Summary

Glass plate negative portrait of Missie Rosenblum and a young boy, possibly taken by Melbourne photographer, Mr. Robert Harvie. For a similar glass negative see MM 043430.

Robert William 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 two children, a girl and a boy. Two exposures on one negative, one of which is out of focus has a cross drawn over the children, suggesting it was rejected from use. The girl sits on the left of the image with her arm around the younger boy, presumably a sibling or relative. Both children wear white, long sleeved, collared shirts and the boy wears a tie. The girl wears a darkly coloured skirt and the boy wears darkly coloured shorts, both wear socks and shoes. The girl wears dark socks and the boy wears white socks. Both have their legs crossed.

Physical Description

Glass plate negative, black and white, landscape format. Negative is stained with blue paint across midriff of children on left, when viewed with inscription right way up. Two exposures on one negative; one of which is out of focus. Image capture image is inverted. The glass negative is more matt and has a slightly different grain to Mr Harvie's other images. The left hand corners of the image have been blocked off from exposure.

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