Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1546363
3 ART maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 AUGUST 2026 One image. Many visions: So many different ways of seeing By David 'dp' Attard WHAT happens when a pho- tographer is asked to choose just one photograph to repre- sent who they are as an artist? That question lies at the centre of 'One Image. Many Visions', a photographic exhibition bring- ing together twenty-five pho- tographers based in Malta, each of whom was invited to select a single, previously unexhibited photograph that best represents their artistic vision and photo- graphic practice. Opened on 19 August, World Photography Day, at the Cre- mona Gallery within the Malta Postal Museum in Valletta, the exhibition takes a deliberately simple premise and uses it to ex- plore something far more com- plex; how photographers see, interpret and ultimately define their own work. The instruction 'One Pho- tographer. One Photograph. One Artistic Statement' places an interesting responsibility on each participant. A photogra- pher's practice may encompass years of work, numerous sub- jects and different approaches to the medium, yet here that breadth has to be distilled into one image. The choice therefore becomes part of the work. A photograph does not simply record what stood in front of the camera. It reflects decisions about where to stand, what to include, what to leave outside the frame, when to make the exposure and, ultimately, which image is worth showing. Pho- tography has always occupied this space between documenta- tion and interpretation, preserv- ing moments while simultane- ously revealing something about the person who chose to photo- graph them. 'One Image. Many Visions' makes that act of choice particu- larly visible. Rather than asking its participants to work towards a common theme, the exhibition deliberately avoids prescribing an aesthetic or subject. Docu- mentary photography sits along- side conceptual work, intimate portraiture alongside landscape, architecture alongside street photography and fine-art ap- proaches alongside the artistic nude. The resulting exhibition is not unified by a particular visual style. Its unity comes instead from the question posed to every photographer. The inter- est is therefore not simply in the differences between the photo- graphs, but in what those differ- ences reveal. Each image offers a particular way of looking at the world and the gallery becomes a space where those different ap- proaches encounter one anoth- er. One photograph may demand attention through its scale or visual intensity; another may work through quietness, ambi- guity or intimacy. Some images can be read almost immediately, while others reveal themselves more slowly. Seen together, they demonstrate that photography is not a single visual language but a remarkably broad artistic me- dium. There is also an important in- tergenerational dimension to the exhibition. Established pho- tographers whose work has con- tributed to the development of Malta's photographic landscape are presented alongside younger practitioners whose approaches reflect changing technologies, influences and visual cultures. This continuity matters. Pho- tography in Malta does not exist as a series of disconnected mo- ments. E very generation inher- its a visual language from those who came before, while simul- taneously adapting and chal- lenging it. It is for this reason that the exhibition is appropri- ately dedicated to the pioneers of photography in Malta, both those whose names have sur- vived and those whose identities have been lost to time. The twenty-five participating photographers are Martin Agi- us, Alex Attard, David 'dp' At- tard, Marco Bilocca, Sarah Bo- naci, Ruben Buhagiar, Stephen Buhagiar, Leonard Cocks, Jo- hann Debono, Therese Debono, Monique Gatt, Emma Grima, Chelsea Muscat, Ed Muscat Az- zopardi, Vince Piscopo, Dragana Rankovic, the late Zvezdan Rel- jic, Karl Sammut, Kim Sammut, Ramon Sammut, Mark Sciclu- na, Joseph P Smith, Sasha Vella, Elisa Von Brockdorf and Darrin Zammit Lupi. The exhibition is accompanied by a satellite presentation in the Ellis Gallery, organised with the endorsement of the Malta Pho- tographic Society. Featuring work by ten members name- ly Bernardette Carabott, Brian Cassar, Pierre Cuschieri, Sarah Cutajar, Mario Mifsud, Jay Nab- be, Minna Palmen, Sheena Rog- ers, Sandra Sammut Alessi and Anna Tabone. The second exhibition extends the photographic conversation beyond the principal selection. Together, the two exhibitions present a broader picture of photography as a community as well as an individual practice. Photographers with different backgrounds and approaches, connected by a continuing en- gagement with the medium. A short audio-visual film by Diellza Illgner and FörsterFilm further contributes to the exhi- bition's exploration of photogra- phy and contemporary visual culture. Ultimately, One Image. Many Visions does not attempt to pro- vide a definition of what con- temporary Maltese photography should be. That would contra- dict the very premise on which it is built. One Image. Many Visions is open to the public at the Mal- ta Postal Museum, 135 Arch- bishop Street, Valletta, until Saturday 19 September 2026. The museum is open Monday to Friday from 10.00am to 4.00pm and on Saturdays from 10.00am to 2.00pm. Admission is free. Dragana Rankovic, La Chambre Bleue Lovers Alex Attard, Rockface D'Apres Picasso Elisa VonBrockdorff, AquaMoon Ramon Sammut, Veiled Series