Ellis & Walery

Ellis & Walery were the go-to photographers for London’s theatre crowd in the late 1800s, printing poses of actors mid-scowl or mid-song on cabinet cards you could buy at the stage door. One card shows a woman in a feathered hat holding a fan; the ink looks like it was still wet when she stepped off stage. Their prints ended up in the H Beard Collection, a trove of theatrical photos that still smells faintly of greasepaint. Tap any of these cards to see how stars posed before the spotlight hit.