Seven Mile Beach (Now and Then Series)
This is one of a series of 24 images commissioned for the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands’ 2012 Now and Then exhibition, which sought to encourage dialogue around the Islands’ rapid development and disappearing landscape as well as the importance of preserving the past. As a result of Platt’s clever manipulation of the original photo, past and present landscapes, buildings, and generations of people blend together into a surreal and at times haunting mix of images.
Original image by Joseph Steinmetz, courtesy of the Steinmetz Collection, 1950.
About the Artist
Courtney Platt
b. 1957
A self-taught photographer, Courtney Platt moved to the Cayman Islands in 1983. He is primarily a documentary photographer, and his work has been featured in numerous publications, including National Geographic. Platt has been involved in several fine art projects, the most celebrated being his Now and Then series, developed in collaboration with NGCI curator Natalie Urquhart. His work was featured in Art of the Cayman Islands, the Islands’ first formal art history (Scala Fine Art Publishers Ltd.: Fall 2016). NGCI exhibitions include Coral Encounters: Photographs from our Underwater World (2018), Now & Then (2012 and 2015), and Now & Then in Little Cayman, held at the Little Cayman Museum in 2019.
