My accumulations of early images of Malta include a set of 13 cutouts from a calendar issued some time ago by Dickens Library in Sliema.

All the prints show images of the rural life of countryfolk, untarnished by any pretensions of genteel living.

Photo from Giovanni Bonello's personal collection

These photographic masterpieces have one thing in common – their mystery. Who was the camera artist who took them?

They were obviously shot in the early 1920s by the same highly gifted photographer in a markedly idiosyncratic style and this should normally be a telltale fingerprint.

Photo from Giovanni Bonello's personal collection

I flatter myself I can recognise the author of any antique Maltese photograph (portraits excepted) just by looking at it as all talented photographers betray their identity by what personal ‘style’ they infuse in their compositions.

The Dickens set resembles no known photographer active in Malta in the 1920s. I have shown those photos to leading experts and they confess being as baffled as I was.

Photo from Giovanni Bonello's personal collection

An overseas camera maestro has been suggested, not implausibly. Yes, but, then, why would a foreigner opt to direct his attention to unglamorous far-away corners of rural Malta with nothing obviously commercially photogenic about them?

Photo from Giovanni Bonello's personal collection

Photo from Giovanni Bonello's personal collection

Photo from Giovanni Bonello's personal collection

The new generation at Dickens seems to recollect that the photos had been obtained from the archives of Joseph A Vella (1927-2015), an unmatched master of monochrome imaging from Mosta.

The stunning negatives may have come from his extensive archives but the dates exclude his authorship.

Photo from Giovanni Bonello's personal collection

I am keeping my fingers crossed that some reader will be able to clarify these enigmas.

Enjoy these exquisite expressions of austere life wedded to nature, when tradition still held sway, when women still balanced heavy loads on their heads, African style, and when very few enjoyed the luxury of looking obese.

Photo from Giovanni Bonello's personal collection

Photo from Giovanni Bonello's personal collection

Photo from Giovanni Bonello's personal collection

Photo from Giovanni Bonello's personal collection

All images from the author's collection.

Photo from Giovanni Bonello's personal collection