Exhibition
The National Gallery of the Cayman Islands (NGCI) along with the Cayman Islands National Archive (CINA) presented selected photographs from the Ella Latter Collection, part of CINA’s photograph collection. Ella Latter is known to be the Cayman Islands’ first freelance photographer who was active from the 1930s-1960s. This showcase, curated by Simon Tatum, was designed to tell the life story of this under-represented photographer and promote her collection as a research tool in CINA.
This rarely seen collection spanned a range of subjects from portraits, landscapes, architecture, and events, and illustrated the wide scope of Latter’s interests. These photographs offered valuable and direct insight into Caymanian society in the mid-twentieth century — from the people and pastimes to national events. Through formal commissioned work and her own personal interests, Latter documented her small Island community and promoted the preservation of memory with photographs.
Photos are credited to The Cayman Islands National Archive Historical Collections.
Featured Artist
well as commission work. One of her largest clients was the Cayman Islands Government who assigned her to take passport photographs during the 1930s 1940s to document various buildings, boat launches other special events. Her photographs were used in the first tourist booklet produced in 1938 for Cayman, two of her photographs were selected to illustrate Grand Cayman in 1954 publications for Time Magazine, Nicaragua, Ella Hurlston Latter Ella Hurlston Latter (1906 – 2001) was born in Ninagerrie, enabling her to generate a reliable source of income at a time when women’s professional roles were limited. Latter’s practice evolved further when she acquired a new Agfa camera began taking her own photographs, and into the family of a Moravian missionary. She grew up between Nicaragua Grand Cayman permanently settled in Grand Cayman at age sixteen. Latter is known to be the first professional photographer working in the Cayman Islands. She began her practice in the 1930s initially developing film prints for other people when these skills were uncommon.