The fruit of a project that saw 21 photographers capture Malta on film for seven days and nights last July is being displayed in the form of about 200 images at St James Cavalier, in Valletta from Saturday.

Project Malta, the brainchild of two Australian photographers, involved a week of non-stop photography to "interpret life in Malta today". At every hour of the day, a group of photographers, working on five-hour shifts, snapped away somewhere on the island.

According to the organisers, Mark Avellino and Alan Carville, who spent 18 months planning and coordinating the project, the end result portrays Malta in "a new and different light, alive and energetic. It comes across as a place where things happen and not a sleepy, Mediterranean village, which it may be considered to be overseas".

Indeed, during the week of the marathon, Malta was the stage for Elton John's concert, Roger Sanchez's dance party and even an earthquake, as well as day-to-day activities, such as funerals, weddings, cultural events, sports...

"Rather than focus on old buildings and history, we pushed Malta's contemporary image and those elements that render it what it is today."

The idea was to paint a complete picture of "Malta alive now and not 200 years ago", the Australian organisers said. They both have Maltese connections - Mr Carville was born in Malta and Mr Avellino's parents are Maltese. However, the project was not about Maltese-Australians, or the link between the two countries, they had clarified last year.

It aimed at creating a body of work that would show life in Malta today and stemmed from personal reasons: "We grew up in Australia, where Malta does not have a clear identity and many think it is just an extension of Italy. Few are aware of Maltese culture and we wanted to highlight its uniqueness".

The seven-day photography marathon involved eight Malta-based and 13 foreign photographers, who ended up handing in about 4,500 images, which, over the past year, have undergone a rigorous selection process by the photographers themselves. They have been scanned, catalogued and printed to high-quality standards, with an effective metallic finish.

Prior to the start of the marathon, the organisers researched publications to determine what traditional images of Malta were most popular and "used them as a gauge for what not to photograph. We tried to avoid the clichés," Mr Avellino said. They had evaluated about 13,000 images of Malta, seeing how they could be improved on and used to promote the island.

The project adopted a documentary style and a variety of techniques were used, with some photographers venturing into new areas and experimenting, the organisers said.

Apart from the 21 professional photographers, Project Malta also distributed disposal cameras to 100 youths, who took pictures of a day in their lives. The roving Malta exhibition has already been held in Philadelphia and Washington in the US - and Australia is in the pipeline to put "Malta today" on the map and expose it to a wider audience.

The idea is to give Malta a higher profile, particularly in the eyes of the Australians, who do not always take it seriously due to its limited size, the promoters said.

They were pleased with the reception and feedback at the US exhibitions and hoped a younger generation, as well as tourists, would also be attracted to the Malta event, which would, undoubtedly, be the most critical audience.

Project Malta is also being transformed into a book, composed of 192 pages and images. The exhibition is on until October 24.