Maggie Diaz was born Margaret Eunice Reid on 25 February 1925, in Kansas City Missouri, USA “out of wedlock” and spent her early childhood years in New York along with her younger brothers. She arrived in Melbourne in 1961, on a one way ticket, and soon established herself has one of the city's leading commercial photographers. An award-winning photographer in Chicago and resident photographer of the famous Tavern Club, Diaz used her flair for night photography and use of available light to capture the essence of Melbourne's arts and wider community over four decades.

Diaz's photographic oeuvre dates back to 1950s Chicago, and includes haunting images of the housing project known as Lower North Center. She depicted Melbourne ‘battlers' in a yearbook for The Brotherhood of St Laurence, and was commissioned to produce night shots of the city for promotional purposes. Her work has always been marked by the contrast between the glamorous commercial world and those outside of society, with whom she felt a connection.

Diaz has the knack for capturing the soul of the artist – for getting the person to reveal themselves to her. This saw her portraiture of actors becoming a major interest. She photographed scores of plays at La Mama, The Courthouse and Playbox theatres in the 1990s and for her 80th birthday celebrated with a slideshow at the Carlton Courthouse. In 2007, Maggie Diaz – Into the Light opened at City Museum at Old Treasury and Maggie's collection of more than forty years was revealed. Now on its Australian tour, the work of this unique Melbourne character continues to inspire and intrigue us.