Ruth Miriam Hollick (17 March 1883 – 7 April 1977) was an Australian portrait and fashion photographer who was one of Melbourne's leading

Pictorialist Pictorialism is an international style and aesthetic movement that dominated photography during the later 19th and early 20th centuries. There is no standard definition of the term, but in general it refers to a style in which the photographer ha ...

photographers during the 1920s.

Education and personal life

Ruth Miriam Hollick was born in the Williamstown area of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia, in 1883, the last of 13 children of Harry Ebenezer Hollick, a civil servant, and Frances Jane (Cole) Hollick. She was raised in the suburb of

Moonee Ponds Moonee Ponds is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Moonee Valley local government area. Moonee Ponds recorded a population of 16,224 at the 2 ...

and educated at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School (1902–06), where one of her teachers was the painter

Frederick McCubbin Frederick McCubbin (25 February 1855 – 20 December 1917) was an Australian artist, art teacher and prominent member of the Heidelberg School art movement, also known as Australian impressionism. Born and raised in Melbourne, Victoria, McCubb ...

, but she received no formal training in photography. Her professional partner, Dorothy Izard, was also her life partner. In 1950 Hollick and Izard embarked on their first overseas travel, visiting relatives and touring the UK. On their return they moved to

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

Photography career

There is evidence that Hollick was experimenting with photography in a home

darkroom A darkroom is used to process photographic film, to make prints and to carry out other associated tasks. It is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of the light-sensitive photographic materials, including film and ph ...

by 1907. The following year, she set herself up as a freelance photographer who toured rural areas of the state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, making portraits of families, especially children. She worked mostly outdoors in natural light with a

field camera A field camera is a view camera that can be folded in a compact size. Modern designs are little different from the first folding field cameras from the 19th century. In general they have more limited camera movements than monorail cameras, but ...

. By

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, she had shifted into studio photography, initially working out of her parents' house in

and later moving into Mina Moore's former studio in the Auditorium Building downtown, subsequently expanding still further into Chartres House. It was in this period that Hollick developed a reputation for skillful use of both natural and studio lighting and for stylish compositions, often setting her subjects against plain backgrounds. She specialized in portraits of society figures and celebrities, as well as fashion photography for use in advertisements. For example, she took several pictures of the British aviator

Amy Johnson Amy Johnson (born 1 July 1903 – disappeared 5 January 1941) was a pioneering English pilot who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia. Flying solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, she set many long-distance records duri ...

on her 1930 world tour, including the official Australian portrait. For most of the 1920s, Hollick was one of Melbourne's two leading photographers, along with Pegg Clarke, and she exhibited her work both locally and internationally. During this period she won at least six silver awards and numerous bronze awards in various shows. Her photographs were regularly published in ''Art in Australia'' and other Australian magazines. In recent years, her work has been included in at least two large-scale exhibitions of Australian photography. Hollick gave up her downtown studios during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and returned to working from

. She retired from photography in 1950 and died in 1977 at

Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places * Sandringham, New South Wales, Australia * Sandringham, Queensland, Australia * Sandringham, Victoria, Australia **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station **Electoral district of Sandringham * Sand ...

Selected exhibitions

*''The Paris End: Photography, Fashion & Glamour'' (2007;

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...

touring exhibition) *''Masterpieces of Australian Photography'' (1989) *''Amateur Photographer Overseas Exhibition,'' London (1932) *''Melbourne Exhibition of Pictorial Photography'' (1929: only woman in show) *Chicago Photographic Exhibition (1927) *Colonial Exhibitions of the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

of Great Britain (1925, 1927) *London Salon of Photography (1920)

Collections

Hollick's glass plate negatives and original prints are held in collections of the following institutions: * Ruth Hollick Collection,

State Library of Victoria State Library Victoria (SLV) is the state library of Victoria, Australia. Located in Melbourne, it was established in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, making it Australia's oldest public library and one of the first free libraries in the ...

(digitised image collection) *

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...

Education and personal life

Photography career

Selected exhibitions

Collections

References

Further reading