Nita Harvey's archive: the role of clothes in the life and career of an English actress (c.1930)
Nolan, Ellen (2018) Nita Harvey's archive: the role of clothes in the life and career of an English actress (c.1930). In: Dress Talks - Spring 2018, 23 February 2018, Courtauld Institute of Art, London, UK. (Unpublished)
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Four years ago Ellen Nolan inherited a suitcase. Inside was an archive of hundreds of images and documents belonging to her Great Aunt, Nita Harvey, an English actress on the brink of Hollywood success in the 1930s. In 1933 Nita was discovered through a beauty contest, summoned to Hollywood and signed to Paramount studios. She was prepared for performing by her mother, who constantly photographed her. Ellen has been working with the archive to create a dialogue between the performativity of the domestic portraits of Nita taken by her mother and family, and the professional industry images taken by Paramount Studio photographers. This paper will discuss the role of clothes in Nita's life and career, and their function in the archive.
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