Words by Ruairi Hawthorne
*This topic has been researched as part of the Glasgow Orchestral Society exhibition.
Louis Langfier was a Polish photographer who operated in Glasgow, Edinburgh and London throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While his date of birth is unknown, according to a 1901 census, he was living in London and was married to Pearl Langfier. He had two children: Eric and Iris who later claimed her father was a court appointed photographer. Indeed, his supposed list of clients is long and illustrious, from King George V to the King of Montenegro. However, despite his important place in history, very little is known about him, including his basic biographical dates of birth and immigration to Britain. It is only known that he came to Britain with his brother Adolf, whom he lived with for some time along with his family.
Langfier was a background player, always behind the camera, never in front of it. However, nearly 100 years after his death in 1925, it was uncovered through letters and journal entries that for a brief time, Louis was finally in the spotlight, at the centre of a scandal which he kicked off by simply taking the wrong photo of the wrong person.
The Glasgow Orchestral Society was founded in 1870 with the express purpose of bringing music and culture to their home city. The Society received praises but as amateurs they could never be fully appreciated by reviewers. They needed something to free them from the stigma of being amateurs and legitimize them as Glasgow's top orchestral society. Perhaps they decided that a professional photo could be just what they needed to overcome the negative perception of them as artless amateurs, and instead convey a sense of class and sophistication. And for that they sought best: Louis Langfier. To Langfier, this must have seemed like just another job in his long career. However, by accepting this job, he was indirectly starting a feud with the Orchestral Society, specifically one of its members.
Langfier’s invoice to GOS Director Mr Peacock, 1st July 1895
Officially, the Society hired Langfier to take a photograph of the group. In a letter displayed in the museum, the photographer details the nature of the commission, confirming the size in which the photograph will be printed and the type of plate in black and white. An invoice dated 1st July 1895 seals the transaction specifying the purchase of one group photograph at 7 shillings and 6 pence. However, through the letter of a Society’s member, it is understood that Langfier also took individual portraits of the amateur musicians during the session organised by the Society, but there’s no trail of documents in our possession testifying the organisation of these photographs. However, by reading what followed, it is clear that those would have been at the individual members’ expenses.
What is certain is that member Frederick Claasen was not satisfied with his portrait, saying he ‘‘hardly liked the twist in the mouth of one, and the posture of figure in the other’’ and demanded that Langfier send him another ‘retouched’ proof. However, in a separate letter to the Society’s director Mr Peacock, Claasen claimed Langfier never had his written consent to have that portrait taken and that he didn’t want it in the first place. According to the musician, the photographer demanded payment for the photo that he had already taken regardless, which Claasen refused. Due to Langfier’s insistence, Claasen attempted on multiple occasions to obtain the backing of the Society and have the matter resolved in front of the Society’s Committee, as mediators to the feud, but nothing came out of it.
Instead, after four unsuccessful attempts at delivery, Langfier resorted to legal action, having his lawyer contact Claasen on two separate occasions, each of which was ignored. It's unclear what would have happened if Claasen had continued to remain silent, however, the musician was enraged that his name could have been “dragged through the courts,” and insisted that this needed to be challenged with the full support of the Orchestral Society. He said it wouldn’t have been enough to just drop it after being twice ‘‘blackmailed’’ by Langfier. The displayed Claasen’s letter to the Orchestral Society was the last piece of documentation that we can find on the scandal, so to this day its outcome remains uncertain.
Was Langfier eventually granted his sought-after compensation, or did he decide to let the whole thing go? Was Claasen left to fend for himself, or did the Orchestral Society fight in his corner? Maybe one day the truth will come to light, but for now, we can only speculate. What we do know is that whatever the outcome of the dispute, it did not have any impact on Langfier’s career or the reputation of the Orchestral Society, proving perhaps that it was settled behind the scenes.
In the meantime, the Glasgow Orchestral Society went from strength to strength embracing their amateur status and refusing to cater to the unpleasable elite. Instead, they opted to stick to their strengths, breaching the confines of classical music and playing a variety of genres for a variety of audiences. To this day they are still dedicated to bringing escapism to the masses of Glasgow through the magic of music and I like to think that Langfier’s photograph, despite the minor conflict that it caused, played a small but significant part in getting them where they are today.
Unfortunately, this infamous photograph of the Orchestra was not in the Society’s archival collection. It is likely that the picture was one of the ‘casualties’ of the St Andrew’s Halls fire of 1962, that caused the loss of several instruments and material documenting the history of the Society.
Trivia
Between 1894 and 1898, Langfier’s studio was located in 202 Hope Street, just at the corner of Sauchiehall Street. He later moved to 137 Sauchiehall Street, not far from today’s Waterstones.
Some of Langfier’s pictures are kept at the V&A and National Portrait Gallery in London, including that of King George V and his wife Queen Mary.
According to the Glasgow Post Office directory of 1895, Frederick E. Claasen lived at 43 Dalhousie Street in Cowcaddens. He worked for Blackley, Young & Co, a company of merchants and agents based in 70 Wellington Street.
To see some of the documents of the scandal, to look at one of Langfier’s photographs from up close, or to learn more about Glasgow Orchestral Society, visit us Monday to Friday from 10am to 5pm.
Tickets are free but booking is essential. Contact us at info@mbht.org.uk or 0141 948 0700.
Langfier’s studio at 137 Sauchiehall Street, c.1910