PORTRAITS OF PRINCES
Indian Royalty and the Lafayette Photography Studio
(Organised by Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad on the occasion of “World Heritage Day”)

On the occasion of “World Heritage Day”, the Salar Jung museum is organizing a special photo exhibition on 18th April 2009. James Lafayette, a famous photographer of 19th and 20th centuries created a new history with his magic talent. Society ladies, Indian maharajas, actresses and young men with their new cars were some of the subjects photographed by James Lafayette in the late 19th and early 20th century. This database contains over 600 portraits produced by his studios and was developed over 10 years by Russell Harris, with generous funding from the Elm Trust, who generously donated it to the V&A.

Lafayette, an Irishman, founded his business in Dublin in 1880 and by the 1890s had branches in Glasgow, Manchester, Belfast and London.

Popular success came after he recorded Alexandra, Princess of Wales, in academic dress when she was given an honorary degree in Dublin in 1885. 60,000 copies of the picture were sold. He was later commissioned by the Duchess of Devonshire to photograph the guests at her Diamond Jubilee costume ball and was much in demand by princes and rulers visiting London for the coronation of Edward VII in 1902.

His commercial success coincided with the development of half-tone printing so that many of his images appeared in the new illustrated magazines such as The Throne or Country Life.

80,000 glass negatives from the Lafayette studios were rescued by Terry Thurston in 1968 when he was instructed to put them in a skip before the property was redeveloped. He stored them at Pinewood Studios where he worked. In 1988, they were rediscovered and Pinewood offered them to the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. 30,000 negatives came to the V&A Picture Library and the rest, mostly post-1925, went to the National Portrait Gallery.

Though the exhibition is displaying only 33 selected portraits of Indian Princes of 19th century (Black & White prints provided by Victoria & Albert Museum, London), each one of them reflects their personality, costumes, choice of ornaments etc. It is a rare opportunity for the Indian visitors to view them at one place.

Courtesy : Victoria & Albert Museum, London