Joe Scicluna, a local archivist with a lifetime of experience in Forensic photography, has, over the span of decades, built an incredible archive of photos showcasing Malta’s towns, streets and places at different periods in time. Starting with Valletta, Joe Scicluna kindly agreed to share with us (and our readers) some of his favourite photos which he has taken of Malta.
“When I enrolled in the Police Force way back in 1966 I spent a considerable part of my first wages on an elaborate photo camera. I was chosen to be posted to the forensic photography section so soon after, I did my first photographic course with the Department of Information in Malta and then at the Carabinieri Investigazione Scientifiche in Rome.” Joe explained how, after learning photography and getting to meet some of the best photographers in Malta and in Rome, he was galvanised to delve deeper into the world of photography.
“I was given the task of reproducing pictures of traditional Maltese views from glass negatives, and that made me yearn to keep doing more.” From then onwards, Joe kept photographing and archiving Malta’s streets and people throughout the years, building a collection that now spans decades.
Joe’s collection of photos of Valletta is a lot larger than just 12 photos, but for the sake of brevity, we’ve had to ask him to pick just 12 photos for this article.
Valletta Porta Sant. Anna Il-Bieb-tal-Klieb circa 1890
Floriana side Kingsgate circa – 1900
Valletta entrance circa 1930
Strada Raele circa 1890
Valletta circa 1910
Auberge de Castille in the 1860’s
Royal opera house by night in the late in the 1930’s
Valletta circa in the 1860’s
Valletta station in the 1880’s
Valletta Ferry landing place Marsamxett circa 1930
Valletta circa 1920
Valletta Strait Street Musical Hall in the 1940’s
