Return to Television Centre

July 13, 2018July 15, 2018 / mikeosbornphoto / 7 Comments

I worked in this iconic BBC building for many years until its closure in 2013.

It was sold off and underwent a lengthy redevelopment process which I witnessed first hand.

Television Centre is now open for business again, and I went to take a look on a flying visit to London.

It’s now an upmarket residential complex with smart facilities – a cafe now occupies the place I used to enter the building every day.

It was a disquieting visit, seeing the completion of such great change, contemplating memories and a past era…

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BBC Television Centre in March 2013

Dusk on the quays

August 28, 2017August 27, 2017 / mikeosbornphoto / 11 Comments

Whoever said that Manchester and its sister city of Salford are grey and rain-sodden might like to reconsider. If you take a dusk stroll by the waterways at Salford Quays by the end of the Manchester Ship Canal, you may be treated with a fantastic spectacle. The sunsets here are rich and golden and the modern buildings glint in the light.

I used my new lightweight Fuji X100T for these photographs. It performed nicely, although the fixed lens and lack of zoom means the legs have to do some extra work to nail down that desired frame.

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Click to enlarge

Human interest

December 6, 2015 / mikeosbornphoto / 4 Comments

This photograph made me pause for thought. It is my Greek friend Ilias, taken on a city walk around Hoxton. I’d imagined taking a picture of him, and this was it. I happily gave a little direction to make it happen, and it was part of the process of photography.

It made me think of my self-confessed fear of people and portraits. But looking back over my archive, it becomes clear that this problem doesn’t really exist. I’ve captured a fair few people, some in plain sight and others while I simply observed them from afar. Perhaps I feel safer with the solid majesty of buildings or objects in the control of my studio space. But humans are interesting – and sometimes need not be feared.