Summary

Glass plate negative portrait of Jean Wentworth Harvie, probably between the ages of 15 and 18 years.

Most likely taken by Jean's father, Melbourne photographer Robert William Harvie, before his death in 1922. For a similar photograph for Jean's sister Ellison, see MM 043230. Harvie regularly used his daughters as subjects for his photographs, a large number of which are taken outdoors.

Robert Harvie was a professional photographer who, with his business partner Albert Sutcliffe, owned a photography studio named Harvie & Sutcliffe between 1898 and 1908, located in the Cromwell Buildings, 366a Bourke Street, corner of Bourke and Elizabeth Streets, Melbourne.

The Harvie Collection includes examples of Robert Harvie's private and professional photographic practice. A number of the photographs depict the family life of four generations of the Harvie family, including the Lang family.

The Harvie and Lang families had social significance in Melbourne through their active involvement in early Australian vegetarian movements, early moving film, photography and architecture, as well as various other cultural societies and clubs in Melbourne.

Description of Content

Portrait of a young woman seated with her hands folded in her lap wearing a lightly coloured checkered dress with a white square collar and a black belt. She is wearing a watch on her left arm and is holding what appears to be folded paper. The photograph is taken from just below the waist up and she is seated in front of a lightly coloured exterior wall.

Physical Description

Glass plate negative, black and white, portrait format.

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