community

Manchester’s new skyscraper estate

/ mikeosbornphoto / 9 Comments

My Manchester apartment sits on the second floor of a low rise building. But very close by a new skyscraper neighbourhood is making rapid progress.

Here are some photographs of the newest towers which I finally got close to recently. What do you think of living in the sky? READ MORE BELOW

Tap/click first image to view gallery

The New Jackson neighbourhood links together the four more recent skyscrapers – the slim Blade, rotund Three60, broad Elizabeth Tower and squat Victoria Residence – with the existing Deansgate Square towers.

This crop of four high rises have dominated the local skyline for a few years now and regularly feature in my photographs.

With thousands of new homes and people moving to this part of Manchester city centre, amenities including a primary school and medical centre are being placed on site.

But is this enough along with these sparkling, sky-touching new buildings? 

Life in the city centre can favour younger people, who in my own experience may be less likely to connect with neighbours and their local community. Apartment living makes it easier to close the door behind you and forget those around you.

One thing is clear – the local skyline has changed for good. Is it progress for the better?…

The skyscrapers of New Jackson, Manchester, as seen from a roof garden.

New Jackson (right) as seen from a Manchester roof garden

West is east

/ mikeosbornphoto / 7 Comments

Damasgate signage

Welcome to my neighbourhood in west London. Uxbridge Road in Shepherd’s Bush is a vibrant thoroughfare lined with shops, always thronging with people and filled with the oxygen of everyday life. It’s a multicultural district embracing people from around the world. A glance at some of the shop fronts reveal that the Middle East has left an impression on the area, with elegant signs in Arabic and colourful displays of produce.

In the midst of this is the stately blue of Bush Hall, a music venue with 19th century roots which sits next to the local mosque. Walk further down the road and find a small group of Somali shops, Polish supermarkets, Syrian restaurants, coffee shops, clothes stores – an entire urban community.

Enjoy this pen portrait of just one absorbing London street.

Click first image to view this collection

Syrian bakery

Instagram widget

Dorando Close

/ mikeosbornphoto / 10 Comments

Dorando building

The red scarfThis is an apparently unremarkable little road in White City, west London. I cross it every morning on my way to work. 

But I notice it each time I pass.

One side of Dorando Close is filled with the modern, sandy bricks of an office block and its three stories of windows.

The perspective is impressive and catches my eye every day, while a neat line of trees enhance and complement the sense of understated grandeur of the building.

But this is a community, with a bustling little supermarket just around the corner, a school opposite and BBC buildings close by.

It’s a place of people too.

The lady wearing the red hijab walked into shot as she went about her business, adding a daub of colour – and humanity – to the bland yet eye-catching building on this little London street.

Gallery entrance (2)

Instagram widget