Mai Manó, Imperial and Royal Court Photographer (1855-1917) had his eight-story studio-house and home built in fourteen months in 1893-94. A professional photographer and specialist, in his time he was one of the best specialists of child portraits. His status in the professional community of that time is uncontested. He was also the founder and editor of the periodical called A Fény (The Light, launched in 1906) The building’s richly decorated neo-renaissance façade clearly served ideological purposes: Mai Manó wanted to lend a past to the young trade, hardly considered to be a form of art by anyone at that time. Take the majolica putti between the ground floor and the mezzanine or the façade paintings on the third floor showing the “six muses of photography”. Actual photographing took place in the Sunlight-studio on the second floor, we restored in 1996-97. During the restoration, we found the original frescoes hiding bethind the white wallpaper for decades. These used to serve as background for Mai’s portraits. His studio worked in the house for four decades, until 1931. It was followed by a luxury-bar, Arizona, which was closed in 1944.Mai Manó House open since November, 1998. The reconstruction of the building – has been sponsored by the Hungarian State and planned by Szántó and Mikó Architects – is not far from completion.