Small businesses and trades that stood the test of time and remained successful over the decades may well continue to thrive as the national landscape continues to change.

Snapshots of these traditions were captured through the camera lens of award winning photographer Joe P. Smith who pays homage to these trades with 13 timeless photographs published in the Bank of Valletta’s 2011 calendar.

Mr Smith is synonymous with the performing arts and social documentary. He describes this assignment as an opportunity to express himself artistically through a number of businesses and trades that have experienced little or no evolution over the years in sharp contrast with the rest of society. A unique set of skills and tools have been passed down from father to son over the generations and have remained vastly unchanged.

“My aim is to immortalise these small businesses as they are today”, Mr Smith said. “The choice of a light sepia tone to the final images adds to the ‘old’ and traditional feel of the protagonists and their working spaces”.