Three years ago Ellen Nolan’s aunt gave me a suitcase. Inside it was an archive of hundreds of images and documents belonging to my Great Aunt Nita.

Nita Harvey was an English actress on the brink of Hollywood success. In 1933 she was discovered through a beauty contest, summoned to Hollywood and signed to Paramount studios. Nita was prepared for performing by her mother, who constantly photographed her.

Ellen has been working with photography, film, newspaper and magazine articles, letters, telegrams, diaries and notebooks that document the journey of a young actress photographed both from an industry perspective and from her mothers perspective. The words on the images are taken from Nita’s diaries, notes and letters.