The Joan Latchford Legacy Project
“Joan, you will never be a great photographer until you put photography first.”
She replied, “It’s more of a challenge to be a great photographer while putting it second.”
About The Joan Latchford Legacy Project
The Magenta Foundation in partnership with The Cardinal Gallery is proud to present The Joan Latchford Legacy Project.
For over five decades, Joan Latchford (1933–2017) captured the real Toronto—the joy, struggle, and daily life of immigrant, refugee, and diaspora communities. Her photographs reveal the city’s transformation with honesty and empathy, offering a rare and vital record of Canada’s cultural history.
Commissioned by the National Film Board in the 1960s, Latchford documented the lives of newcomers, draft resisters, and Caribbean communities with deep respect. Her images challenge stereotypes and celebrate human connection, portraying people as they lived, worked, and adapted to change.
Her archive represents a unique record of Canadian immigrant history and deserves preservation, publication, and exhibition. The Joan Latchford Legacy Project will, for the first time, make her full body of work accessible through a book and a national series of exhibitions. MFA Archival and Curatorial students from Toronto Metropolitan University and OCAD University will lead this initiative. Preserving and presenting her photographs ensures that the lives she documented—and the stories they tell—are recognized as part of Canada’s cultural record. Without this preservation, legacies like Joan’s would remain unseen and unable to enrich the Canadian landscape.
A mother of eight and former nun, Latchford balanced faith, family, and art with fierce commitment. Her compassion shaped both her life and her photography. This project safeguards her contribution and affirms Canada’s commitment to cultural preservation, diversity, and representation.
In Spring 2028, The Joan Latchford Legacy Project will culminate in a national exhibition and comprehensive monograph celebrating her life’s work, marking her long-overdue place in Canada’s cultural history.
To see more of her work, please visit The Cardinal Gallery →
Support the Project
We appreciate your generosity. If you’d like to support this project please head over to https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/magenta-publishing-for-the-arts/