Old style, nostalgic forms, a photo from Malta, South

Photographer's Note

The island country of Malta has a fleet of about 500 buses, most of them owner-operated. The British Leyland buses date mainly from the 1950s, and they're painted bright red and orange on the outside. On the inside they're customized with images of the Virgin Mary and St. Paul.

Busses are fabulous in both form and function. You can get almost anywhere on them. They supplanted the railway in 1905.

The Public Transport Association, or as it is known in Maltese: Assocjazzjoni Trasport Pubbliku - ATP - is the biggest public transport provider on the island. It has a vast network covering the whole island of Malta besides offering other services like direct services and a special night service from popular night spots on the island. For the frequent user weekly tickets are available that make travelling by bus that much cheaper.

Short history of the Maltese Bus

In 1905 a certain Mr Spiteri was granted the permission to import buses from UK to run between Valletta and St. Andrew because, as you probably know, Malta was a military and naval base and transport was essential. At first, he imported six Thornycroft buses from UK to run between Valletta and St. Andrews. Later another twenty seven seaters single deckers and thirty six seaters Thornycroft double deckers started running between Valletta and St. Julians. These first buses were painted in yellowish green and with a black band. During this period several Maltese acquired lorries' chassis and converted them into buses and in a short time more different types were seen running from villages to Valletta.

Presently there are 508 buses working on a day on day off basis, thus 254 buses are working on route transport throughout the island every day. The rest of the buses that are on their day off, work private trips and perform school transport, carrying school children to and from various schools in Malta.
(Source: maltatransport.com & busesworldwide.org)

KLB, jjcordier, ChrisJ, saylan-cb, paura, jlbrthnn, jhm, francio64, Cretense, bobocortis, Wandering_Dan, dip, azaf1, gildasjan, jaywalker, dabeed ha contrassegnato questa nota come utile

Critiques | Translate

BennyV (34730) 2009-01-15 0:54

Hi neighbour,

Your Malta pictures are making us consider Malta as a next destination for a short break. Maybe this view is not so typical as the balconies, but it's just as pleasing to me. Thanks, George.

Benny

hay_kes (31439) 2009-01-15 1:04

Hi George,
Very beautiful image vith excellent colours and details.TFS.
Cheers,
Have a beautiful day,

hAyAti

KLB (23723) 2009-01-15 1:05

Hi Georges

You propose a complete vision of Malta through your pictures. Thanks a lot for opening up this apparently beautiful country.
This close-up is very interesting, and the colors very attractive.
Well seen.

Regards
Karine

ChrisJ (171146) 2009-01-15 1:09

Hi George

Effective tight framing on the bus, with good sharpness & vivid warm colours of orange & red. Superb contrast & saturation. Tfs!

saylan-cb (12738) 2009-01-15 1:41

Hi George,
Very nice image with great capture and good details.
Excellent work!
TFS/Regards

paura (25802) 2009-01-15 2:17

George,
Formas realmente nostálgicas aqui. Penso que ainda existem muitos rodandos por esse mundo a fora. Linda imagem.

Abraço

Paulo

mikolaj_kawa (0) 2009-01-15 3:04

Hello George! Amazing capture. Wonderful sharp. Good contrast and saturation. Funny picture. What about Berliet's bus (French bus from Warsaw 70th)? Well done!

jlbrthnn (76043) 2009-01-15 3:34

Hello George,
Old style of bus, but new style of photography for you. I like this rather spectacular image and highly coloured. It is an original subject, and a new aspect of the daily life in Malta. Very good et artistic work.
Have a nice day.
Cordially.
Joël

jonathan_hart (21276) 2009-01-15 4:19

flashy detail ! it looks good
jc

snunney (130967) 2009-01-15 4:36

Hello George,
Leyland a famous British name to conjure with, but sadly now no longer in existence as a going concern. A great image with the close framing and the vibrant orange tones. Thanks for sharing this souvenir.

jhm (211734) 2009-01-15 4:41

Hello George,

British Leyland during the period of 1960 are a lot of this type of lorries coming to Belgium.
Excellent detail picture, lovely presentation too. TFS.

Best regards,
John.

francio64 (39888) 2009-01-15 5:20

Ciao George,
sono stato due volte a Malta. Una volta quando ero bambino e una volta da adulto, alcuni anni fa.
Questi bus sono sorprendenti. Uno Status Symbol in questa piccola nazione.

Complimenti per averci regalato questa originale e bella immagine.

Francesco

Cretense (68709) 2009-01-15 5:40

Hi George!

Fantastic, unusual "portrait", it looks like a colourful face, with eyes, mouth and all! Great tight framing, brilliant colours! Congratulations!

Hercules

TGULUMSER (13252) 2009-01-15 9:28

Hello George,
Very nice nostalgic composition with beautiful colors,
Best regards,
Tulay

bobocortis (16090) 2009-01-15 11:49

Hello George.
Really an old worker, this bus coming from UK.
Nice contrast and color coupling.
Best regards.
Bobo.

Wandering_Dan (3449) 2009-01-15 15:03

Hi, George -

Very interesting shot! Good concept and execution. It looks like the bus lines are not quite parallel to the frame, but I copied the image over and drew some guide lines, and strangely enough, most of them are - it's the grill that's a bit off, just enough to drive me crazy.

Best,
Dan

ifanik (21679) 2009-01-15 15:32

Hi George my friend
Very beautiful photo with wonderful colours
I like the POV
Congratulations
Best regards
Nick

dip (21408) 2009-01-15 20:28

Hi George,
indeed nostalgic,beautiful image with vivid colors,
well seen and captured!
Greetings,
Dimitris.

danyy (0) 2009-01-15 22:47

Bonjour George,
beaucoup d'entre nous aiment ces lignes ou plutôt courbes anciennes, donnant aux véhicules bien plus de personnalité que ceux de nos jours.
Cadrage serré et symétrique efficace dans ce genre de photo, de belles couleurs aussi.
Regards.
Daniel.

jemaflor (146206) 2009-01-16 3:43

Hi George,
Well framed with this close up on this old, beautiful and funny maltese bus, beautiful colours, well done.

azaf1 (15931) 2009-01-16 23:51

Hi George

This is what I like about Malta. The fotographer's fun! Those old buses are a beauty and it's a great time to ride them.

TFS
Argiris

Silvio1953 (220495) 2009-01-17 2:58

Ciao George, splendid detail of fascinating old bus, wonderful colors, very well done, have a good week end, ciao Silvio

gildasjan (43826) 2009-01-17 9:16

Bonjour George
J'aime beaucoup la couleur de cet autocar et le cadrage est soigné et remplit très bien ce cadre.
Bonne fin de journée
Amicalement
gildas

jaywalker (16105) 2009-01-29 10:14

Hi George, I like this photo as it is slightly different for your stile, the tight crop & really bright colours work magnificently together, also what a great looking old bus, a super piece of composition, TFS, kind regards Wilson.

jusninasirun (17529) 2010-10-25 23:50

Hi George. I think old styled vehicles are more curvy and solid in the appearance. You have framed this bus beautifully with well defined details and bright colors. Beautifully maintained from the 50s and I like this one. Thanks for sharing and have a nice day shooting. Regards - Jusni