Frank Scholten

François "Frank" Scholten (30 August 1881 – 29 August 1942) was a Dutch photographer and author.

Family Frank Scholten was the second child of investment broker Petrus Wilhelmus Scholten (1835–1913) and jonkvrouw Elisabeth Maria Anna Henrietta van Bevervoorden tot Oldemeule (1876–1889). He spent his childhood in Amsterdam and Portsmouth. After the death of his mother, his father remarried jonkvrouw (Dutch for female squire) Maria Anna Ploos van Amstel; two further children were born from this marriage.

Youth At age sixteen Scholten moved to a boarding school for boys from well-to-do-families in Noordwijk. He studied art, music, and philosophy in Berlin from 1908 until the start of the First World War, which forced him to return to Amsterdam. He was acquainted with Jacob Israël de Haan, whom he later met again in Palestine, and he was involved in the Amsterdam gay scene. In 1920 he was sentenced to two years in prison for pederasty, but left the country.

Photographic travels Scholten made a long journey via Cologne, Rome (where he spent several months), Brindisi and Athens to Palestine. He then spent three years in Palestine, traveling the region, and photographing people and biblical places.

Publications Having returned to Europe in early 1923, he exhibited a selection of 2200 of his photos at the Brook Street Art Gallery in London. The exhibition, titled "Palestine in Transition", was favourably reviewed in many English and foreign newspapers.

In the early 2000s Scholten's photo archive was rediscovered at NINO. In 2019–2020 a project was initiated at Leiden University for the complete digitization and cataloguing of the collection.

Some photographs by Scholten

Published works La Palestine Illustrée. I. La Porte d'entrée Jaffa, Paris - Jean Budry & Cie, 1929. La Palestine Illustrée. II. Jaffa la belle, Paris Jean Budry & Cie, 1929. La Palestine Illustrée. Tableau complet de la terre Sainte par la photographie, Évoquant les souvenirs de la bible, du talmud et du coran, et se rapportant au passé comme au présent. Vol. I: La Porte d’entrée Jaffa; Vol. II: Jaffa la Belle. Parijs: Budry, 1929. Palästina. Bibel, Talmud, Koran. Eine vollständige Darstellung aller Textstellen in eigenen künstlerischen Aufnahmen aus der Gegenwart und Vergangenheit des Heiligen Landes. Vol. I: Die Eingangspforte Jaffa; Vol. II: Jaffa, die Schöne. Stuttgart: Julius Hoffmann, 1930. Palestine Illustrated. Including references to passages illustrated in the Bible, the Talmud and the Koran. Vol. I: The Gate of Entrance; Vol. II: Jaffa the Beautiful. Londen: Longmans, 1931. Palestina. Bijbel, Talmud, Koran. Een volledige illustratie van alle teksten door middel van eigen artistieke foto’s uit het heden en verleden van het Heilig Land. Vol. I: Jaffa de toegangspoort. Leiden: Sijthoff, 1935.