Elliott & Fry

These London guys snapped the 19th century’s biggest stars in quick, bright portraits you’d see outside the stage door. They kept a single chair, a single lamp, and a single rolled-up backdrop in the studio—cheap but clever. If you’ve ever paused at a theater lobby photo that still feels alive after 150 years, you’re looking at their trick: they lit the face so the eyes catch every gasp and sneer. Hunt down Guy Little’s 1881 shot of Mrs. Bernard Beere and watch the flicker she gives the camera.