User:Craig shaw ucd/sandbox

Legacy of James Lafayette

James Stack Lauder was a photographer born on the 22nd of January 1853. He was the eldest son in the family. The family consisted of four daughters, six sons and his parents Edmund Stanley Lauder and Sarah Harding Stack.James’s father opened a daguerreotype portrait studio in Dublin which was called Lauders Brothers at a later date. It was at his father's studio that James served as an apprentice and beard witness to the transition of commercial photography from trade to industry. James went to study art across Europe in Paris and worked in a photographic studio in Berlin. It was on his return in 1880 that he decided to open his own studio in Dublin which became the established firm of Lafayette. James’s rise to fame however came when he Photographed the Princess of Wales. The image was so stunning and captivating it sold more than sixty thousand prints. James was then summoned to photo queen Victoria on her jubilee year and thanks to this, James was the first Irish photographer to be granted a royal warrant.

James Lauder sadly passed away on the 20th of August 1923 at the age of 70. He died in a hospital in Bruges and was laid to rest at Fintan’s Sutton. Lafayette was succeeded by his wife Mary and his three daughters.

James is remembered through his work which was taken by the Victoria and Albert Museum after its discovery in 1968.Some especially important negatives were discovered in a London studio surviving in an attic. They were in a museum from 1885 to 1937 but were then transferred to the National Portrait Gallery. There are many Lafayette's photographs still in existence. The large collections can be found in the Royal archives.