Salt Pans of Gozo

The story behind my adventure to Gozo, the sister island to Malta with this unique and rather alien landscape.

This image won 1st place and a gold award at the 2023 WPE awards. It has also won 1st place in its category in the 35Awards 2023.

You could be forgiven for thinking the salt pans of Gozo were created millions of years ago by meteorites or perhaps they are the remnants of an alien city. Visually they are immediately ancient, belonging to a history that we couldn’t possibly have learned about at school. The islands of Malta are rich in this same history, one that attracted countless civilisations over time. At the heart of the Mediterranean, Malta is studded with ancient fortifications that illustrate the strategic importance of its location for militaries and trade alike.

Salt has always been an important part of trade, valuable for seasoning food but also storing it. Its very name is linked to wealth, the Romans paid soldiers a salarium (or salary), a regular sum to buy this important resource. But it was the Phoenician empire whose trade routes surrounded the coastal lands of the Mediterranean that is first linked to the salt pans on Gozo. The low lying limestone cliffs on Gozo are a perfect location by the sea to capture salt water that washes ashore. This very natural occurrence must have been witnessed and then repeated by man in a more structured way by carving these reservoirs into the rock.

The typical salt pans design is a checkerboard of squares that are joined together by a network of arteries that flow the sea water from larger pools closer to the shore. Once the sea water is trapped in the salt pans the sun evaporates the water leaving the salt behind. This ancient process has been documented many times, but it was Pythagoras who said “salt is born of the purest parents, the sun and the sea”.

Water from the sea is channeled towards the salt pans.

Kate, a professional art model and I had been shooting together on Sicily which is just a short ferry ride from Malta. It was my wife, Cleia who had suggested I go visit Malta as part of my sabbatical and as luck would have it Kate had always wanted to visit as well. Two days into our Malta trip we arrived on Gozo, the smaller sister island, with a plan to stay just the one day before returning to the mainland. We decided to head out and recce our locations for the next day, the first stop being the salt pans.

Our first view of the salt pans

Our taxi took us along the coast road which passes old villages and small beaches and then long expanses of what was our first sight of the square salt pans which are still in use today. But Kate and I were drawn to what appeared to be the older looking circular salt pans which are further up the island. Leaving the road, we walked down paths cut into the sandstone and onto the edge of the cliff which by now was lined with people enjoying the sunset. Below us were a few fishermen who were sat amongst the salt pans with their long lines leading into the sea.

The view was breathtaking, the rough shapes in the rock stretched out in front of us for as far as the eye could see, only separated by the sea and the sky. It was hard not to be inspired by a place as special as this and in that moment we both knew we were going to have to extend our stay.

Directly below us were the round, alien looking shapes we had come to see and further up the shore the patterns became more uniformed. I joked that they appeared to show evolutions, Neolithic, Greek and then Roman each civilisation leaving its mark. It was only later that I would realise that I wasn’t far off the mark.

This irregular pattern carved into the limestone was clearly the first iteration, perhaps a simple extension of some natural rock pools. We looked down upon them from our vantage point trying to pick out a favourite spot to shoot. We were both excited about the location, the plan was to take full advantage of the environment and to my delight Kate was eager to try out some drone shots.

We had come to recce the place with the view to return the following day, but we were soon taking photos that were print worthy in their own right. However, it was later as the crowds dispersed that we realised it would be a challenge to make best use of this space in normal hours.

We were both thinking it, but It was Kate who first said; “we need to do this properly and come back before sunrise”. That meant a 5 am start, one that would ensure a soft light but also guarantee that we would be alone, something that was necessary for any art nude shots.

Kate connecting with the environment

The next morning as we traveled in the dark by taxi to our destination Kate joked, “Sam probably doesn’t need this, he’s on his vacation!” My immediate thought was quite the opposite, I’ll always do whatever it takes to get the shot, but perhaps most importantly I was so happy to be working with someone who was just as passionate about creating these photos we were about to take. 

Sunrise at the salt pans

Having arrived we retraced our footsteps to locate some specific pans that we had identified previously. It was a perfect day, the conditions were just right for flying and the light that was beginning to reveal itself was lovely and soft. We embarked on our mission, much like cartographers mapping out a strange new location. From above you have a unique perspective that only serves to enhance how alien this landscape is. Kate and I had discussed shapes beforehand, the idea to use the salt pans as a means to frame her body.

The day before we had taken several shots using a couple of dresses that Kate had brought. The fabric helped to enhance the movement of the waves around us and from above this looked especially dramatic. But today we were set on creating something that showed Kate as being more connected to the environment. In many ways that is who she is, regardless of her profession as a model, Kate is someone who likes to travel and embrace a new location by studying its history and culture. When working she applies this same philosophy to help her connect with the space, much like an actor might when studying a part.

From above I would frame up the image and then direct Kate to the best looking salt pan. Once in situ she was then able to be the artist that she is, her poses ranging from quiet and nurturing to energetic and dramatic. We both became more adept as we progressed down the beach, subtle things like tweaking the angle of view or ensuring Kate was perfectly centred within the pans. My favourite pose was what I coined the scissor pose where her elbows and knees almost touched and her associated arms and legs were juxtaposed resulting in a peaceful but also symbolic shape that was a perfect match for our curious surroundings.

These finer points may all sound simple and obvious, but a lot of trust is needed to create images like this. Arguably this is true of any art nude image, but with these sorts of environmental shots where the light changes with each passing minute you rely on each other to do their part. We would often run from one spot to another playing an unusual form of hopscotch as we identified our next location. I had various pieces of camera equipment strewn about the beach whilst Kate pirouetted naked amongst the sharp edges of the limestone salt pans. We would arrive at a new spot and seamlessly agree on an approach, we trusted each other to do our part and do justice to this unique place.

With the overhead shots completed we walked back along the beach to collect our belongings. I was able to review the images with Kate via my phone and I remember selecting a few and saying “I think we have just created some wall art!”.

However, there was more to do. I had wanted to round off this set with some more traditional photography and shots that really brought to life the environment we were in. Kate was no stranger to connecting to the environment and was soon rubbing salt onto her skin and up and down her arms.

The idea was to bring to life the meaning behind this place. The first few images showed her hands working with the salt, an image that could have been taken at any point hundreds of years before.

After which we took some photos by the sandstone cliffs which were now filled with a gorgeous flat light. During these last few minutes of what was by now a long shoot we took some of my favourite images of Kate.

I had gone to Malta with a plan to create some nineties themed street fashion and arguably met that objective head on back on Valetta. Gozo was always billed as a bonus trip and in fact it turned out to be the highlight. I realise now that this was largely because of two things. Firstly, Kate and I now understood each other, we’d only met the week before but had since shot together many times and that more social period of reviewing photos at the end of the day had helped confirm we agreed on many things creatively speaking. But also, we went to Gozo with less of a plan. With fashion shots you plan mood boards and outfits, but our trip to Gozo was less curated. We knew we wanted to go to the salt pans and Kate was keen to shoot with my drone, but other than that our work here was much more spontaneous. Sometimes creativity is best served in the moment and this was a perfect example of that.

Back home in England I had a wealth of images to edit from the past few weeks abroad. But my attention was on the images taken in Gozo. One of the first few images that I shared with Kate was of her bowing down toward the camera, her arms outstretched and her hands and arms covered in salt. I knew I was happy with it, but it was Kate who said she thought it had a Herb Ritts feel to it which honestly made my day. I grew up with his photos on our walls at home so being told I was close to that benchmark was the highest form of praise I could ever wish for.

The printing process. From test strips to small prints and eventually large wall prints and their associated frames.