The Black Star photo agency was founded in New York in 1936 by the German émigrés Kurt Kornfeld, Kurt Safranski and Ernest Mayer and quickly developed into a network of émigré photographers and magazines in the city.

Little is known about the European branch of Black Star in London. As the demand for foreign images was high in the US and networks to European photographers were needed, Black Star opened, in the same year as its founding in New York, a branch in London (Mayer 1951, 126). Ernest Mayer's mother, Mathilde Mayer, wrote on the London branch in her book and memoirs The Alte und die Neue Welt (Mayer 1951). The letterhead of a letter from Kurt Kornfeld to the photographer Erich Salomon bears the London address “Clifford's Inn. Fleet Street”. Ernest Mayer was named as one of the directors, together with the German K.J. Behrens and the British G.B. Minushull. Fleet Street was the area where the headquarters of most newspapers, magazines and photo agencies were located - also the émigré newspaper Die Zeitung was only a five minute walk away from Black Star. The Press Photo History Project is doing research on photo agencies located in Fleet Street, where the London branch of Black Star is also mentioned.

The Strand Palace Hotel, where Kurt Kornfeld, Kurt Safranski and Ernest Mayer resided during their stays in London, was only a short walk away.
How long the London branch ran or whether it was closed during World War II is not known.