Maltese wins EU-wide photo competition

Joseph Smith, a Maltese semi-professional photographer, made the headlines in Brussels as his entry won an EU-wide photographic competition organised by the European Commission as part of its Year of Intercultural Dialogue activities.

Mr Smith's work was chosen by an international jury out of over 2,000 submissions.

The announcement was made during a ceremony at the EU headquarters by EU Culture Commissioner Jan Figel.

Titled Village Cobbler, Mr Smith's winning entry shows a jumble of shoes, tools, religious ornaments and Elvis posters in a crowded setting for a tradesman and the locals who often meet in his workshop.

"Freddy's shop is a meeting place for friends, locals and even the occasional tourist! I was intrigued by this man's 'cultural' vision: the juxtaposition of religious icons next to those of pop stars," Mr Smith said.

According to Chris Wainright, the UK photographer and academic who chaired the judging panel, intimacy, multi-layering of meaning and elegant mood and composition were what persuaded the jury of the merit of this picture.

The competition, Cultures On My Street, invited everyone with a camera and a sense of curiosity to submit their own vision of cultures meeting and mixing in their neighbourhood. It encouraged all EU residents to express their own view of what intercultural dialogue means in their daily life.

Mr Smith works in photography, the graphic media and painting and studied art and design in Malta and in Florence.