Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
E. Baudoux et fils
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
E. Baudoux Photographic Studio
M. Baudoux Photographe
Mr Baudoux Photographer
E. Baudoux & Son Photographic Artists
MM. Baudoux et fils
MM. Baudoux et fils Artistes Photographes
Messieurs Baudoux et fils Artistes Photographes
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
Ernest Baudoux opened a photographic studio at 56 New Street, Saint Helier, in 1869. His business developed quickly; by 1870, he was already placing adverts in the local press for staff to produce prints and retouch portraits.
1875 was a significant year for Baudoux's Studio. The business advertised its 'relocation' from 59 New Street to new premises especially fitted by Baudoux himself, just around the corner at 11 Craig Street. In the advert, he stated that the new facilities would be impossible to compete with, suggesting he had made a significant financial investment in the context of the Jersey market. 59 New Street continued to be listed as the address of the business through the 1870s and 1880s as Baudoux expanded into an adjacent property; it was the entrance to the combined space that 'relocated' to Craig Street.
Later that year, the business acquired exclusive rights to new processes for enlargement, retouching and carbon printing, invented and patented by Claude Léon Lambert. Baudoux states in an advertisement that patents had been registered in the Channel Islands under the names Lambertypie (which was process of enlarging images) and Chromotypie (a variant of the carbon print process highly regarded for its image permanence), for which he was the exclusive owner. He was likely referring to the purchase of exclusive licences via UK copyright registration that could be expanded to the Channel Islands for a fee. Like Baudoux, Lambert was from Paris, and he registered at least three patents for retouching, carbon printing and photographic equipment in Britain in 1874/75. Securing the exclusive rights to these processes would have been a significant competitive advantage for a studio operating in Jersey, and it understandably became the main focus of their marketing.
In 1878, Baudoux received a bronze medal for photography at the Exposition Universelle à Paris; he was the only photographer from Jersey represented and was listed with the English photographers. The catalogue lists his contribution as: views and portraits, transparencies and stereoscopic views. This international recognition would have further enhanced the company's reputation.
In 1879, Baudoux posted adverts in the press, not to advertise his patented services, but to warn the public of individuals falsely using his name to gain clients. Additionally, from 1879 and through the early 1880s, several businesses began to advertise the location of their premises in reference to Baudoux's Studio. Demonstrating that Baudoux's Studio was now a well-established and central part of Island life, so much so that others referenced Baudoux to promote their businesses.
Marketing for Baudoux's general portrait services dropped off as the 1880s began. Instead, Baudoux embraces more opportunistic marketing strategies, reacting to current events, such as the sinking of the ship Caledonia or a walrus 'captured' by the Militia at Greve-de-Lecq; and the targeting of successful industries, such as agriculture. For the latter, specifically advertising photography as a tool promote cattle for sale and breeding. Baudoux was clearly not content to rely on his reputation but was constantly seeking new and lucrative sales opportunities.
The first references for Baudoux working with his son appear in the press in 1883. How much influence his son had on operations is uncertain, but the following year brings notable developments for the business. It is advertised as being at 59 New Street, 7, 9, and 11 Craig Street in 1884, evidencing further expansion of the studio space. They offer an instant photography service for the first time, possibly referencing the use of the silver gelatin-bromide process invented by Richard Leach Maddox. Perhaps most notably, they received a gold medal at the International and Universal Exhibition at Crystal Palace, for their Chromotypie photography.
Whilst the business continued to expand and international recognition grew through 1884, in 1885, Baudoux and Son were forced to refocus on arguably their core business, portrait photography, due to competition in the carbon printing market. An advert for J. B. Maguire of the Rembrandt Studio caught Baudoux and Son's attention by claiming to introduce a system of permanent carbon printing to Jersey for the first time. Baudoux understandably objected to this in the following week's edition of the same newspaper. Informing the editor and readers that he had introduced the Chromotypie ten years earlier. Obviously, Baudoux's exclusive licence for the Chromotype process didn't prevent photographers from using other carbon printing processes. However, Maguire's claim to have introduced carbon printing clearly causes Baudoux and Son to reassert their position in the market.
Admittedly, Baudoux and Son had not actively marketed carbon printing services or their exclusive licences anywhere near as much in the 1880s as they had between 1875 and 1879. In response, Baudoux and Sons immediately reintroduced carbon printing services into their marketing materials, stating that they introduced it to Jersey in 1875 and that they hold exclusive rights to use the Chromotype process in the Channel Islands.
Baudoux's objection to Maguire's claim is particularly important, as in it he states that Baudoux and Son introduced the Chromotype to Guernsey that year. Evidencing further drive to expand the business, and the opening of operations in Guernsey, at least in some form by 1885.
Guernsey does not feature in any of Baudoux and Son's marketing materials in the French language Jersey press before or after this statement, so there is nothing to evidence the scale of this expansion into the Guernsey Market. However, the business was sold only two years later to the photographer John R. G. Stroud, who regularly referenced that he operated in both Jersey and Guernsey. Whilst thanking their clients in 1887 after the sale of the business, Baudoux notes John Stroud's credentials as being known to photographic scenes in London and Paris. Stroud seems to have been keen to lean into Baudoux and Son's legacy; his products clearly state that he is the successor to Baudoux. Stroud would himself sell up after only four years, selling his business to Albert Smith.
Places
56 New Street (1869-18..)
59 New Street (18..-1887)
11 Craig Street (1875-1887)
9 Craig Street (1884-1887)
7 Craig Street (1884-1887)
Legal status
Functions, occupations and activities
Commercial Photography