Alfred Ellis (photographer)

Among these is his historically important image of the original production of Lady Windermere's Fan (1892) by Oscar Wilde 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, Adolphus Vane-Tempest and Benjamin Webster.

However, when one of these was subsequently published in The Ludgate Monthly Ellis sued, stating that he owned the copyright to the photograph as he had given it to Moore as a gift.

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.

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.

Alfred Ellis
Oscar Wilde in 1892 - photograph by Alfred Ellis
Photograph of William Davenport Adams (1851–1904) by Alfred Ellis, 20 Upper Baker Street, London
Hand coloured black and white photograph of Dan Leno as Widow Twankey - 1896 by Alfred Ellis
George Conquest in 1895. Photograph by Alfred Ellis