Ian Ellis (ed.), Richard Ellis The Photography Collection, vol. IV. Malta and Gozo, BDL Publishing, 2011. 245 pp.
The publication of the volumes featuring photographs from the unique Richard Ellis archives has become a yearly event eagerly looked forward to by enthusiastic Melitensia collectors and anybody else who likes to see excellent pictures of a long-lost Malta and wallow in nostalgia.
A first-class production that provides much aesthetic pleasure- Louis Scerri
The fourth volume in this series is dedicated to Malta and Gozo and presents a selection of photographs which are quite rare and unusual.
Most old photographers of Malta concentrated their activity around the harbour area, since it was the services (especially the Royal Navy) that provided the most ready and constant source of income.
As such, it was rather unusual for these photographers to decide to carry their heavy, unwieldy equipment away from their studios to take pictures of the country and its folk. Such pictures might have satisfied aesthetic yearnings but they would have left their pockets quite empty.
Given this, only a relatively small percentage of the over 36,000 pictures in the Ellis archives were taken away from the Valetta-Harbour-Sliema area, where most of the potential buyers resided or were billeted.
Therefore the photographs in the present collection have got the added value of rarity in their representations of a pristine Malta before greed took over and reduced us all to a race of puny philistines.
By now I am sure all Melitensia-lovers know the background to the Richard Ellis story; how he came to Malta as a young man in his late teens, married a local girl, and opened his own photographic studio in Valletta in 1871.
Thanks to his good connections with the services and even visiting royalty, Ellis was to make his studio the premiere of its kind on the island, amassing an enviable archive of pictures that recorded Maltese society for over 60 years.
If there is anything in Malta that ought to be given a special heritage status, the Ellis photography collection is surely it.
This, the fourth volume, is different from the preceding volumes because the publishers have opted for a number of different expert contributors to write the introductory essay to each of the four sections that make up the book: namely Archaeology, Gozo, Malta, and Palaces and Gardens, and the accompanying texts to the pictures themselves.
The contributors, experts in their own fields, include well-known authors like Katya Stroud, Joseph Attard Tabone, Paul Borg, Kenneth Zammit Tabona, Anton Attard, John Mizzi, Joe Sultana, Paul Catania, John Manduca, Fr Joe Bezzina, Joe Borg, Michael Cassar, David Cardona, Mark Anthony Falzon, Conrad Thake, Joe Zammit Ciantar and Veronica Zammit Tabona.
They all have contributed to the brief but informative text that gives added value to the pictures.
The end result is a first-class production that provides much aesthetic pleasure, not least in its excellent production values and attention to quality, but also in the highly informative texts that throw new light on people and places.
The archaeology section, introduced by Stroud, is a most important record as Ellis immortalised many of the sites as they were being uncovered or soon after.
His pictures of the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum, for example, are an invaluable record of the site and its magnificent spiral wall decorations before they faded away, owing to the indiscriminate presence of thousands of visitors.
The same applies to the other sites which have since suffered the ravages of time and, sometimes, wilful ignorance. One important photograph shows the catacombs at Għar Gerduf in Gozo, which have since been hacked away almost into oblivion.
Ħaġar Qim appears in all its glory, in spite of the fact that the later re-constructions had still not taken place. The carefully placed individual or individuals Ellis poses in his pictures all convey the majesty and huge proportions of the stones.
The same applies to the Tarxien Temple complex and the Roman Domus, which Temi Zammit had just discovered and was bringing to the world’s attention through his publications.
The only problem in this section is that many of the photographs were not clearly dated, even in the meticulous records Ellis kept of his work and which would have been invaluable to the archaeologist of later times.
The Gozo section, introduced by Attard Tabone (who writes about the various artists who depicted Gozo), also has its fair share of fascinating views, ranging from those of the ever-present, dominating Citadel, the luscious valleys with their neatly terraced fields, the dramatic coastline, and various men and women at work, often eking out a hard living.
It is a countryside as nature intended, made orderly and fruitful by the labour of men. There is nowhere a crane to be seen, the like of which today dominates the islands, like so many huge crucifixes that point to the martyrdom of our birthright.
Marsalforn and Xlendi are still unspoilt in all their glory – a glory we can hopefully re-experience in some kind of afterlife; rural architecture magnificent in its simplicity; stone balconies; the majestic Azure Window at Dwejra, long before there were any fears for its eventual survival; and Gozo boats in full sail also being rowed… and much more.
The section dedicated to rural Malta gives an excellent overview of the island outside the urban confines. Borg writes a poetic, emotional assessment of the rural pictures in the book that sets the right mood for their enjoyment.
As usual, one can enjoy Ellis’s unerring eye for beauty, the right balanced composition, and the creative use of light. A supreme example is the picture that was rightfully chosen to grace the dust jacket; showing a poetic rendering of Wied Speranza church, it is a masterpiece of the art.
At times Ellis can be a bit cavalier with his description of the site, such as when he describes a view of the rugged cliffs behind Selmun, with St Paul’s islands in the background, as a shot of Comino. But that is indeed a small price to pay.
St Paul’s Bay is still uncluttered with today’s monstrous boxes that pass for residences. We are given alluring views of Xemxija, Tal-Veċċja, Tal-Għażżenin, Tal-Lanċa, and Buġibba areas.
Wignacourt Tower still proudly dominates and guards the bay, complete with the staircase that had to be sacrificed in the 1950s to make way for a wider road. The Gillieru promontory lacks a restaurant but wallows in natural beauty.
Ellis also had an eye for the peasant in his rural surroundings. Poor he might be, but depressed or dejected he is not. Life must have been bitter, hard and cruel but there is a serene contentment in the portraits of individuals and family groups.
There are a number of depictions of feasts and popular occasions at Rabat, Siġġiewi, Żejtun and a few other villages, as well as some significant events like the investiture of Dom Maurus Caruana as bishop of Malta in 1915 and religious processions associated with the Eucharistic Congress of 1913.
People and events could indeed provide the theme for yet another volume in this series.
The last section, with an urbane introduction by Zammit Tabona, is dedicated to pictures of palaces and gardens in Malta.
Ellis had also become the photographer by royal appointment, recording the passing moments for posterity or, in some cases, for onward transmission to Queen Victoria, who always wanted to know about how family members were faring away from her watchful eyes.
There are several pictures of San Anton Palace with royal residents or visitors, such as King George V planting a sapling that must have grown into an enormous araucaria by today, or a Duke of Edinburgh family group, or young princesses on horseback.
There are pictures of royalty in relaxed circumstances, such as the Duke on horseback at Mistra or the Duchess in a horse tandem at Tal-Ħandaq.
Even the palace’s staff are recorded for posterity.
There are also records of the Maltese nobility and their palatial houses.
Villa Bologna with its superb extensive gardens in Attard, for many years the residence of Lord Strickland, was truly a palace in miniature as the internal views so amply show.
The sheer taste of the decorations and the furniture belie the highly civilised sort of life that went on there, a stone’s throw from San Anton Palace.
There is the Inquisitor’s Palace at Girgenti and the country home of Lewis Mizzi at San Pawl tat-Tarġa, which has today become a well-known reception hall.
It stands in unique splendour, only accompanied by the Torri tal-Kaptan, which owes its origins to the days of De Valette.
Like the other volumes in the series, this is a book to cherish. It will give pleasure to peruse and read, like the first two volumes, which have become collectors’ items, almost impossible to find and thus commanding a high price.
It should also prove a good investment, although it is hard to see a real bibliophile parting with it.