Historical information

This photograph is of Percy Nixon, son of James Nixon and Alice Roberts Percy Nixon married Evelyn Harding.
The photographer was Warren, Helena (1871-1962) who was a self-taught photographer who became both the local press correspondent and a producer of humorous trompe l'oeil postcard images. Helena Warren was a thirty-two year old settler living on a small mixed farm with her husband, William, at Newmerella, near Orbost in Gippsland, Victoria, when she bought her first camera, an Austral Box quarter-plate. Her family says she was entirely self-taught, like many women photographers who started out with nothing but the instructions on the packets of film and chemicals. In over fifty years practice she graduated from the total novice, who opened all her first mail order plates in bright sunlight and ruined them, to a competent photographer who became both the local press correspondent and an inveterate producer of humorous trompe l’oeil postcard images.
Helena Francis Warren (nee McKeown) was married to William John Warren and lived in Newmerella. She supplied the photos for the Back-To-Orbost celebration book in 1937 and also designed the Back-To-Orbost badge. She was known for her soft toy making. (by Ivy Rodwell in from Personalities and Stories of the Early Orbost District by Mary Gilbert).

Significance

This item is associated with a prominent Orbost family. George Nixon was the son of James and Alice Nixon. The Nixon families were among the earliest settlers on the Snowy River.
This photograph also has significance in its association with Helen Frances Warren, a popular Orbost identity who was well known as an accomplished photographer and needleworker.

Physical description

A black / white photograph of a young boy standing next to a very large pumpkin. His right arm is resting on the top.