contemporary artistic practice as a form of creative knowledge and that offers instrumental tools for social change and cultural dialogue.
Birzeit University Museum offers exhibitions, collections and education programs. Most of Birzeit University Museum photographic collections are donated from individuals or institutions that they have worked with during the exhibitions or research workshops.
The photographic collection reflects the daily life of Palestinian in the last century such as weddings and so on.

Contact Details:
Name: Ayman Hashem Al-Shweiki
Email: [email protected] ; [email protected]
Address: Birzeit University, Birzeit, Palestine.
Tel: 00 970 2 2982976

Other:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Birzeit-University-Museum-متحف-جامعة-بيرزيت-689195884477463/timeline

Website: http://virtualgallery.birzeit.edu

Country: Palestine
Collection Type: Library Research center
Collection Size: 10,000-50,000
Period: 1860-1900 1900-1930 1930-1960 1960-1980 Later than 1980
Type of Material & Format: Black and White images Colour images Digital files Film-based negatives Glass plates positives and/or negatives Prints Slides (positives)
Website: http://www.ebaf.edu

The Ecole Biblique et Archeologique Française (EBAF) was founded in 1890 by religious friars of the St Stephen’s convent led by Father Marie-Joseph Lagrange in Palestine. In addition to its primary mission in the field of biblical studies and archeology, the EBAF extends its scope to related disciplines such as history and geography of the Near East, ‘oriental’ languages, and connected documentation activities.

It holds an archive of 19th century photography, with many of the collections having direct relevance to the school’s archaeological pedagogy. The original holdings relate mainly to the fieldtrips carried out by the school in the broader Near-East region. It comprises around 18,000 glass plates in various sizes, of which two-thirds are negatives, and the rest mostly positive duplicates. These include stereoscopic views and rare autochromes. There are few prints from the glass plate negatives, although contact sheets exist for half the collection, which also includes albumen prints from pre-1914 commercial collections such as Bonfils.

The original holdings were enriched by three deposits: 1,600 glass plates from the French Assumptionist fathers dating back to 1896 and donated by the Notre-Dame Center of Jerusalem; 700 medium-format contact prints from a Spanish Dominican priest dating back to his time as a student at the school in 1929-31; 550 stereoscopic negatives dating from 1908-1909; and more recently, 2,200 scans from the White Fathers (Pères-Blancs) of Saint-Anne Monastery in the Old City of Jerusalem, including scans of 705 glass plates; 1,700 scans from the Jesuits of the Biblical Pontifical Institute, Jerusalem; and around 350 scans from the Italian Salesians from Beit Jimal (Palestine).

The contemporary holdings from the last 30 years contain thousands of film negatives in 35mm or medium format, as well as colour slides. These come mainly from the archeological surveys carried out by the school, and the trend has been to document endangered archeological and historical sites.

EBAF’s holdings are fully catalogued and accessible to researchers on appointment. The collection has been fully scanned, and there are plans for an online database. There are also cooperation arrangements in place with other churches in Jerusalem to help digitize their collections.

The EBAF collection has been the subject of many exhibitions in the region and in Europe, as well as several books: Distant Jerusalem, Holy City; Photographies d’Arabie: Hedjaz 1907-1917; Al-Quds al-Sharif, Patrimoine musulman de la Vieille Ville de Jérusalem: Photographies 1890-1925; Souvenirs d’Orient; Jerusalem: A Principios Del Siglo XX, Patrimonio y Cultura; Pilgrims to Makkah 1908; Itineraires Bibliques; The Empire and the Kingdom: Jordan as seen by the École biblique et archéologique francaise de Jérusalem (1893-1935); Jérusalem et la Palestine à travers la collection photographique de l’Ecole biblique de Jérusalem (directed by Elias Sanbar, ed. Hazan, Paris, 2013). More recent exhibitions, with printed catalogues, include: Chateaubriand, itinéraire de Paris à Jérusalem à travers les photographies de l’Ecole biblique de Jérusalem (Paris, 2013); Chrétiens d’Orient (Paris, 2014); Gerusalemme fotografata. Immagini d’all’archivio dell’Ecole biblique et archéologique française di Gerusalemme 1870-1935 (Lugano, Museo Cantonale d’Arte, 2014).

Contact Details: Name: Père Jean-Michel de Tarragon
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +972 2 626 44 68
Address: 6 Nablus Rd., East Jerusalem
Other website: www.ebaf.info

Country: Palestine
Collection Type: Museum
Collection Size: 1,000-10,000
Period: 1860-1900 1900-1930 1930-1960 1960-1980
Type of Material & Format: Digital files
Website: http://www.palmuseum.org/language/english

Under the slogan ‘Your pictures, Your Memories, Our History’, The Family Album Project initiated by the Palestinian Museum in November 2014 intends to document important aspects of Palestinian history, life, culture and society, including key incidents and well-know personalities before and after the Nakba.
The project aims to trace Palestinian history by collecting and digitizing photographs that have for years lain forgotten in cupboards and drawers. Taken from private albums, the old photographs show family scenes, Palestinian freedom fighters, schools, sports teams and ordinary people from different time periods. Interviews are held with the owners to contextualize the images before they are digitized and stored in an archive. This archive will eventually act as a collective, visual representation of this intimate side of life, history, culture and society in Palestine.
The project team has documented around 4,000 family photographs and conducted over 100 interviews in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Al-Bireh, Bethlehem, Jenin, Hebron, Nablus, Gaza, Acre, Haifa, Nazareth and Upper Galilee. Among the collected photos, the oldest one reportedly dates back to the late 1880s.
The project, which targets Palestinian families both in Palestine and in the diaspora, will soon be available through an open portal accessible from all over the globe. Each photograph to be displayed will be accompanied with the respective family name to which it belongs and with the family’s account of the people or events shown in the picture.
The Palestinian Museum building, which is currently being constructed in Birzeit – 25km north of Jerusalem – and will be open to the public in May 2016 is specifically designed to house archives. The Museum is also engaged in training its employees in this field, equipping them to deal with this kind of archival work. The Museum’s network of partnerships, digital archives and electronic platforms will also help to make this information accessible both to the local and global publics.

Contact Details:
Name: Lena Sobeh, Rana Anani
Email: [email protected] ; [email protected]
Address: 5 Al Sahel Street, P.O Box 101, Ramallah, Palestine
Tel: +972 2 2974797 / +970 0599357573

Other:
Blog: https://palmuseum.wordpress.com

Country: Palestine
Collection Type: Cultural organisation Foundation or Association NGO
Collection Size: > 50,000
Period: 1960-1980 Later than 1980
Type of Material & Format: Black and White images Colour images Digital files Film-based negatives Prints
Website: www.riwaq.org

RIWAQ was established in 1991 to document the built cultural heritage of Palestine. In 1994, it initiated the Registry of Historic Buildings project that provides encyclopedia of architectural information on 50,320 historic buildings in 422 Palestinian localities. 10% of these buildings no longer exist. Photography is used to document these sites.

In addition to the Registry of Historic Buildings in Palestine, RIWAQ has an archive, which consists of more than 400 computerized maps (digitized from their original paper version), and more than 150,000 photographs of historic buildings and landscapes. While some are in the digital form, others are blue prints, negatives, and slides.

RIWAQ’s archive is an invaluable resource that not only gathers information, but substantiates it in a collection of protected maps and photographs. RIWAQ is planning to publish a photo archive to make material accessible for researchers and Palestinians in the Diaspora.

Aside from the Registry of Historic Buildings, RIWAQ has been making documentary videos and film that showcase the heritage and rehabilitation process. They also have publications, a residency program and have initiated in 2005, the Riwaq Biennale.

Contact Details:
Name: Yousef Taha
Email: [email protected]
Address: P.O. box 212, Ramallah, Palestine / Palestine – Al Sharafeh – Al Bireh
Tel: +972 2 2406887

Country: Palestine
Collection Type: Private collection
Collection Size: > 50,000
Period: 1930-1960 1960-1980 Later than 1980
Type of Material & Format: Black and White images Colour images Digital files Film-based negatives Glass plates positives and/or negatives Prints

Studio Shahrori is a private studio which caters to private clients.
The studio was established by Islam Shahrori’s father in 1952 in Nablus, Palestine. Over time, it opened four shops in Nablus. The founder often went out of the studio to photograph special events such as visits by the pope, official visits from King Hussein of Jordan, and celebrities such as Um Kulthum, etc. The shops are now run by the fathers’ eight sons.
The studio has scanned around 1000 photos of public events and city dwellers. This does not include individual’s personal photos of weddings, funerals, etc.

Contact Details:
Name: Islam shahrori
Email: [email protected]
Address: Gharnata St., Nablus, Palestine / P.O.BOX:162
Tel: +970599231179 (mob), +97092371621 (land)

Country: Palestine
Collection Type: Press State agency/ Ministry
Collection Size: > 50,000
Period: 1930-1960 Later than 1980
Type of Material & Format: Black and White images Colour images Digital files Film-based negatives Prints
Website: http://english.wafa.ps

Wafa, the news agency of the Palestinian National Authority, provides daily news from Palestinian territories, Israel and the Middle East in English, Arabic, French and Hebrew. It was established in 1972 as the official news agency of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and now the Palestinian Authority. In 2008, a presidential decree made it a public agency.

WAFA’s photograph collection spans the PLO years in Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia, the Occupied Territories, and the Palestinian National Authority. It includes around one million negatives, mostly Black and White until 1982, color negatives prior to the digital age and donations from 1948. Many are secured in Gaza while approximately 20,000 are stored in Ramallah.

The collection is partially catalogued and available online, and is accessible for researchers. It is archived with published news stories and is still expanding. It has resulted in daily news, publications, PLO posters and postcards.

Contact Details:
Name: Nawaf Hamed, Editor in Chief
Email: [email protected] ; [email protected]
Address: WAFA Palestine News & Info Agency
Mecca Building Center – Third Floor, Transmission Street, Ramallah, Palestine
Tel: +970 598926200 (Nawaf mobile)

Country: Palestine
Collection Type: Museum NGO
Collection Size: 10,000-50,000
Period: 1930-1960 1960-1980 Later than 1980
Type of Material & Format: Black and White images Colour images Film-based negatives Prints
Website: http://www.yaf.ps

The Yasser Arafat Foundation was created in 2008 as an effort to gather as much photographic and video/film material relating to the late President Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian struggle in general and to research, tag and archive it as part of our National heritage.
The annual commemoration of President Arafat’s passing features an exhibition drawn from the archive based on a given theme.
Yasser Arafat museum is set to open in the near feature and will feature material from the archive as well as an online catalogue.

The collection is not available to the public.

Contact Details:
Email: [email protected]
Address: P.O. Box: 573, Ramallah, Palestine
Tel: +970 2957373

Other:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yafps