Richard Ellis died 100 years ago. It is fitting such a remarkable life should not merely be remembered but, more importantly, celebrated.
For long years, the words Ellis and photography had become interchangeable.
View of the Grand Harbour, early 20th centuryHe was not among the earliest pioneers of the new art but he lived to become one of its most prolific, successful, versatile and professional exponents.
Add to that, his immense archive of original negatives has remained virtually intact and periodically yields superb and unexpected discoveries.
Public and private life in colonial Malta, under Victoria, Edward VII and George V, has had many of its more significant aspects captured by Ellis.
The old Armoury in the Palace, Valletta, c. 1900, by EllisBorn in 1842, Ellis started his working life as an ambulant entertainer, touring with the Conroy spouses.
They visited and settled in Malta in 1861, opening their first photo studio in Senglea, practising the French Daguerre method, before switching to the British Fox Talbot system.
Then Ellis branched off on his own and there was no stopping him.
Picnic by the Sliema seashore, by the Ellis studio, but after Richard’s deathThe secret of his success lay in his consistency and his versatility. He excelled in everything – portraiture, landscape, groups, current events, memorials.
Portrait of Amy Dingli, wife of Sir Adriano, by Ellis
Maltese ploughman in the real-photo postcard series by Ellis
Rizzi (sea urchin) sellers. Postcard by Ellis
The fact that he was British may have sharpened his edge over Maltese competitors.
Obviously, the man to go to for the armed services, government direct orders, Freemasons, VIPs and protestants; his products were technically and aesthetically top-class.
Most of his full-plate prints remain flawless well after 100 years.
A group photo of the members of a Masonic lodge, by EllisEllis had a flourishing production of commercial postcards to his name, both printed and real-photographic, and these vary in quality – their durability does not compare to his full-plate products. Various other postcard publishers, like Modiano and my grandad, Giovanni, sourced Ellis for their images.
A street peddler by Edward Caruana Dingli. Photo and postcard by Ellis
Courtyard of the Auberge d’Italie, Valletta, by Ellis, c. 1900
Richard Ellis and part of his numerous family
All images from the author’s collections
Richard Ellis and part of his numerous family