Collection: WILFRID FLORES' ARCHIVES

Wilfrid Flores was born in Malta in 1912. He was the son of Renzo Flores, a prominent Maltese Calligrapher and grandson of Salvatore Flores, Malta’s first private educator and founder of Flores College in Valletta. Wilfrid Flores began photography and cinematography in his teens together with his father Renzo, who was a keen amateur photographer. His earliest accomplished photographic work dates back to about 1930, which indicates Wilfrid’s prodigious talent at such an early age. In the course of his life he would eventually be recognized as an authority on photographic art in Malta.

He trained as a forensic expert and this scientific aspect of his work helped him to acquire a very advanced technical knowledge of photography. His forensic career allowed him to support his family but his passion was rooted in the artistic potential of photography. He was a portraitist of the first order and was often commissioned to do portraits of visiting dignitaries and celebrities.

In 1944 he founded the Malta Photographic Society, shortly after his father Renzo was killed by a bomb that destroyed the Casino Maltese in Valletta. That same year his son Marcus was born.

During the post war years his work was sporadically published and exhibited in Malta and overseas yet despite the fact that he was by then an established photographer and part of the entourage of the Maltese art scene that included amongst others Edward Caruana Dingli and Emvin Cremona, and despite being listed in the Focal Press “Who’s who in Photography”, he never held a solo exhibition of his work.

Wilfrid Flores died in 1981 and was still active in photography until six months before his death.

LAST ORDERS FOR CHRISTMAS: 15th December 2022