Sean Mallia is a working photographer as well as a student at the Faculty for the Built Environment at the University of Malta, so it should come as no surprise that he has an affinity for architectural photography. However, a single label like ‘architect’ or ‘photographer’ would not be an apt descriptor of who Mallia is or what he does. That said, Mallia, inspired but not moulded by the likes of Horst P Horst, Helmut Newton and Richard Avedon, would see himself as a creative that enthuses in various fields, from typography to graphic design and renders.

Most of Mallia’s colleagues believe he will give up photography once he graduates as an architect. However, he says that’s not the case.

“I want to keep my photography parallel to my work as an architect,” he tells me.

This brings to mind the likes of Andreas Gursky and Julius Shulman, two creatives whose work the both of us, as it turns out, admire.

While Mallia always felt drawn to architecture, he found himself reluctant to pursue it because of a slight fear of the mathematical aspects of it. It was due to this uncertainty that he changed courses a few times, really making the most of his formative years and endeavouring to find out more about himself as a man as well as a creative. He was first a communications student and then a physics and informatics student – however, in both cases he found himself doubting, or disliking, his career prospects afterwards.

Once he had decided not to pursue a career as a scientist in the field of physics and informatics he took a gap year, during which he worked alongside one of Malta’s top chefs as a server: this fanned the flames of his affection and interest in food and photographing it. To his surprise, he also managed to get a B in his mathematics A-level.

Mallia then went on to study architecture, knowing that to do so you need to be a bit creative and visual. He knew he couldn’t sketch or so he thought at the time. The traditional way to draw was very different from the way he was taught to sketch for his diploma of design foundation studies, which is the preliminary year every architect has to do at the University of Malta before commencing built environment studies. That diploma challenged the notion he held, that he might not be good at doing anything creative because he couldn’t sketch.

During his gap year Mallia also tried his hand at photography. He bought a dinky little BenQ and started taking pictures of things he liked. Under the right light, objects would transform into new shapes and forms that could serve as inspiration and ideas for building designs. It was after he had taken a picture of a paper boat structure that people started noticing his eye, praising his understanding of perspective and composition. This encouraging feedback nudged him towards buying a dSLR and he would photograph objects and structures while studying architecture, both in Malta as well as on trips abroad, completely enamoured by structures, the light that hits them, and the shadows they cast.

Following his diploma, Mallia got his first clients. He also became president of the Society of Architecture and Civil Engineering students and public relations officer for the University Students Council. He also seasoned through two apprenticeships with architectural firms QPM and Architecture Project, followed by a healthy increase in higher-profile clients and workshops and travels that allowed him opportunities to photograph foreign architecture. Following his gut feeling proved to be crucial to his self-growth and has, he says, “made him a new guy with a new perspective on life”.

Basic composition, the lines, the rhythm of architecture, shapes and form: just having this background helps you understand what you need to fit into a frame

Urban spaces abroad proved to be more photogenic and good photographs come easier when telephone wires, road signs and cars do not clutter an urban space but rather fit into it. Italy is a definite love in that regard. So is, surprisingly, Brussels.

“I didn’t expect Brussels to be fun,” Mallia says. “I used to associate Brussels with the EU and therefore boring. But when I actually went there I was surprised. They have all these different eras and all the architecture is contex-tualised. There is also respect between the buildings that I really liked. The spaces, facades, designs: it really works.”

Nonetheless, Malta has what to offer, especially with baroque architecture and the mingling between the new and the old, not to mention the exponential growth of interior design over the past few years, with the recent influx of designers and architects. Valletta, especially what with recent developments, growing human activity and events like Malta Design Week, seems to be the top spot for photography in Mallia’s eyes.

When I prompt him on thoughts about exteriors, his expression looks less optimistic.

“It’s difficult to get good exteriors. It depends less on designers and more on clients, the economy, politics – a lot of factors, really.”

And he isn’t wrong. One of the first large-scale attempts at serious and good exterior outer architecture was of the parliament building designed by Renzo Piano, a design that is, to say the least, divisive.

“Taking pictures of buildings, especially in Malta, involves a lot of cloning. It’s all about taking that one good shot and painting out wires, signs, or cars. Once I spent about six hours on one photo because of a car.”

The quality of Mallia’s work speaks for itself. So does the impact that studying architecture has had on his photography.

“Understanding the concept of a building, or the process of a design, is really influential in this kind of photography. Basic composition, the lines, the rhythm of architecture, shapes and form: just having this background helps you understand what you need to fit into a frame and how you should compose.”

A strong marker of architecture’s influence on Mallia’s photography is his fondness of elevation shots.

“An elevation in our line of work is the drawing of a facade in lots of straight lines and no perspective. I like taking shots like this, maybe with some perspective present in the sides of the frame. Horizontal lines, vertical lines, diagonals: anything an architect keeps in mind when designing is something I like to keep in mind.”

As for his future plans, Mallia tells me of his desire to take a good portrait of the parliament building once it’s done, in a signature elevation shot. He also nurses an ambition to study architecture abroad for a while, maybe Milan, where he could also develop his photographic style. After that he could come back, work as an architect and a photographer and, maybe someday, band together with other creatives who like him, will do good work for their clients. Work that is interesting, visual, spatial and creative.

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