One of the most prominent things in post-war photographer Guido Stilon’s work is not the way they highlight how our landscapes have changed, but how contemporary familiar locations can look in his pictures, despite decades of change.
Stilon’s pictures of Maltese landscapes will be among others exhibited in Malta in Transition, an exhibition celebrating the late photographer’s prolific work. (Slide the scroller to the right to see the photo of Malta past.)
Bingemma
Stilon was active and vividly capturing Maltese life of the 1950s and 1960s. He died in 1975 aged 43. While enjoying success during his lifetime, his work is not widely known.
Previously unseen, his work has now come to light thanks to Magna Żmien, who have preserved and digitised Stilon’s work.
One of the reasons Stilon’s photography still appears so stunningly contemporary, according to curator Letta Shtohryn, was his use of wide-angle lenses, aside from a good eye that could compose images accurately and quickly.
Kalkara
“With analogue photography, sometimes you cannot see the corner of the photo because old lenses are darker around the corner, so you can’t always account for it. Photography of the time is often a little off in the corners because the photographer literally could not see it,” Ms Shtohryn said.
“But Guido was so precise, his composition was perfect and it is clear that every detail mattered to him.”
Spinola Bay
Stilon’s personal philosophy of taking photographs for his own enjoyment is clear in how extensively he travelled across Malta, capturing so many different localities and the peculiarities of every village he visited.
Many of these expeditions would occur while on outings with family and friends, trekking the length and breadth of Malta in search of the perfect shot, and the perfect spot to pour a cup of tea and have a biscuit.
Floriana
Stilon’s photography illustrates how people interacted with public spaces and is a reminder to how those spaces have changed. Sweeping shots of countryside with nary a high-rise in sight, the quiet life that was in some of today’s most bustling towns and beautiful facades whose stone withstands the test of time, Guido Stilon truly captures a definitive image of Malta in transition.
Malta in Transition: a collection of photographs by Guido Stilon is open to the public from Monday, February 8 until March 7 at the Malta Postal Museum, Monday to Friday between 10 am and 4pm and Saturdays from 10am till 2pm. Magna Żmien will also host digitisation sessions, inviting members of the public to bring their personal and family negatives, photographs and old audio-visual films to be digitised. The project is taking place under the artistic direction of Andrew Alamango, with the digital preservation and archiving carried out by Andrew Pace. The project is supported by Arts Council Malta – Malta Arts Fund, APS Bank, the Malta Postal Museum & Arts Hub, iLab Photo and Times of Malta.
Valletta market
Valletta – Barbara bastions
Mosta valley