The business was sold to Ted Richards about 1969. He moved the shop to the corner of Palmerstone Lane in 1991 then sold to Jack Libbis who has been forced to close the business permanently due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dwyer's story is remarkable and he deserves greater recognition for his extensive photographic work. Nearly 2,500 of his images are held by the National Library of Australia. His contribution to the community is recognised by the naming of a street in his honour in the suburb of Forde.

Dwyer moved to Canberra in 1924 and joined the Department of Works and Railways as a carpenter. Les and Eileen's first home in Canberra was a small wooden hut at the Westlake workers' settlement, Stirling Park, Yarralumla. Four years later they moved into a small government house at Ainslie.

The Depression led the family to give up their Ainslie home in 1932 after Les lost his government job. They probably moved into one of the small cottages attached to a shop on Bougainville Street, Manuka - convenient to Dwyer's photographic stall.

There seems little doubt though that Dwyer saw the need to try to make a living from his hobby of photography. He had been taking pictures of the new capital from the time he arrived - his earliest image in the NLA collection is dated March 2, 1924 and shows the Hotel Canberra under construction.

Les's reputation grew. Local architect, Malcolm Moir, used his images to illustrate a 1933 article in the prestigious journal, the Architectural Record.

His personality - outgoing, friendly and energetic - was a great asset. Always out and about meeting people at Parliament House, embassies, functions and sporting events, these characteristics helped him maintain the high profile essential for his business.

Les quickly became known as a "man about town". With his car, registration ACT 5, always at the ready, he was on constant alert to photograph opportunities. Business grew strongly and by 1940-41, Les extended his Manuka studio and installed more modern equipment. Prime Minister R. G. Menzies, who knew him well, called him "The Mayor of Manuka" and said Dwyer was busier than he was.

From around the late 1940s, The Canberra Times began using more of his photographs. When snow fell in July 1949, the newspaper sold prints of his photographs for two shillings and six pence. These included two lighthearted subjects: "Snow Man arrested for loitering" and "All snow dog sits on Tucker Box".

There was a lot more to Dwyer than just being a photographer. From his earliest days in Canberra, he was very involved in community activities. He was actively involved in many organisations, often as a foundation committee member. These included the Westlake Social Service Association, Canberra Chamber of Commerce, the Manuka Traders' Association, the Royal Canberra Golf Club, the Federal Golf Club, the South Canberra Bowling Club, and the Manchester Unity Independent Order of Oddfellows. He was a handy golfer and later in life was also a dab hand at bowls.

After Dwyer's sudden death in 1962, his son Daryl took over and expanded the business until he died in 1967, after which the business closed.

In 1972, the NLA purchased from Dwyer's widow 1,897 negatives (of which 446 are glass plates) and 528 black-and-white photographs.

The photographs include Canberra buildings, diplomatic staff and functions, Parliamentary occasions, weddings and other social functions, and high quality portraits of members of Federal parliament, senior public servants and members of the diplomatic community.

He also recorded some of the city's memorable moments, including the opening of Federal Parliament (1927), the Canberra floods (1926, 1945, 1956), Royal visits (1934, 1958), the 1940 Canberra air disaster, and the funeral of John Curtin (1945).

Les Dwyer was a self-made man who, through necessity, made a living from his hobby of photography. His life reflected Canberra's varying economic circumstances and uneven growth.

He was both a participant in and a recorder of Canberra's growth; his extraordinary contribution to sport and social services matched the endeavour he showed as an amateur turned professional photographer.

Yet his importance as a documentary photographer is not as well appreciated as his significant body of work deserves.

Extensive work is well under way at the National Library of Australia to fully document and assess his photographs and make them more readily accessible.