Pierre Pierson (1822-1913), and Léopold Ernest (1817-c.1865) and Louis Frédéric Mayer (1822-1913) joined forces in Paris in 1855. Previously, the Mayer brothers had produced coloured photographs for which they received numerous awards. The trio exhibited numerous portraits and cartes-de visite at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851 and again in 1862.