Showing a sailboat silhouetted -perhaps in Boston Harbor, as Latimer was a resident of that city- the work is titled Eventide, or “the time of evening”, an archaic usage of the term dusk to a modern audience. This is a signature image by Horace Latimer, a prominent and early member of the Boston Camera Club whose bequest on his passing continues to support the club today. We believe this oversized gravure plate was published sometime after it also appeared as a mounted photogravure in the rare 1905 publication Art in Photography by the Photo Era Publishing Company of Boston, an incomplete example of which is also held by PhotoSeed.

Legacy: Horace A. Latimer:    1860-1931

Horace A. Latimer was among the few photographers who were vital during both the first and second wave of pictorialism, before and after World War I. He resided all of his adult life in Boston, after being born on February 1, 1860, in Westfield, Massachusetts. Independently wealthy, he spent much of his time traveling and photographing.

 Latimer attended Williams College and Harvard University, and pursued painting for a time. By 1887, however, he had turned his attention to photography. In this year, work by Latimer appeared in the first Joint Exhibition, the initial showing of a series of significant exhibitions sponsored by the Boston Camera Club and photographic societies in New York and Philadelphia. In fact, he participated in all seven of the Joint Exhibitions. ⎯ Christian Peterson

Horace Latimer (1860-1931) was an independently wealthy Boston philanthropist and advanced amateur photographer, one of whose specialties was yachting photography. His involvement with the Boston Camera Club began well before the turn of the 20th century. His work is representative of the early days of amateur photographic practice, when men and women of means traveled the world with their cameras, often achieving high artistic results worthy of established professionals of the time. A photograph by Latimer was exhibited at the Smithsonian in 1896

However, it was the 1931 bequest of Horace A. Latimer that truly enabled the Boston Camera Club to retain its role as the leading forum for serious amateur photography in the Boston area for the remainder of the twentieth century. Used initially in part to fund the purchase of 351 Newbury Street, the Club’s headquarters from 1936 to 1980, Latimer’s funds now ensure that the Club will continue its mission in the 21st century.

In recognition of his gift, which has enabled thousands of New Englanders to become proficient in and broaden their appreciation of photography, the Boston Camera Club’s print division is named the Latimer Print Group. ⎯ The Boston Camera Club (2024)

Published: Frontis photogravure: The Photo Era: Boston: August, 1903:  Eventide by HA Latimer: This artistic photogravure frontispiece was engraved photographically on steel by the John Andrews Company from an excellent carbon print. Photographically, pictorially, and chemically we consider this photograph the best submitted and have therefore given it the place of honor. – “Our Illustrations”, p. 303

-Frontis halftone: The American Amateur Photographer: N.Y. December, 1896: “H. A. LATIMER’S “Eventide” well deserves the place of honor. It is impressionistic in the truest sense of the word, and a striking proof that ample detail and impressionism are not inconsistent.” p. 552

-Halftone, showing Eventide framed and noted as a “Salon Picture”: in: Camera Craft, San Francisco, CA: March, 1901, p. 394

-Photogravure: in: Art in Photography. Issue No. 4. 1905: Photo Era Publishing Company, Boston Mass: Mounted photogravure: Eventide, by H.A. Latimer, with gravure credited to John Andrew & Son. (Issue No. 4. Autotypes and Photogravures by Leonard Misonne and H. Latimer.) (example held by PhotoSeed Archive)