The artistic community is mourning one of its own. Renowned photographer Maria LaYacona died on Sunday after an undisclosed illness. She was 92.

Originally from Ohio, LaYacona worked with the celebrated Life Magazine in New York City and travelled the world as a photo-journalist in the 1950s. Her travels brought her to Jamaica in 1955 when she was assigned the job of photographing a cricket Test series between the West Indies and Australia at Sabina Park in Kingston. She fell in love with the island and lived here for the next 65 years.

For decades, her signature black-and-white images captured the spirit and essence of Jamaican life. Whether it was the landscape, portraiture, or artistic side of Jamaican culture.

LaYacona was closely associated with the National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC). She joined the group as official photographer in 1964, two years after it was founded by Eddy Thomas and Rex Nettleford. She held that position until her retirement in the early 2000s.

For artistic director of the NDTC Marlon Simms, LaYacona’s classic images are striking, dramatic and memorable, going to the heart of the dancer.

“I remember her being a really wonderful and kind person. I would have met her in her later years but I was always struck by how excited she became once she stepped behind that camera. She loved the human form and enjoyed interpreting that story being told through shapes and images. There was a certain regal nature to her clean, black-and-white images that made them powerful, strong and beautiful,” Simms told the Jamaica Observer.

He revealed that LaYacona would spend hours at NDTC rehearsals to get the best shot during a performance.

The majority of iconic NDTC images including those of the late Nettleford, and other founding members, were photographed by LaYacona

“She was very guarded about her work and her vision must be applauded in an age before digitisation. She created such a vast archive which today creates such a wonderful fusion of art and history and can be used to inform generations to come,” Simms noted.

An avid poker player and chef par excellence, Maria LaYacona was also responsible for introducing school package photography to Jamaica in the 1960s. She did the professional portraiture of most of Jamaica’s prime ministers including the one of Michael Manley on the $1,000 bill.

Her two publications Jamaica Portraits and Jamaica Reverie, feature her black-and-white artistry. They are a tribute to the people and landscape of Jamaica.

Maria LaYacona is survived by nephew Mark and niece Beth LaYacona, friend and caregiver, photographer Jacqueline Gannie, and many friends who were her surrogate family in Jamaica.