Ruth Hollick (1883–1977) studied at the National Gallery School in Melbourne from 1902 to 1906 before establishing herself as a photographer. In about 1908 she set up a touring freelance photography business with her partner Dorothy Izard. During World War I she worked from her family home in Moonee Ponds before opening a studio on Collins Street in 1918. In the 1920s, Hollick was one of Melbourne’s leading photographers. She worked for magazines and private clients, gaining a reputation for her fashion and society photographs and particularly her portraits of children. She exhibited her work in important local and international exhibitions, including the London Salon of Photography in 1920 and the Melbourne Exhibition of Pictorial Photography in 1929. She moved her studio back home in the 1930s and retired at age 75.

(2017)