John Frank Keith was born in 1883 and spent his whole life in and around Philadelphia. In high school, he developed an interest in photography.

While paying the bills as a bookkeeper, he wandered around the neighborhoods of South Philly with a handheld camera, taking relaxed, informal pictures of residents sitting on stoops, standing in front of their homes or simply walking by.

He recorded children on their way to their first communion wearing their Sunday best, rebellious young men drinking and family members who gathered together. He did this for three decades, printing the photos on postcards and selling them at corner stores.

His motivations are largely a mystery, as he left behind no family or records after his death in 1947. Most of his photographs did not identify the subjects.

The names and stories of the people in his photos, most of them struggling through the Great Depression, are left to the imagination.