History › Lors Photography - The Northeast’s Largest School Photo Company

Pictured: Laurence and Stanley Slutsker, with parents David and Sima

Lors Photography was born out of the vision of two siblings, Laurence and Stanley, and Stanley's son Thomas, who founded the company in 1926 as Lorstan-Thomas Photography in Newark, New Jersey after Laurence mistakenly got off the train from Pittsburgh in "Newark", instead of "New York," a mistake that continues to be made by people even today. Several years later the brothers bought out their cousin and changed the name to Lorstan.

Lorstan operated as a family business opening studios throughout New Jersey for the first half of the twentieth century. If your grandparents grew up in the Garden State, odds are they were photographed by the Slutsker family at some point.

The second generation of the family took over in 1968, and began the expansion of the company into New York. Richard and Steven, Laurence's sons, completed the acquisition of Carol Studios of Long Island in 1991, changing the name to Empire Classics. Lorstan was then renamed Lors in New Jersey.

With no clear family transition to the third generation, the brothers sold the company to Modern Holdings, Incorporated of Summit, NJ in 2005. Since then, Modern Holdings has expanded the reach of the combined companies to upstate New York and as far south as Delaware adding the acquisition of Studio 53 in Philadelphia in December of 2007.

Lors Photography and Empire Studios maintain the consistent commitment to quality and customer service that was the hallmark of the Slutsker business over 80 years ago. Today we employ over 200 creative minds energized with the mission of commemorating the milestones and achievements of the student populations at over 600 schools throughout the Northeast.

Lors Photography is always looking for ways to decrease our negative impact on the environment. This is why we are changing the way you will receive event photos this coming year. Learn more about how we are going green

Yearbook advisors, it's time to make the switch to Lors for the 2012 school year. Call our School Services Specialists today at (908) 686-5600 to schedule an appointment and learn about our exciting new services.

With our new digital student tracking system, ProofPosi+ive, yearbook advisors can see, manage and download senior photographs like never before. This state-of-the-art technology is available via any web connection and provides multiple logins for students and faculty. Call the Lors sales team today to set up a demo at (908) 686-5600 and reduce your image management headaches.

Our new Red Carpet Style prom shoots have proved a resounding success. If you're here looking for your prom, click the link above called "View photos" or go to lorsstudio.com/sample-gallery/candids. To find out how your school can qualify for this modern approach to proms, call our customer service team at (908) 686-5600.

Want to Order by Phone?

Call us at (801) 948-3200 to order Senior portraits, frames, and other specialty products!