Giovanni Bonello has issued his sixth volume in the ‘Nostalgias’ series that is recording the works of the nation’s classical photographers.

The subject this time is Alfred Vella Gera, a banker with a passion for capturing the essence of Malta, its people and its chronicles, on film.

Vella Gera (1901–1989) became an active photographer and film-maker in the 1920s and his production turned out to be vast. He published many of the images in postcard format, though substantial numbers remained in his private archive.

The author includes over 250 of these images in this book, many of them to be seen by the public for the first time.

The book is a memory of the Malta and Gozo that citizens no longer know. Many of the cityscapes and panoramas will only be identified by the younger generations with considerable effort.

Vella Gera also took an interest in current affairs and readers will have an opportunity to keep and cherish a record of important occassions, including carnivals, funerals and events of national historical significance.

This volume is published by Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti. Nostalgias of Malta is on sale at all leading book-stores for €55 for the hard back version and €40 for the soft back version.