Sixteen large format, panoramic prints of Gozo’s scenery by photographer Daniel Cilia are being exhibited at the Circolo Gozitano, in Victoria until November 10.

Mr Cilia had held his first solo exhibition at the same venue 25 years ago. The exhibition had very good reviews and this encouraged him to hold a showcase of his work at the National Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta, in 1986. Two years later, he left his nursing profession to continue his photographic career in Florence. In 1989, he was invited to run photographic workshops at the National Academy of Craft and Art in Oslo. From 1990 to 1995, he was in charge of the Photographic Department of the Florentine school of art, Lorenzo de Medici. During these teaching stints, Mr Cilia started working on photographic books and, in 1996, he left his post at Lorenzo de Medici to become more involved in the design of his own books. Mr Cilia has over 80 books about Malta and Gozo to his credit to date.

His work has often been exhibited in Malta and abroad and he has received several awards and distinctions in relation to his books and exhibitions.

Mr Cilia, born in Gozo in 1963, has been pursuing photography since he was 13. Self taught, he learnt the technical aspects of photography and, more importantly, realised how light shapes and forms our visual perceptions of everyday life.

He has always insisted that photography is not about equipment but all about the quality of light and how it modulates three-dimensional objects.

Panoramic photography has always fascinated Mr Cilia. In the 1985 Circolo exhibition he displayed a two-metre long photograph of the hills of Gozo (also shown in the present exhibition). However, the joints of the 22 photographs glued together were a distraction to the composition of the panorama. With the use of digital editing, panoramic photography can now be presented in its entirety without any joints or overlaps showing.

Last year ,Mr Cilia, in collaboration with BDL Books, published the book Panoramic Malta & Gozo, a collection of only panorama images.

The committee of the Circolo Gozitano invited Mr Cilia to hold an exhibition, inaugurated by Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono, to celebrate his 25th career anniversary as part of the activities for Gozo Day, which commemorates the capitulation of the French in Gozo on October 28, 1798 when the Goiztans were led by Archpriest Fr Saverio Cassar.

The exhibition is open daily from 6.30 p.m. until November 10. Any proceeds will be donated to the Community Chest Fund.