Shabby pastels

November 23, 2014November 23, 2014 / mikeosbornphoto / 23 Comments

Boa Vista in the African island nation of Cape Verde is sparsely populated and sleepy – a paradise far away from the strains of European urban life.

Its main town, Sal Rei, is home to around 6,000 people, while the former capital Rabil is more like a village. Its houses are modest, built with blocks and colourfully decorated, although the paint quickly peels in the tropical sunshine. The homes around the main square in Sal Rei are a little more grand, but also with a charming air of dilapidation.

My hotel was newer and inevitably in much better condition, with rustic yellow and light brown walls, which caught the sun beautifully.

Click first image to view this selection

Outdoor textures

February 1, 2014 / mikeosbornphoto / 10 Comments

This was an exercise in looking for the finer details, crouching down, getting very close and capturing what is often missed or taken for granted.

I was in my local park in west London and honed in on the metal and wood objects that exist alongside living things – railings, fences and a sculpture fashioned from an old tree trunk.

And the place is studded with living trees, with their bark that looks like the terrain of another world through the macro lens. I finished close to home at a garden wall studded with moss – a tropical forest in miniature.

The discovery of photography’s fine print continues soon…

Click first image to launch the gallery

The dark arts

December 1, 2013 / mikeosbornphoto / 21 Comments

My first forays into creating new works from existing photographs were energetically colourful and often unrecognisable from the original shots.

For this collection I’ve gone in the opposite direction with an exploration of monochrome. The shots I chose to work with emphasise texture, structure and movement which I’ve tried to tease out with careful use of digital tools.

I went back to the original shots and cut them again. Some of them were never used and have been given life and exposure with this process.

Any thoughts and comments from photographers and artists alike would be really appreciated.