Summary

Glass plate negative portrait of studio photographer, Robert William Harvie, 26 years old.

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.

At the age of 26, Harvie had yet to establish his professional photographic career, however, at the age of nineteen, he had already been awarded a medal for his amateur photography from the 1887 Geelong Jubilee Industrial & Juvenile Exhibition. The medal is held in Museum Victoria's Harvie Collection (NU 48770).

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 man with a moustache and prominent ears. The young man looks directly at the camera and is dressed smartly in a white shirt, dark tie, waistcoat and jacket. The chain of a pocket watch can be seen between his button hole and jacket.

Physical Description

Glass plate negative, black and white, portrait format.

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