The Swiss Studios opened in King Street, Sydney in early 1898, operating from a building described as a 'pleasing reminder of one of those delightful old Swiss chalets, which one always associates with Alpine travel.' The elaborate establishment boasted a first-floor reception room, 'beautifully decorated and luxuriously furnished', 'tastefully arranged dressing rooms, one for ladies and the other for gentlemen', and a 'lofty, cool and well-lit gallery' where 'the best artists in the photographic line' were at work. Patrons were promised 'NO DISAPPOINTMENTS, NO DELAYS' and the studio billed itself as 'the handsomest and coolest photo gallery in Australasia.'
Proprietor Daniel Bernard (1853–1918), was a carver, gilder and framemaker, who ran the Fruhling photographic studio in Adelaide and also a large framing works and gallery on George Street in Sydney. In 1900, he opened a Swiss Studios branch in Melbourne, and in 1906 he moved its Sydney operations into the same building as his George Street gallery. 'If you get your photograph taken at the Swiss you can be sure of the finest portraiture in the world', the studio’s advertisements stated, 'and you won't be charged the fabulous prices asked elsewhere.' The business became known for offering the most up-to-date processes and techniques, and for innovations such as the 'Swiss Panel': a portrait mounted on an embossed card roughly twice the size of a cabinet card. Like many photographic businesses, Swiss Studios did a roaring trade in portraits of newly enlisted soldiers during the First World War; and in being located in the heart of Sydney's shopping precinct, they were conveniently placed for numerous debutantes and brides-to-be requiring mementoes for family and friends. By the late 1920s, the studio's photographers were travelling to regional areas, and its photographs were a fixture in the social pages and women's pages of major newspapers and magazines.
