The Bassano studios operated from 1850, when photographer Alexander Bassano (1829-1913) opened premises in Regent Street, London. In 1876 he moved to 25 Old Bond Street, where the firm was located until 1921. The studio was large enough to accommodate an 80-foot panoramic background scene mounted on rollers, which provided a variety of outdoor scenes or court backgrounds. Bassano's head of Lord Kitchener formed the basis of the First World War recruiting poster 'Your Country Needs You'. Bassano retired from work at the studio around 1903, when his premises were extensively refurbished and relaunched as Bassano Ltd, Royal Photographers. The National Portrait Gallery, London holds more than 14 000 portraits attributed to 'Bassano', taken from the 1850s to the 1950s.
