'Many people are aware of the unique record of Canberra’s early development recorded by the government photographer Jack Mildenhall.1 But few know of the National Library of Australia (NLA) collection of nearly 2,500 images of Canberra life from the 1920s to the 1960s by commercial photographer Leslie John Dwyer.2 Many more of his photographs are held in other collections, including by the Canberra & District Historical Society (CDHS) and the ACT Heritage Library, by his family and by the many families, clubs and organisations (including parliament and diplomatic missions) for which he took photographs. During the 1930s Les was one of several commercial photographers in Canberra. These included the talented Richard Strangman, active in Canberra for about 30 years from 1927,3 Alex Collingridge, Fred Bareham and Maxwell Ahearne. None matched Dwyer for his work ethic and cultivation of useful connections.'
Source: Introduction.
