BY-NC-ND 4.0 International Revista Photo & Documento — ISSN 2448-1947 No. 1, 2016; section “Visual essay” Images, context and structure: the Richard Ellis archive (Malta) revisited * Imagens, contexto e estrutura: o arquivo de Richard Ellis (Malta) revisitado Charles J. FARRUGIA** & Ian ELLIS*** Abstract: Presentation of the Richard Ellis Archive, depicting his life and photographic work. The importance of that personal archive to Maltese national history is enhanced by its almost unique characteristic, that of still being organized in accordance with the original order Richard Ellis imposed. This includes also all the complementary non-photographic documents that were generated by the photographer during his activities. The visual essay intends to present a brief panorama of Richard Ellis photographs and their original finding aids. Keywords: archival context; Maltese photography; personal archives; Richard Ellis Archive. Resumo: Introdução ao arquivo pessoal de Richard Ellis, com destaque à sua vida e obra fotográfica. A importância desse arquivo pessoal para a história nacional de Malta é ampliada por sua característica quase singular de estar sendo organizado ainda em conformidade com a ordem original dada por Richard Ellis. Isso também é aplicável aos documentos complementares não-fotográficos, gerados pelo fotógrafo ao longo de suas atividades. O Ensaio visual busca apresentar um breve panorama sobre as fotografias de Richard Ellis seus instrumentos de controle originais. Palavras-chave: Arquivo Richard Ellis; arquivos pessoais; contexto arquivístico; fotografia maltesa. “Richard Ellis” is a household name in Malta. The idyllic photographs of Malta of yesteryear that grace so many books and which featured on so many postcards at the turn of the last century were taken by him. Born in England in 1842, he had a remarkable history and ended up on Malta’s shores quite by chance. At the age of * Essay constructed as a result of the collaboration between the owner of the Richard Ellis Archive and the National Archives of Malta to seek possibilities of cooperation. A previous presentation on this topic was delivered at the International Council on Archives 2014 conference “Archives and Cultural Industries”, held in Girona. The summary of that presentation in available at: http://www.girona.cat/web/ica2014/ponents/ponents/id34.htm ** Malta’s national archivist. Chairman of the Association of Commonwealth Archivists and Records Managers. Holds a Masters in History and Masters in Archives and Records Management from University College London. Lecturer at the Faculty of Media and Knowledge Sciences at the University of Malta and international speaker with several published papers. E-mail: charles.j.farrugia@gov.mt *** Great grandson of Richard Ellis and owner of the archive. Frequent participant of international events related to photographic archives, and collaborator with the National Archives and the Centre de Recerca i Difusió de la Imatge, in Girona, on the best ways to preserve his collection. Author of several books showcasing Malta’s beauty through the works of the Ellis photographers. E-mail: ian@ellismalta.com