Self-Portrait, Parramatta River, Sydney

Margaret Michaelis-Sachs (b. Gross) was one of the few women photographers working in Australia in the mid-twentieth century. Michaelis-Sachs was born in Bielsko, Austria, and studied at the Institute of Graphic Arts and Research in Vienna. After working at photography studios in Vienna and Berlin, Michaelis-Sachs fled Nazism, settling in Spain, where she opened a business specializing in architectural photography. She left Spain in 1937 and immigrated to Australia by way of England, arriving in Sydney in 1939. There, she established a portrait studio that she ran until 1952, when her deteriorating eyesight forced her to leave the business. Multiple retrospectives of her work were held in Australia and Spain following her death.