Gozo and Photography: The First Hundred Years (1839-1939)
Dr Charles Paul Azzopardi
Saturday 15 November 2025 │ 11:00
Since its introduction to Malta in 1839, photography has become a vital medium for documenting people, customs, and events. Arriving in Gozo somewhat later, it played a crucial role in capturing images of a way of life that has since vanished. In this public talk, Dr Charles Paul Azzopardi will explore how both Gozitan and non-Gozitan photographers used the camera to preserve the island’s cultural memory.
Dr Charles Paul Azzopardi is a physician and photo-historian, whose research explores nineteenth- and early twentieth-century photographic practices in Malta. He has contributed as curator and photographic cultural heritage consultant at the National Archives of Malta and the Richard Ellis Archive. His work has been published in over forty monographs, establishing his reputation in photography and publishing. He is also the founder of the Malta Image Preservation Archive (MIPA), a non-governmental organisation dedicated to preserving and digitising Maltese photographic cultural heritage, while actively lobbying for the creation of a museum of Maltese photographic history.
Pawlu Mizzi (1929-2019)
A Maltese patriot, Gozitan scholar, trailblazer in the modern interpretation of Gozo’s history, and pioneer in the publication of Maltese books, Pawlu Mizzi was born in Victoria on the 28th of October 1929. Mizzi’s long career spanned roles from teacher to scriptwriter and presenter of TV programmes on Gozo, eventually becoming managing director of Il-Ħajja. He also founded and served as general editor of Heritage, an encyclopaedia of Maltese heritage, culture, and civilisation. However, Mizzi is perhaps best remembered for founding, in 1970, Klabb Kotba Maltin, the home of Maltese books, and later Midsea Books Ltd. Mizzi was awarded the Medal for Service to the Republic in 1992. He passed away on the 5th of August 2019.
