[Strada Levante, Valletta, Malta] 1850s

Curator: This remarkable image before us, captured by Calvert Richard Jones, transports us back to the 1850s. It's entitled '[Strada Levante, Valletta, Malta]' and currently resides at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. What impressions does it conjure for you? Editor: My first thought? Intense light and shadow. Those staircases are like leading lines straight into a blinding source. The whole composition feels like ascending to somewhere both divine and hidden. Curator: Indeed. The dramatic contrasts enhance the symbolic weight. Staircases have always represented hierarchical structures, journeys, passages. And in this case, with the subtle inscription of "Strada Levante" – referencing the Levant, the East – it suggests a path towards the origins of civilization itself. Editor: That’s a great point. I love how the figures become almost ghostly with the photographic technique of the time. Are they leaving or arriving? It's beautiful and unsettling all at once, you know? Like cultural memories just swirling in the dust. Curator: Precisely. The architecture itself, the towering buildings on either side, feel like silent witnesses to countless comings and goings. The structures provide context – the urban environment, the passage of time. Notice the architectural details: the balconies, the stonework, even the subtle shadows cast upon the walls. Each contributes to a layered sense of place and history. Editor: It definitely has this really gorgeous vintage feel, and makes you ponder life, history, culture, religion, and the stories that have unfolded there over centuries. Makes you want to be there and touch the old stones. I imagine what all happened on those steps in the heat of the Maltese summer, and all the feet that have traversed them. Curator: Thinking about it, it does highlight a continuity—visual, cultural. This street, even now, embodies those enduring characteristics. What a stunning snapshot from a vibrant, shared history. Editor: Yes, really just stunning! Now that's what I call street photography!