Most people’s daily commute does not hold much promise outside the drudgery of traffic, but for MariaTeresa Sette, the walk to and from her workplace is a journey brimming with potential and promise.
Ms Sette runs People of Ħamrun, an Instagram account that documents the life and times of the oft overlooked but bustling town. Settling in Malta around four years ago, Ms Sette lived in Sliema before moving to Ħamrun two years ago.
“My friends thought I was crazy because for some reason they considered Ħamrun to be like the slum of Malta,” Ms Sette says. “But I loved it! I found this town completely different from Sliema and immediately fell in love.
“In terms of infrastructure and amenities it is completely underdeveloped when compared to Sliema, but I found it very fascinating because you can see that it has kept its originality, it’s very genuine.
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“My experience of Malta up to that point had just been Sliema and then, when I came to Ħamrun, I realised that there is another face of Malta that is extremely fascinating. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of the south of Italy, where I’m from, so I began to see a lot of similarities.”
Having worked as a journalist for eight years, Ms Sette now works in the field of asylum and migration.
I like to steal photos, people just walking in the street
Photography and photojournalism have always been a passion of hers, however, People of Ħamrun didn’t actually start out as any sort of specific project.
“It was originally just so I could delete some pictures from my gallery,” she says.
Having unwittingly amassed so many pictures while walking to work – of people doing seemingly ordinary things – she toyed with the idea of opening a blog to showcase her spontaneous thematic gallery and, through the desire to avoid spamming her personal Instagram account, People of Ħamrun was born.
“Most of them are ‘stolen’ shots. I like to steal photos, people just walking in the street. I keep my phone out when I’m walking so if I see something interesting, I just take a picture. It’s not premeditated but completely spontaneous,” she says.
The photos captured by Ms Sette paint a portrait of a town in flux, one culturally rich in international influence while holding strong to its traditions and values.
The subjects are often themselves in motion, with many photos capturing a lot of character in a fleeting moment.
“I’m really interested in people’s lives and stories. If I could I would spend my life telling a story,” Ms Sette says.
“You can see a life behind someone’s face, there’s a story behind every one of us and that’s probably what fascinates me, that’s what’s behind that single moment.”
Herself a migrant, Ms Sette says she has always felt welcome in Ħamrun’s communities and sees a sense of respect and tolerance not only towards herself but towards the numerous other cultures whose people have made the town their home.
“I feel that people care about their neighbours, they want to know who he is.
“It’s a small place, I go to work every morning and I see the same faces, they know what time I come back. It’s nice.
“If you ask me what the real culture of Malta is, as a foreigner I would say it’s the mixture of cultures. Look at your language, it’s made of Arabic, Sicilian dialect, Italian, English. So that’s what makes the Maltese who they are, this blend of Mediterranean cultures that have enriched you and not destroyed you,” Ms Sette says.
