James Lafayette

The recorded working language is English. Places of work recorded in the authority are Dublin and London. Work by James Lafayette is recorded in the collections of National Gallery of Canada, Kunstbibliothek Berlin, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Victoria and Albert Museum and Photography Collection.

• Name — James Lafayette • Other Names — James Stack Lauder • Born — 22 January 1853 • Birthplace — Dublin, Ireland • Died — 20 August 1923 • Place of death — Bruges, Belgium

James Stack Lauder was born on 22 January 1853 in Dublin. His parents were Edmond (sometimes Edmund) Stanley (c.1824–91) and his wife, Sarah Harding Lauder (née Stack, c.1828–1913). He had five brothers and four sisters. The family lived at 42 Blessington Street. The Lauder family came from Tisaran, near Banagher, King's County (now County Offaly). Edmond Lauder set up a photographic studio with a partner in the 1850s, trading as the Lauder Brothers, working with glass ambrotype. The Lauder Brothers eventually had 3 studios in Dublin, producing "carte-de-visite".

• Illustration — Sarah Bernhardt as Hamlet, with Yorick's skull. (Photographer: James Lafayette. c. 1885–1900). Lauder studied art and painting in France and Germany but was unsuccessful as a painter and began working in a photographic studio in Berlin. He returned to Dublin and set up his own studio at 30 Westmoreland Street in 1880 with his brother, Edmond Stanley Lauder junior. The branded it as a "maison de photographie Française" and Lauder took the name Monsieur Jacques Lafayette "late of Paris". Lauder quickly built a strong reputation as a portrait photographer for the upper classes in Dublin. He also sent his work to London and Paris to be exhibited at exhibitions, winning numerous medals. He was elected a member of the Photographic Society of Great Britain in 1884. He was invited to photograph Queen Victoria in 1887, and was granted the royal warrant as "Her Majesty's photographer in Dublin". This led to him receiving numerous other commissions with members of the royal family. His 1885 photograph of the princess of Wales sold 60,000 copies. He also became a notable for his illustrative photography. Over time, he was critiqued for over-retouching his negatives. However, by 1891 he opened branches in Glasgow and Manchester, with his brother George working in the Glasgow branch. He adopted electrical light in his studios from 1891 along with air conditioning. He and his brother Edmond dissolved their partnership in January 1895, and Lauder left for London to set up another branch there in 1897.

Lauder initially lived on Blessington Street, next door to his parents. In 1887, he moved to Sunnyside, Vico Road, Dalkey, and then to Glencairn House, Harbour Road in 1890. After he moved to London he married Annie Dinnette, the daughter of Felix Pierre Dinnette, an artist. Lauder died on 20 August 1923 in Bruges, Belgium.