Auatol Pougnet

Auatol Pougnet spent her days behind a camera in late 1800s London, snapping portraits of actors on and off the stage. She kept a stack of glass negatives in her studio on the Strand, where she’d joke that the real drama happened in the darkroom. Pougnet’s photos capture performers mid-laugh or mid-scowl, their faces lit by flickering gaslight. You’ll find her work tucked inside the Guy Little collection at the London Metropolitan Archives—look for the oval portraits on yellowed cards.