ISSUE
72
The official MIPP Newsletter
City Gate Dreams | Photography by Rik Van Colen
www.mipp-malta.com
2017
sept | oct
Photography Kevin Casha
Editorial
President’s Viewpoint Dear Members, 2016 has been a really busy year for MIPP – and rightly so – it was our 20th anniversary. During the past year, we have put in a huge amount of effort to improve and update the Institute’s services as well as its infrastructure. Today’s society and lifestyle does not leave much space for complacency and continuous evaluation and improvement is vital. In 2017, our website was totally changed and renovated, the MIPP newsletter was revamped, we have applied for two other accredited courses (which should be approved and announced shortly), we updated the Members’ handbook, we increased collaboration with other venues and sponsors and we joined up with the General Retailers and Traders Union (GRTU) so as to be better represented when issues arise with the authorities. Added to all this, our policy to rope in the help of as many of our members as possible has started to pay dividends. In fact, all this activity and improvement would not be possible if it was not for the input of our members, sponsors and friends. Yet, one thing I would like to see more is for our members to avail themselves further of our services and opportunities. The first meetings of the year have been very well attended and this gives us a lot of courage to continue improving. Here, I would like to remind all our members that they can have a personal page with their work on our website. Also, they can hire, at subsidized rates, studio lighting equipment and we also have at hand frames which are loaned free of charge to our members for photographic exhibitions. Add to this our member meetings, our tuition courses, our workshops, the Photographer of the Year competition, Mentoring programmes, Qualifications, etc; and one can realize how much our members benefit from the yearly investment of their €40 membership fee. This year we have also introduced a reduced three-year membership fee which has been very well received. This year there are already two major initiatives which have been confirmed. Four one-day seminars are taking place instead of our international convention. This move is aimed at giving members a more flexible base to learn specific genres of photography. In today’s hectic lifestyle, we hope that this move will enable our members to
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avail themselves more of one day seminars than the time consuming three day seminars we had previously been staging. Each one day seminar will have one of our major sponsors backing it. The second initiative is that the Committee felt that it was time to enable members to apply for the Licentiate with a panel of digital images. This move was mainly introduced in order to reduce the costs for applicants. Yet, the AMIPP and the FMIPP remain unchanged and need to be submitted as photographic printed panels. As for the big news of the year, as already announced, the MIPP has purchased its own premises in Brittanja Street, Paola. It has been a long hard road in order to save the substantial amount of money needed to do this vital step. It was also a necessary one, as successive local governments have failed to help the Photographic community and provide a venue for so many persons involved in this art and culture form. It is a pity, but unfortunately, years of meetings, proposals, promises etc. have come to nothing where the authorities are concerned. Thus this premises has been acquired due to the support of members and sponsors and hard working Executive Committee members – past and present. The premises consist of a ground floor maisonette having one main room and two other rooms, together with a bathroom and yard. We still have some work to do in order to make it ready so we would like to ask our members to bear a bit more with us. We would also like members to answer various calls for physical help in order to keep the finishing costs down as much as possible. I am sure we will have a good response, as we already have. Here I would mention the physical help that one of our members, Elton Barbara, is giving us in order to finalize the premises. He has been instrumental in many aspects. From our part, we ask little from our members except to maintain their enthusiastic participation in our events. It is what keeps the committee inspired. Kevin Casha President.
THE MIPP SPONSORS Non-Profit organizations like the Malta Institute of Professional Photography are constantly in need of funds in order to be able to function in a modern and professional environment. That is why it was important to have various sponsors interested in networking with the MIPP and at the same time involving them in important issues concerning the photographic trade. The MIPP feels it is vital to stimulate joint events and initiatives together with our sponsors. This policy helps our members to be constantly aware of products and services that our sponsors market thus not only encouraging an increase in business but also benefitting our members through special occasional offers and deals. This co-operation and belief by our sponsors, most of whom have been with us since the MIPP’s inception, has helped in no small way in making the Institute what it is today. It is one of the MIPP’s main objectives to help keep this co-operation improving. We urge our members to truly support our sponsors by making use of their services and products whenever possible. Our sponsors show faith in the MIPP so it is only fair that our members should reciprocate. Give your custom to those companies and entities that help us. Editor: Kevin Casha
Design: Articles: Sita Azzopardi & Malcolm Sammut Various contributors
Proof Reading: Louisa Tonna
Members Profiles: Daniel Vassallo
If you want your photos featured on the newsletter’s front page just send the images to: newsletter@mippmalta.com Your contributions are always welcome
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Contents MIPP Premises
pg 05
MIPP members win top places in FAA’s Scenes of a City
pg 06
Marika Mallia Scerri by Daniel Vassallo
pg 09
MIPP Still Image - Tonio Polidano
pg 18
MIPP Still Image - Keith Ellul
pg 19
MIPP Activities : One day workshop Fashion Portfolio
pg 20
Light Hearted Moments by Mario Casha
pg 22
MIPP Calendar | Jot down dates
pg 23
MIPP Calendar | Jot down dates
pg 24
MIPP ONE DAY WORKSHOP by Ramon Sammut
pg 25
MIPP Foundations in Image Editing 2017
pg 26
Membership Renewal and newcomers | MIPP Benefits of Being a Member
pg 28
6
20 9
19 18
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MIPP Premises by Kevin Casha
Preparing the MIPP premises: Work has started in earnest to finalize the new MIPP premises in Paola. The call for help was very encouraging and an enthusiastic band of helpers has already been busy at work doing various alterations and embellishments to the venue. I must here mention that the plumbing and electricity work needed is being done by member Elton Barbara, who has worked for
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us for free and has saved the MIPP a good deal of expense. Other members’ input has also been invaluable in order to enable us to keep finishing costs to a minimum.
MIPP members win top places in FAA’s Scenes of a City Competition MIPP members Claire Aquilina and Stefan Cachia placed first and second respectively in the recent photography competition organized by FAA. The three top photos were selected as those that best conveyed how Malta is, or is not, developing sustainably, in a thought-provoking and visually creative manner. The competition was organized by the NGO to raise awareness about Malta’s obligation to reach its 2030 targets as agreed with the UN, by planning, managing and developing its urban spaces in an inclusive, resilient and sustainable manner. MIPP President Kevin Casha was the competition’s consultant and one of the panel of judges. 1st place - Claire Aquilina Awarded 250 euro in photographic equipment 2nd place - Stefan Cachia Awarded 100 euro in photographic equipment 3rd place - David Grima Awarded 50 euro in photographic equipment
Photography by DAVID GRIMA
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3rd place
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Photography by CLAIRE AQUILINA
1st place
Photography by STEFAN CACHIA
2nd place
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Photography by marika mallia scerri
Marika Mallia Scerri Interview by Daniel Vassallo
basic photography to get further knowledge about
Marika was born and raised in Birkirkara and after
During this time, Marika used her father’s Minolta
getting married moved to Ħal Qormi, where she lives
Riva/Freedom Zoom 105i compact film camera
with her husband. For the past fifteen years, she has
and it was with this camera that she shot her first
been working in the ICT industry, the last eleven
meaningful street photograph whilst wandering near
of which as a Software Tester. During her free time
the Guggenheim Museum in New York.
how photography works and what it is all about.
Marika reads books and articles, watches series and movies, eats anything that looks edible and smells
In the year 2000 Marika bought her first compact
good, practices photography and travels.
film camera, a Minolta Riva/Freedom Zoom 150, as she no longer wanted to keep using her parents’
Since she was a little girl, Marika has always been
cameras. She loved it because of its 37.5-150mm
interested in photography. She fondly recounts how
zoom capabilities, which came in handy when taking
her mother influenced her when she used to take
photos abroad. She used it for a while, but then had
family photos with a very basic Kodak Instamatic, the
to take a break from photography for a few years as
one with the Magicube flash. She also remembers
she was fully focusing on earning her Computing and
the professionally done family’s black and white
Information Systems degree.
photographs hanging on the walls at her grandmother’s house. She loves the fact that one is able to off-load
Then, upon completion, in 2007 Marika decided it
mental images onto a more permanent memory.
was time for an upgrade from her film camera and after some research, she chose the Nikon D80, which
In the nineties, Marika had studied and graduated in
came with an 18-135mm kit lens. She still owns this
Industrial Art and Design. During these studies, she
DSLR today, and has since put it to good use.
had a specific module on photography. Subsequently she also undertook a brief introductory course to
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MIPP:
Later on, encouraged by Kevin, Marika decided to
Back in 2012, she got to know Kevin Casha through
participate in the International Online Competition -
Charles Calleja who was her wedding photographer.
IOC and the Photographer of the Year Award - PTYA
After learning about the Malta Institute of Professional
competitions between the years 2014 to 2016. This
Photography, together with her husband, she decided
year, Marika did not take part in the PTYA due to
to join the institute.
lack of time but she is looking forward to participate again in the near future. She admits that through
She still remembers the first Convention that she
these competitions she has learnt a great deal thanks
attended, organised by the MIPP with Dennis Orchard,
to the precious feedback given to her and to other
Joe Zammit Lucia and Sergio Muscat amongst other
participants by the qualified and experienced judges,
famous photographers who conducted the workshops
who in recent times are also foreign, thus having
that year. She also recalls Cristina Lauder’s session,
diverse perspectives.
who spoke extensively on her unorthodox way of creating and using textures in her photography. It was
Beliefs:
an experience which she really enjoyed and has since
Being an introvert, coupled with living on a tiny
then renewed her membership every year.
island where everyone knows each other, makes it difficult for her to shoot street photography. Moreover, the introduction of the data protection act made it even more challenging. Thus, she chooses to refrain from taking such photos in Malta, but during her trips abroad, she photographs to her heart’s content, whilst trying to be as unobtrusive as possible. She has been to several parts of Europe, including different areas of England, Scotland and Ireland. These days, Marika shoots RAW files because they allow her to edit her photos with more versatility. She primarily uses both Nikon’s View NX 2 and Photoshop for this job. Moreover, the MIPP
wisdom
imparted
lectures
during
presented
by
fellow members proved to be very useful, as they encouraged her to experiment and ultimately improve her editing skills. She recalls the ones held by Kerstin Arnemann (on b/w photography), Sean Azzopardi (on how to use Photography by marika mallia scerri
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Camera Raw), Keith Ellul (on seascapes) and Sergio Muscat (on b/w photography). Passions: Marika is into travel photography in a documentative way. She enjoys immortalising memories of her journeys by photographing the places she has visited, the people she met and the food and drinks she enjoyed. For locations, she usually starts by capturing the name of the place if available, before venturing in to photograph the most interesting sights, locations and more importantly the details. A case in point is when back in 2012, she took 90 GB worth of photos on a 5 week tour of China, Hong Kong and Japan. Considering that the early digital SLRs produced fairly small files, this is a massive amount. The reason behind the huge amount of photos taken is that Marika likes to capture everything, for instance, buildings of places she visits and then she
Photography by marika mallia scerri
concentrates on their details. Therefore, the number
ones that she had neither the time nor the presence
of shots adds up very rapidly but by doing so she gives
of mind to shoot – for instance the best ever direct
the same subject different dimensions and meanings.
into the camera smile she got came from a Buddhist
She revealed that sometimes her best photos are the
monk bathed in the soft, orangey light emitted by the
Photography by marika mallia scerri
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Photography by by marika mallia
setting sun. It was complimenting his
on pushing the boundaries. She wholeheartedly believes in the ‘Less
warm coloured attire. She believes
is more’ maxim.
that that photo would have been the perfect travel memento from that
Lately, since the beginning of 2017, Marika started a very interesting
trip.
project she called ‘A texture a day’. It started as a personal challenge - to capture images of textures and publish one every day on a
Abstract photography is also another
purposely created Facebook page bearing the same name. The idea is
genre which she loves engaging in,
to shine a light on everyday textures that make up our surroundings
as it is just Marika, her camera and
that, most often than not, are taken for granted. One peculiarity
the subject(s) that she uses or finds
about this project is that Marika chose to do it with her LG Nexus 4
to attempt to create wonderful and
smartphone instead of using her DSLR. The reason is that due to her
mysterious images. She states that
timid personality, she finds it to be much easier to take photographs
abstract photography allows her to
in public using such mundane and discreet equipment than if she
view a subject or an object in a lot
were to use a bulky DSLR.
of different ways - pretty much like in software testing - then based on
Conclusion:
the mood of the moment she gets
At the moment, Marika is fairly satisfied with the equipment she has
to choose just a couple of views and
at her disposal and is not thinking of upgrading. However, if in the
work on them. The great thing about
future she changes her mind she will be looking into getting a new
it is that she starts with an idea or
camera that can last her for a long time and one that has a broad
mental image, and then more often
range of specs to suit a diverse range of photographic genres should
than not, the resultant image is very
she decide to switch from one to another.
different from that. Like that, she herself is kept guessing what the next
Interview by
tries will look like and makes her keep
Daniel Vassallo.
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2016
Continental Cars Ltd.
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Photography by Daphne gatt
Photography by LORRAINE BUHAGIAR
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Photography by Johan Siggesson
Valencia | Photography by Ramon Sammut
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Photography by HENRY AQUILINA
Photography by MALCOLM SPITERI
Photography by Ondre Camilleri Gaglione
MIPP STILL IMAGE
Images taken during recent Still Image Award workshop with Tonio Polidano.
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MIPP STILL IMAGE
Images taken during recent Still Image Award workshops with Keith Ellul
GET QUALIFIED BY MIPP
APPLY FOR YOUR DIGITAL LICENTIATESHIP:
http://mipp-malta.com/qualifications/
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MIPP ACTIVITIES by Kevin Casha
ONE DAY WORKSHOP ON BUILDING A FASHION PORTFOLIO A selection of images from a recent one-day intensive workshop on fashion photography and building a professional model portfolio. During the event, the participants were first exposed to the theoretical aspect and afterwards given valuable practice at Buskett. Under the supervision of Kevin Casha and the collaboration of two experienced models, both from
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Venezuela, the photographers were enabled to produce images of the highest quality and further improving their skills at this challenging genre of photography.
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LIGHT HEARTED MOMENTS
DO IT YOURSELF DRONE by Mario Casha
BENEFIT FULLY FROM YOUR MIPP MEMBERSHIP
DOWNLOAD THE HANDBOOK http://mipp-malta.com/wp-content/uploads/mipphandbook2016.pdf
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October /2017
CALENDAR
ONE DAY WORKSHOP
September October
POST PROCESSING with RAMON SAMMUT Coffee/tea/light snack included -50 eur for members 80 for non members By BOOKING on courses@mipp-malta.com. Saturday 14th October | 9am to 3.30pm
September/2017
Hilltop Gardens Naxxar
November /2017
MIPP Members’ meeting
MIPP Members’ meeting
GUIDO BONETT
KEVIN CASHA/CHARLES CALLEJA - IMAGE ASSESSMENT – PTYA ENTRIES
GORILLAS IN THE MIST
A recent trip to Uganda, in which Guido managed to photograph Gorillas in the wild
Wednesday 1st November | 19.30 Hilltop Gardens Naxxar
Tuesday 5th September | 19.30 Hilltop Gardens , Naxxar
September/2017
PTYA ASSESSMENT by local judges – EVENTS Tuesday 19th September | 19.30 Le Meridien
November /2017
MIPP Qualifications
Open to all (All levels welcome - subject to the amount of panels received) Details to be announced. Friday 17th November
November /2017
October /2017
ONE DAY WORKSHOP
MIPP Members’ meeting
MASTER USEFUL PRACTICAL PHOTOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUES- various speakers – Coordinators: CHARLES CALLEJA & TONIO POLIDANO
LORRAINE ABELA
ALTERNATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP
For detail & booking on : courses@mipp-malta.com.
Tuesday 4th October | 19:30
Saturday 18th November
Le Meridien
Hilltop Gardens
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7 er /201 Decemb
AWARD DINNER/ XMAS GET-TOGETHER Details to be announced
12
For detail & booking on : courses@mipp-malta.com. tes n the da Jot dow
Tuesday 12th December | 19:30 Le Meridien
Photography by IVAN EBEJER
CALENDAR
December /2017
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MIPP ONE DAY WORKSHOP by Ramon Sammut • Saturday, 14th October, 2018 • Day Session – Schedule: 09.00 to 15.30. Hilltop Gardens, Naxxar
Fashion and portrait editing complete with editorial lighting and print preparation. Part A • Portrait camera raw workflow • Fashion image editing - skin smoothing, light balancing, colour enhancing techniques, make-up and shape dynamics.
Part B • Learn how to improve your post processing lighting skills • Features - lighting techniques; mimicking light boxes, kicker lights, reflectors and barn doors. • Complete with backlight control and light separation techniques
Part C • Preparing your files for printing • Print resolution, resizing, un-sharp masking, adjusting colour fringing and accentuating colour / light adjustments according to the choice of paper.
• Paper demonstration - will be showing all the main photographic papers, different laminations and canvas materials. Showing the difference between barium papers, cotton rags and c type prints.
• Portfolio printing (photographic and digital offset).
Course Requirements: • 1. Laptop with Photoshop installed; (version 6 upwards or Cloud). • 2. Level: Intermediate This one day course will be held at Hilltop Gardens, Naxxar (The Grove) from 9am to 12.30 with one hour break and then from 1.30 to 3.30 pm. Light lunch, water and one coffee break is included. Parking is free according to availability. Price: MIPP members - €50; Non-members - €75
For enquiries, bookings, details: courses@mipp-malta.com
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MIPP Foundations in Image Editing 2017 Course: • From 27th September to 2nd November 2017 • Lecturer: Martin Agius AMIPP ASIFGP • Co-ordinator: Kevin Casha FMIPP FSWPP AMPS AMPA
• Booking Deadline: 31st August, 2017
Editing. It is necessary that all participants bring their own laptop. A participation certificate will only be given to those attendees who will attend for at least 80% of course. Tasks and work files will be provided. This course will be run in English if required.
• Venue – Hilltop Gardens, Naxxar • Start Time: 7.00 pm (approx. 2 hr duration).
Fees: MIPP members: €60 Non members: €80. Special offer for non members: Course plus MIPP 2017 & 2018 full membership €100. Payment for the course is on booking.
A practical foundation course for all those who want
Only a limited number of students can be accommodated so
to get an excellent grounding in practical Digital
booking will be held on a first come - first served basis.
Course details: Foundation in Image Editing:
Lesson 4 – Thursday 19th October 2017 Monochrome – Professional Conversion of Colour images into Black & White, Monotone and Sepia Layers and Masks explained
Lesson 1 – Wednesday 27th September 2017 Introduction to Photoshop, Workspace, Bridge, Camera RAW & Shortcuts Importing Photos into Bridge, Speeding Up Photoshop, Configuring Bridge
Lesson 5 – Wednesday 25th October 2017 Selection Techniques – Marquee Tools, Lasso, Quick Selection Tool, Magic Wand, Refine Edge.
& Photoshop, Palettes
Compositing – replacing a background
Lesson 2 – Thursday 5th October 2017
Lesson 6 – Thursday 2nd November 2017
Essential Photoshop tools Cropping & Vignettes
Producing
Manipulating Contrast & Brightness – Curves, Brightness/Contrast, Levels Colour enhancement & correction. Sharpening – Adjust Sharpness, High Pass Sharpening & Unsharp Mask Lesson 3 – Wednesday 11th October 2017 Retouching Marks & Blemishes – Clone Stamp Tool, Spot Healing Brush & Content-Aware Handling Raw Files
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Text,
Frames
&
Borders,
Creating
Panoramas – Stitching Photos HDR - High Dynamic range processing, Creating simple Action tools *The MIPP reserves the right to cancel any course/s if the sufficient amount of participants is not attained. For bookings and enquiries kindly contact MIPP course director Kevin Casha on courses@mippmalta. com quoting course title when applying.
MIPP Foundations in Image Editing 2017
BOOKING INFO:
There are three payment options: Go onto our website link
http://www.mipp-malta.com/index.php/joinus
Option 1:
If you are a member, you can pay for the courses directly through the Bank of
Valletta website: www.bov.com and log in to BOV internet banking with your Securekey. You can thus avail yourself of the special subsidized rates for MIPP members.
Option 2:
If you want to join the MIPP and attend the course, you can download the MIPP
Membership Application Form, http://www.mipp-malta.com/index.php/join-us fill it in and send it together with your cheque for 40 euros and the relevant course fee for MIPP members. Please make the cheque payable to THE TREASURER, MIPP. Postal Address is MIPP PO Box 8, Birkirkara, BKR 1000. Acceptance of your membership is subject to MIPP approval.
Option 3:
If you are a non member (and you do not want to join the MIPP), you can pay for
the courses directly through the Bank of Valletta website: www.bov.com and log in to BOV internet banking with your Securekey or you can send your relevant non member course fee by cheque. Please make the cheque payable to THE TREASURER, MIPP. Postal Address is MIPP PO Box 8, Birkirkara, BKR 1000.
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Membership Renewal = =
We would like to remind you that we are now accepting payments for 2017 membership renewals. By renewing the €40 fee (from 2016 it is €40 even for those that have been members for 5 or more years), you will have a chance to
Become a qualified photographer with our three levels of qualification: Licentiate, Associate and Fellowship
Reciprocal photographic qualification with the best UK Institution
Get reduced rates to our courses and workshops
Informative monthly lectures and newsletters
Exclusive photographic competitions ONLY for MIPP members and much more
OR
One may pay by either sending in a cheque to: “27, Moonlight, Giovanni Papaffy Street, Ta’ Paris, Birkirkara, BKR 4021, Malta”, together with the relative membership fee.
(Cheques are to be made payable to “The Treasurer, MIPP”)
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Pay directly from the BOV website: www.bov.com and log in to BOV internet banking with your Securekey.
OR When attending an MIPP Event.
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www.mipp-malta.com 30 | The official MIPP Newsletter
THE MIPP SPONSORS Non-Profit organizations like the Malta Institute of Professional Photography are constantly in need of funds in order to be able to function in a modern and professional environment. That is why it was important to have various sponsors interested in networking with the MIPP and at the same time involving them in important issues concerning the photographic trade. The MIPP feels it is vital to stimulate joint events and initiatives together with our sponsors. This policy helps our members to be constantly aware of products and services that our sponsors market thus not only encouraging an increase in business but also benefitting our members through special occasional offers and deals. This co-operation and belief by our sponsors, most of who have been with us since the MIPP’s inception, has helped in no small way in making the Institute what it is today. It is one of the MIPP’s main objectives to help keep this co-operation improving. We urge our members to truly support our sponsors by making use of their services and products whenever possible. Our sponsors show faith in the MIPP so it is only fair that our members should reciprocate. Give your custom to those companies and entities that help us.
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contacts
Web: www.mipp-malta.com Email: president@mipp-malta.com Address: 27, Moonlight, Giovanni Papaffy Street, Ta’ Paris, Birkirkara, BKR 4021, Malta Tel No: 21486097
2017 sept / oct