M. Wimmer and Co.
M. Wimmer and Co.
Friend of Bondi Observer Fernanda Lena told us about the photo shop that used to be on Hall Street. It was the place to go to if you needed a portrait photo taken for any reason. The owner used to put many of the photos of her customers in the window of the shop which fascinated Fernanda’s then young daughter Gabi and other children in the area.
Alas, we were unable to find anything about this business.
Until, that is, we met up with Arielle Nakache (profile coming).
It was Arielle’s grandparents Gisella and Michael Wimmer who opened their photo business after immigrating to Australia in 1956, fleeing the Hungarian Revolution (having already survived the Holocaust).
The business M. Wimmer and Co. began by processing photos in the bathtub in their Francis Street unit and Gisella and Michael were successful enough to open the shop at 62 Hall Street offering taxi and passport photos, artist head shots and photo retouching that Arielle recalls her grandmother “doing with a tiny paint brush wet by her saliva and dipped into ink”.
Arielle told us that M. Wimmer and Co. closed in 2004, the year that Gisella died. She had worked up until her very last day. “Michael took respite in the dark room on a fold out bed in his last weeks and also worked until his last day. Amazing work ethic!!”
Thank you Fernanda for the idea and thank you Arielle for telling us about your grandparents’ Hall Street business.
We didn’t know anything about M. Wimmer and Co. but we miss it!
