Alfred Ellis (5 May 1854 – 13 April 1930) was an English photographer who mainly photographed "theatrical royalty" such as

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

and Dan Leno. Over 180 of his photographic portraits are held by the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: *National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra *National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London, with s ...

in London.

Early life and career

Ellis was born in

St Pancras, London St Pancras () is a district in north London. It was originally a medieval ancient parish and subsequently became a metropolitan borough. The metropolitan borough then merged with neighbouring boroughs and the area it covered now forms around ...

in 1854,Alfred Ellis
Historic Camera website the son of Edward George Ellis, a builder. He had a studio on

Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid out the street in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detec ...

in London from 1884 until 1898. From 1898 to 1918 he was in partnership with Stanisław Julian Ignacy Ostroróg as Alfred Ellis & Walery in new premises on Baker Street. Ellis has 180 portraits listed in the national collection in the

in London, mainly of "theatrical royalty". Ellis and Ostroróg appear to have kept their authorship and sitters separate, while sharing studio facilities. Prints of his photographs were published in '' The Illustrated London News'' as wood-engravings. From 1883 Ellis was a member of the Photographic Society (which later became the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

). He was one of the founders of the

Professional Photographers' Association The British Institute of Professional Photography (BIPP) is a not-for-profit organisation for professional photographers in the United Kingdom. Members must be qualified professionals, and agree to be bound by the BIPP's code of conduct. The ins ...

and at various times acted as Secretary (1901-1903), President (1903 and 1919), and General Secretary (1919 until his death). He specialised in theatrical photography, at first recreating scenes from theatrical productions in his studio and later photographing them in situ in the theatres. Among these is his historically important image of the original production of '' Lady Windermere's Fan'' (1892) by

at St James's Theatre in London. Showing a scene from Act III, it depicts the actors George Alexander, H. H. Vincent,

James Nutcombe Gould James Nutcombe Gould (known as Nutcombe Gould) (24 February 1849 in Stoke-in-Teignhead, Devon – 10 October 1899 in Paddington) was an English stage actor. He was the son of John Nutcombe Gould (1805-1878), a wealthy rector, and Katherine ...

Adolphus Vane-Tempest Francis Adolphus Vane-Tempest (4 January 1863 – 10 December 1932) was an English actor of the late-19th and early 20th centuries. He was known for playing amiable but not over-bright upper class characters. Among the roles he created was Mr Dumb ...

and Benjamin Webster.Alfred Ellis
Group photograph from Lady Windermere's Fan - Collection of the British Library

Legal cases

Ellis took a leading role in protecting the copyright of photographers, fighting several cases in the High Courts. One case, that of ''Ellis v. Ogden'' (1894), involved Ellis's photographic portrait of the actress Mary Moore. She having posed at the invitation of Ellis he had not charged her for the sitting or for the copies of the photographs he gave her. However, when one of these was subsequently published in ''

The Ludgate Monthly ''The Ludgate Monthly'' was a London-based monthly magazine, which published short fiction and articles of general interest. There were 118 issues from May 1891 to February 1901; the magazine then merged with ''The Universal Magazine''. The maga ...

'' Ellis sued, stating that he owned the copyright to the photograph as he had given it to Moore as a gift. The Court ruled in his favour as the "author" of the work, and, because Moore had not paid for the photograph Ellis retained ownership of it. 1896 DanLeno-WidowTwankey

Ellis was not so fortunate with another case, that of Ellis v. Marshall (1895). Again, Ellis had invited actors to be photographed free of charge in his studio. The actors,

Harry Nicholls Harry Nicholls VC (21 April 1915 – 11 September 1975) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Milit ...

and Charles Kenningham, posed for two portraits – one in costume and one in their own clothes. As with Moore, there had been no charge for either the sitting or the copies of the photographs he gave to the two actors. However, the actors did pay the photographer for the portraits taken in plain clothes, one of which was published in ''The Ludgate Monthly'' along with an article on Harry Nicholls. In Court Ellis again argued that as the sitting and the photographs had been free he retained possession of the copyright on both sets of pictures. However, Justice Collins found against him, arguing that the plain clothes' portraits had been taken at the request of the actors, and as they had paid Ellis for them, he did not retain ownership of them. As a result of this case, Ellis was one of the founders of the Photographic Copyright Union, in which he later served as vice president.Alfred Ellis

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

website

Personal life

In 1887 Ellis married Mary Catherine Corbett, and together they had a son Douglas Ellis (1891-) and a daughter, Effie Mary Ellis (1889–1982) He died in 1930 and was buried in East Finchley Cemetery.

References

External links

Catalogue of photographs by Alfred Ellis
Victoria and Albert Museum
Photograph of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught (1850-1942)

Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Alfred 1854 births 1930 deaths British portrait photographers Photographers from London Pioneers of photography 19th-century English photographers 20th-century photographers Burials at East Finchley Cemetery