A photographer since the 1970s, Wilkins spent most of his adult years in the dark room of his father’s photographic studio on Liebig Street.

Wilkins lost his battle with prostate cancer, aged 71, on Easter Sunday. He was farewelled at Warrnambool’s Christ Church by family and friends on Friday and is survived by his children Jed and Carly and partner Param.

The painter, photographer, news cameraman and retired visual arts lecturer featured as a vital piece of the puzzle within Warrnambool’s art scene.

His experience in the photographic industry covered various techniques and processes and became a lifetime passion.

Mr Wilkins received four Victorian professional photography awards within five years, all of which were experimental works.

In memory of his late father Alec Wilkins, Jack shared a collection of historical 16mm films in July which were unseen by the public for almost 70 years. 

In a tribute, Richard Phillips said Wilkins’ death was “a deeply sad occasion” and marked the passing of a “warm and wonderful man and a uniquely inventive artist and teacher”. 

“Jack was one of a handful pioneering figures, who in the early 1970s challenged the existing conventions about photographic art in Australia. Photographic galleries were all but non-existent at that time,” Mr Phillips said.  

“How proud we all were when Jack's work was included, along with John Cato, Stan Ostoja-Kotkowski, Mark Strizic and Peter Medlen, in National Gallery of Victoria's Frontiers exhibition in 1973. This audacious show of abstract photography the first of its type in Australian history was also exhibited in Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.” 

Wilkins was “the last survivor of this group of ground-breaking photographers who inspired many others in the subsequent decades and right up until his death”. “His artistic legacy will continue to animate future generations,” Mr Phillips said.