Stanisław Julian Ignacy Ostroróg (also known as Waléry) was born in London in 1863 to a family of Polish noble descent. The son of Count Stanisław Julian Ostroróg (1836-1890), Waléry inherited both his father’s name and his photography studio. Encouraged by his father to learn photographic techniques, the young Waléry worked alongside the Count in his London studio named after his wife (and Waléry's mother), Teodozja Waleria. After his father’s death, Waléry struggled to maintain the business and joined with a young theatrical photographer named Alfred Ellis to form the short-lived consortium, Ellis & Walery. Around 1900, Waléry opened a Paris studio specializing in theater and cabaret photography. Business prospered, and Waléry distanced himself from the London operation to focus on artistic pursuits and figure studies. His portraits of Josephine Baker taken in the mid-1920s were among his most successful and he continued to capture major figures of the Folies Bergère until his death in 1929. Interestingly—and rather inconspicuously—Waléry was also creating photographic erotica under several pseudonyms including Lucien Waléry, Laryew and Yrelaw. Further adding to the confusion, a French photographer named Charles Auguste Varsavaux took over Waléry's studio in Paris after his death and continued to produce erotica under the Waléry name until 1935.
