Maggie Diaz
[3] In 2011 Diaz was featured as the sole woman in a group exhibition at the State Library of Victoria titled As Modern as Tomorrow, Photographers in Post war Melbourne.
Maggie Diaz was born Margaret Eunice Reid on 25 February 1925 in Kansas City, Missouri, "out of wedlock" and spent her early childhood years in New York.
[5] Between 1956 and 1959 and in a juxtaposition of wealth and poverty that was to mark her later work, Diaz documented Lower North Center for the City of Chicago – a "mixed" housing development for the underprivileged to promote the creation of community structure and educational programs including sewing classes, a ballet school, dances and religious ceremonies.
Diaz contributed to Group M's Photovision in 1964 exhibiting at John Reed's Museum of Modern Art with well-known contemporaries Wolfgang Sievers and Mark Strizic.
In 1968, Diaz, Jose and Stevan moved into a commercial studio in Martin Street Gardenvale with her ex-husband Clement Fraser.
He had produced a map for the Liberal government, titled, 'Australia the Awakening Giant'[7] and was making a good living selling it all over the country.
When the Whitlam government won the election in 1972, the map was discontinued as a promotional tool and Clem left the studio lease to Diaz and Jose.
In 1975, The Toorak Times noted that Diaz "excels in art photography" while their front cover featured one of her photos Reticulated Lady.
[9] Diaz spent two years as staff photographer of Southern Cross News during this time – recording a huge range of events and personalities, including Tommy Hanlon from Ashton's Circus.
In the 1980s, Diaz continued to operate a commercial studio in Martin Street, Gardenvale and became known for portraiture and actors' composites, forming alliances with Sascha Agency and JM Casting.
Diaz moved from her Gardenvale studio in the late 1980s and operated from a flat on Grosvenor Street, Balaclava, where she made a darkroom in a rundown shed and became known for photographing actors in doorways and laneways – always using available light.
In 2005, some highlights from the extensive collection were presented as a slide show to two packed audiences at La Mama Theatre's Courthouse, to celebrate Diaz' 80th birthday.
Called As Modern as Tomorrow: photographs in Post War Melbourne, The exhibition was held from 1 July 2011 to 5 February 2012 and included works by immigrant peers Mark Strizic and Wolfgang Sievers.
Historian of photography Gael Newton commented in the State Library News that: "The sole woman working in commercial illustration included in As Modern as Tomorrow is previously overlooked American immigrant Maggie Diaz, whose distinctively moody work has only quite recently been reintroduced to Melbourne viewers and acquired by the Library.
Following a fire in her home, she moved into long-term accommodation at Sacred Heart Mission in St Kilda – her local stomping ground.
[14] In 2010, The State Library of Victoria purchased Into the Light, the exhibition and the entire Diaz archive – spanning 50 years of photography.
