Considering that Richard Ellis’ photos have a wide following, it is surprising that so little is known about the man himself, whose life reads like a Victorian rags-to-riches novel.

Born in London in 1842 into a Welsh family with numerous children, the young Richard was apprenticed to James and Sara Conroy who were part of a travelling circus. Becoming an accomplished tightrope walker, Richard toured in Europe with the Conroys, and while in Paris James and Richard were fascinated by the latest rage – photography. They attended the Daguerre Institute, where Richard immediately showed a natural talent for this new form of art.

Travelling south through Italy and Sicily, Richard and the Conroys were overtaken by events when a riot related to Garibaldi’s presence in Messina prompted them to head to Malta instead of Naples. Arriving in Malta in 1861, James and Richard set up a photo studio in Senglea. At the age of 22 Richard married a Maltese girl and by the age of 29 had opened his own photographic studio in Valletta.

Richard would go on to create an archive of some 36,000 images which form a complete record of Malta’s history and development during the Victorian and Edwardian periods, recording not just events and our most important buildings, but also social development, changing fashions and customs. The glass plate negatives dating back to Richard Ellis’ arrival in Malta in 1862 were taken with large format studio cameras using techniques that were advanced for their time, many of which were pioneered by Richard Ellis himself. Some of these techniques will be discussed during the course of this presentation.

Richard Ellis placed Malta at the forefront of the development of photography from its infancy, giving the Maltese nation a treasure of timeless images. This invaluable source of reference for photographic and historical research was saved from destruction during the war.

The lecture, which will be held at Hotel Phoenicia on Wednesday 16 May at 7pm, will be delivered by his great-grandson Ian Ellis and illustrated by photographs from the archive carefully reproduced from the original glass plates.

Those interested in attending are invited to book at [email protected] or by calling 9982 0159. The public is requested to be seated by 6.45pm