Love Isn't Limited: Joan Latchford

About Joan Latchford

Born in Canada but educated in Britain, Latchford initially trained as a Public-School teacher in England. In 1958 she taught “emotionally disturbed” boys in Brixton. Her deep Catholic faith led her to enter the convent there where she became a nun for 7 years. She eventually realized that a different life was calling her and moved to Toronto. She started a drop-in every Tuesday evening for immigrants new to Canada to meet, drink coffee and engage in other activities with English-speaking people. It was one fateful Tuesday evening in her tiny apartment with 75 people in attendance that she met her future husband Frank. He proposed to her three weeks later and they built a family of eight children together, 6 adopted, 2 “home grown”. Motherhood didn’t deter her ambition to engage with community and the Latchford home was open to any and all who needed safe haven. Through her photographs we see not only the depth of an era but also the interests and curiosities of a photographer who was called by all that urban life had to offer. Joan passed away in 2017 but her legacy lives on through her poignant images.