When we were two little boys

My Aunt Nellie was a highly skilled photo retoucher. She worked for Baron Studios of Park Lane (seen here), retouching mostly mono prints.

She would remove an imperfection here, add a highlight in an eye there and similar post processing tricks.

Many of their customers were the celebrities of the day.

She was also a skilled user of an airbrush, whether mono or colour.

This photograph (and I own the copyright) shows two young brothers in a rickshaw being pulled by a powerful Zulu man in Durban, South Africa.

The practice of taking tourists for a ride, was very popular and the man would leap high into the air, much to the delight of the squealing boys as they nearly tipped over. It put terrific strain on the heart and muscles of the men with often fatal results in later life.

The photo was taken in the early 1950s and then processed by Nellie to enhance the colours. You could say she was a Photoshop Version Zero.

The photo was taken by my father (Nellie's brother) and I am the sweet, shy little boy on the right hand side.

You could say a Selfie!