by Ruth Hollick was a pioneering Victorian photographer, the first Australian woman to have a solo exhibition in this country.
Ruth Hollick was born in Williamstown, Victoria, in March 1883. Her parents were both originally from England; her father Harry was a customs inspector, her mother Frances a homemaker.
The household was lively: Hollick was the youngest of thirteen children.
Shortly after her birth, Hollick’s family moved to Moonee Ponds, in Melbourne’s inner north. This indicated the family’s status; the area was comfortably middle class, with tree lined streets and large houses.
Hollick’s parents were both art lovers, who encouraged their children’s creativity. From an early age, Hollick would show a talent for painting.
After completing secondary school, in 1902 Hollick enrolled at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School. This was Victoria’s foremost visual arts institute, and one of the most prestigious in the country.
Hollick intended to pursue a career as a painter, and took lessons in composition and drawing. One of her teachers was Frederick McCubbin, a famed local artist who had helped introduce impressionism to Australia.
Intellectually and artistically curious, Hollick also explored other creative pursuits. During her studies she acquired a camera, and began taking photographs as a hobby.
In the early twentieth century, photography was a medium quickly maturing.
The process for capturing images had been invented in France in the 1820s, and made its way to Australia two decades later (read more about Australia’s first photographer, here). By the end of the century, the first camera clubs had been established, and RMIT began teaching a professional course in 1887.
Cameras evolved rapidly. Cumbersome and technically complex in their early days, by 1900 Kodak was producing the handheld ‘Box Brownie’, which could be used by anyone.
As photography increased in popularity, and became easier to access, professional opportunities were created in the field.
After graduating in 1906, Hollick devoted more of her time to photography. While she had no formal training she had an intuitive feel for the medium; her art school studies, often concerned with aspects of light, also helped develop her skills.
In 1907, Hollick set up a darkroom at her parent’s house, and went into business as a freelance photographer. Seeing a gap in the market, she bought a car and a field camera, and began touring regional Victoria, offering her services as a portrait taker.
‘She would advertise in advance of her arrival that ‘Ruth Hollick would be available to take portraits’ on a particular day. She printed and despatched work from the studio in the family home at Moonee Ponds.’
– Photoria: Australian Women Behind the Lens
It was difficult and demanding work, with long hours of travel and modest equipment. But working independantly provided Hollick with invaluable experience, as she steadily mastered all aspects of the photographic process.
After several years working around the state, she returned permanently to Melbourne and continued her business from her home studio.
By the time World War I began, Hollick had established herself as one of Melbourne’s preeminent portrait photographers. She was particularly known for her photos of children, and had a skill for capturing disarming, unguarded moments.
In a field largely dominated by men, Hollick’s professional success was a significant achievement.
In 1918, Hollick took over the Collins Street studio run by two of Melbourne’s other well-known female photographers, the Moore sisters. Originally from New Zealand, Annie and Mina Moore had arrived at the start of the decade, and specialised in portraits of arts industry figures: actors, musicians, and writers.
Mina was now pregnant and wished to withdraw from the studio. Hollick would take over and add the Moore’s clients to her existing business, greatly expanding her range of subjects.
She would run the studio with her long-term personal and professional partner, Dorothy Izard.
The studio thrived under Hollick and Izard’s management.
Hollick’s technical skill was now advanced, having a portrait taken by her became highly desirable for the city’s prominent personalities. Among her most famous subjects were the opera singer Dame Nellie Melba, and aviator Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia.
The studio became a fashionable location in itself; a sophisticated salon where Melbourne’s artistic, business and social networks intersected.
Hollick revelled in the environment. A friend described her as ‘a hard worker though not a businesswoman: she enjoyed spending, good dressing and parties.’
Hollick’s lack of formal training allowed her to develop a unique photographic style.
This is often labelled ‘Pictorialist’, a type of photography popular in the early twentieth century, known for soft focus lighting and atmospheric staging. While Hollick’s pictures have these elements, she also favoured natural light and experimentation, both entrenched habits from her years on the road.
Even as she became more successful, she retained her ability to capture moments of spontaneity. Her gift was balancing these different elements: highly stylised photos that could still appear naturalistic.
Into the 1920s, Hollick expanded her range. Alongside her portrait work, she accepted theatrical and advertising commissions, and also took pictures that fell into a new category: fashion photography.
In 1920, ‘The Home’ began publication in Sydney, a local magazine in the style of the internationally renowned ‘Vogue’. Hollick was retained to provide the Melbourne content; she supplied photos of debutants, society weddings and glamorous public events.
‘In the 20s, fashion photography was a new phenomenon. Usually photographs appearing in publications were primarily about the sitter. But a transition was occurring, and we see photographs where the primary object is to display the clothing, not the person.’
– ‘Ruth Hollick and Early Australian Fashion Photography’, Olga Tsara
Hollick’s work for ‘Home’, and eventually other publications, is considered some of the first Australian fashion photography. The new genre would quickly become very popular.
Hollick’s success led to formal recognition, another area where female photographers had largely been ignored.
In 1928, she became the first Australian woman to have a solo photography exhibition, when she presented photos publicly at her home studio. The following year, she was the only woman whose work appeared in the Melbourne Exhibition of Pictorial Photography.
Her work became known overseas as well.
Hollick exhibited at the London Salon of Photography, and the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain. Her work was also presented as part of exhibitions in America.
She won numerous awards at these shows.
The economic downturn of the Great Depression reduced the demand for portrait photos, and Hollick closed her studio in the early 1930s. She retained much of her client list and continued to work from her family home in Moonee Ponds, on commission.
Financially stable and now with more free time, Hollick and Izard were able to travel, and spent considerable time in Europe. She retired in 1958.
Her best known works today remain her portraits of children, still remarkably vibrant though nearly 100 years old.
Seen recently as part of a show at the NGV, they immediately capture your attention: introspective faces looking thoughtfully at the camera, or laughing gleefully, unaware of its presence.
Small moments in young lives, still fresh after all this time.
Hollick’s works are held in a number of public galleries, and the State Library of Victoria has a catalogue of more than 1000 images. She was a pioneer for other female photographers, many of whom would cite her as an inspiration.
Ruth Hollick died peacefully at her home in Sandringham, in April 1977.
