Haydn
Ward-Streeter

‘To Whom It May Concern’ is an exploration of my grandfather's archive, Douglas John Streeter who worked for the Royal Air Force as a mechanic, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt, in 1942. While the world was at war with the Nazis, my grandfather was in his early twenties, documenting this time, as a writer and photographer.

Having died when I was a teenager, my grandfather left behind log books, diaries as well as a photo album from his time in Cairo. When looking through his possessions, my father and I discovered his diary "To whom it may concern; please read my diary" was handwritten in blue ink on the first page. These words were an invitation, to a personal journey, which took me to Cairo.

His diary serves as a rough guidebook, bringing together my grandfather's early intrigue with photography and his record of his time in Cairo, with my new pictures, developing a dialogue between the two. Exploring the geographical landscape of my grandfather's writing as well as the feelings and emotions I had towards his writing and photographs, in an attempt to better understand a man I knew so little about.