Sculpin.io is an alternative for jekyll that is php based. I myself have written a simple site generator, pstahl written in PHP. It uses a sqlite database and handles static content as well as photo management.
Sculpin is a static site generator written in PHP. It converts Markdown files, Twig templates and standard HTML into a static HTML site that can be easily deployed. Are you looking for developer friendly forms for your static site? Get on the early access list for Liquid Forms and help support the team behind Sculpin! Why Sculpin? PHP static site generator. Fast and easy to get started. If your language of choice is PHP, you'll feel right at home if you need to extend Sculpin.
Embedded Composer. Forget about managing library versions manually! Sculpin embeds Composer to keep your source control focused and projects consistent. Twig templates. Twig is a full-featured modern template engine. It's simple to learn and it is extensible, documented, concise and flexible. Symfony's HTTP Kernel. Sculpin is built on it. This lets you use Symfony Bundles to extend Sculpin for any advanced functionality you need without extending Sculpin directly.