Janet Jevons

Janet Jevons’ was a photographic partnership between Ruby Caroline Jevons (1894-1974) and Emilie Janet Tyrell (1887-1972) who worked together from 1921-1949. Their first published and credited photograph appeared on 6th December 1921 in the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News. They operated their first studio at 66 Piccadilly from 1921-1925 before moving to 19/20 New Bond Street, London.

Ruby had begun her career in photography working as a secretary in the studio of Dorothy Wilding, the leading woman-run studio in London in the 1920s and 1930s. She then set up the joint studio with Janet in 1921. Their work appeared in publications such as The Tatler, Country Life, Theatre World, The Sphere, Bioscope, and The Bystander, for which they photographed the celebrities of the day, from actresses and dancers to socialites and royals.

In 1932, they travelled to Sydney on a debutante portrait taking tour, under the name Janet Jevonde Studio, and published their first portrait photo in the local Daily Telegraph in July 1932.

After March 1934, Janet Jevonde is not mentioned again in the Australian newspapers, but ‘Janet Jevons of London’ photos continued to be published until 1938. In 1939, Janet began collaborating with her husband as a court photographer, at a studio on 65 Westmorland Road. The Janet Jevons studio was sold in the early 1950s to stage and royal photographer Anthony Buckley.

Many of Ruby and Emilie’s portraits are held in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery and examples of their work are also held in the National Trust Collection.

By Paula Vellet