Grootmeesterspaleis, Valletta 1865 - 1888

This photograph of the Grootmeesterspaleis in Valletta was taken by Giorgio Sommer in the 19th century, using the wet collodion process. With this technique, a glass plate was coated with chemicals, exposed in the camera while still wet, and then developed immediately. Sommer was a master of this tricky method, evident in the image’s sharp detail and tonal range. Look closely, and you’ll see the way the rough texture of the limestone is rendered. This was the island’s primary building material, quarried by laborers. The palace itself speaks to a complex colonial history, having been the seat of power for the Knights of Saint John, and later the British governors. The photograph is not just a record, but an artifact embedded with layers of social and material history. It reminds us that even in photography, the hand is at work.