Malta image chosen for catalogue cover

An image of St John's Co-Cathedral taken by Maltese photographer Alexandra Pace will grace the cover of a catalogue of a collective exhibition, 100 Photos For Europe, being mounted by the EU in Paris next week.

Ms Pace was chosen to represent Malta with her black and white, sharp and evocative images after she submitted a range of her works for selection from among photographers under 30 by a commission set up by the Embassy of Malta in Paris.

The exhibition marks the opening of Europeana 2006 in Paris, which kicks off on Tuesday and involves a series of activities to commemorate the second anniversary of the Europe of 25.

The exhibition, which has no particular theme, is uniting the works of young photographers from the 25 member states and should move to other venues in France.

One of Ms Pace's images has also been chosen from among the 100 photos exhibited to adorn the official invitation to the inauguration.

The exhibition at the Représentation en France de la Commission Européenne is being inaugurated on Monday, but meanwhile, Ms Pace has also been invited to exhibit 20 black and white images with a Maltese theme at the Maltese Embassy in Paris, again in view of Malta's second anniversary of EU membership.

Her photographs do not portray typically Maltese images of the touristy type but convey the way Ms Pace and her camera's eye perceive the island. Although they include some landmarks, such as the Manoel Theatre, Victoria Gate in Valletta, Mdina and San Anton Gardens, they are not your classical shots.

Ms Pace has also chosen to capture the essence of Malta through images of the back of a Maltese bus, a white taxi in an alleyway, and old and abandoned shop signs in Valletta.

Her photographs take viewers on a journey through different eras, culminating in an image of Portomaso as seen through the windscreen of a classical speedboat.

Ms Pace's images focus on architectural detail and texture; they have an "old" feel to them, but the style in which they are shot, the point of view, is, at the same time, modern, due to her zooming in on a particular detail. The monochrome adds that vintage touch, she explains.

Even her Maltese bus combines the "old" feeling with the fast pace of modern life as Ms Pace manages to capture the speed of the vehicles on a road by night.

Other Malta-related themes include the La Valletta Band Club in Valletta; the Ta' Giezu Good Friday procession, which again zooms in on one individual; a stunning silhouette of Filfla; but even a modern petrol station.

The photographer chooses to convey the island's religious aspect indirectly, but effectively, through an image of flickering candles.

Although Ms Pace has a penchant for black and white photography, she is versatile and her love for colour is alive and evident in her work on Pink magazine's fashion photo shoots, for example.

"I just love Valletta," she says of the location that inspires her most to shoot, due to its multi-faceted elements and textures. "It is unique and has not yet been ruined," she says. Ms Pace has been a self-taught professional photographer since 1999, but she started playing around with cameras about 15 years ago. "My teddy bear was my first model," she recalls.

Over the years, she has had several others - people being another preferred topic, whether in the context of fashion, theatre, portraits or nudes.

"I like people; they make me tick."

In fact, her plan in the pipeline includes an exhibition called 100 Lives for which she is shooting, over the course of a year, 100 people who mean something to her, or have hit her in some way. The idea is to "capture human essence and emotion" and she plans to eventually turn the exhibition into her first book.

To view Ms Pace's Paris exhibition photos, check out www.alexandrapace.com