Big Day! Publication of NotQuiteFree #1 – Hope & Fear

This is a big day – at least for me!

I have finally got around to publishing my first zine. My zines will go under the general title of NotQuiteFree, and this first issue is called Hope & Fear. It features eight of my images in black and white and is wait for it…. COMPLETELY FREE (despite the title).

I am going to be leaving copies of them about locally to where I live (and also when I actually venture out of Norfolk!)  in a ‘guerilla art’ sort of way so you never know where you might find one. I would also like to mail a copy (completely free) to anyone who would like to get in touch with me and let me have their address.

Here’s the cover: the zine itself is A7 in size (that is, an eighth of a page of A4) so it’s something small but (I hope) beautiful……….. . Here’s the cover as a taster:

Hope & Fear - Not Quite Free #1 - A zine by Keith Osborn

More Photos in the Sketchbook

Just added some more photos to the sketchbook page of my art website. These are themed around barcodes which I find strangely fascinating – see what you think:

New Bird’s Nest Photograph

Third bird’s nest photograph. This is the nest of a  Mistle Thrush found abandoned in a Japonica bush:

Mistle Thrush Nest 2010

New Photographs – Bird’s Nests

Since a couple of bird’s nests fell out of some trees in our garden this spring, I have been taken with the idea of photographing them and building a series of images of abandoned nests. These are the first two, although I don’t know which birds actually built them so I have had to call them Unidentified. I will be doing more nests as I find them…… but in the meantime I hope you like these:

Unidentified Bird's Nest #1 (2010)

Unidentified Bird's Nest #2 (2010)

My Photography Library #3 – Bill Henson – Three Decades of Photography

This is not strictly a book – it is the exhibition catalogue published by the National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne, Australia) for their 2005 exhibition entitled Bill Henson – Three Decades of Photography. It was cheaper than buying his book Bill Henson: Mnemosyne which was published at the same time and was beautiful (but v expensive!). However, the exhibition catalogue is still a very nice memory of an exhibition which was really outstanding.

As the catalogue says: ” Bill Henson is one of Australia’s leading contemporary artists. His powereful and edgy photographs approach bothe the painterly and the cinematic…..”. His images are incredibly moody – they have depth and draw you in to stories which you will never quite fully understand. Some also use unexposed photographic paper as collage material. I urge you to explore his work if, like me in 2005, you presently know little or nothing about him.  In a word (or in fact two words): totally absorbing. The Wiki entry on Bill Henson is here and his own website is here .

Photography Library Book 2: Tom Hunter – Living in Hell

Great title for a book of photographs just to start with…. Anyway, this is a book published by the National Gallery in 2005 to accompany an exhibition of Tom Hunter’s photographs which went by the same name. The exhibition was quite small, it was one of the free ones but it was fantastic - very memorable! The book itself is quite slim and brings together the 21 images in the exhibition which by and large rework old master paintings but use completely contemporary subjects such as the lives of ordinary residents of hackney in East London as reported in the headlines of local newspapers.

If you like this, check out Tom Hunter’s website for a look at the images which made up this exhibition and his other work.

Best View Competition – Winners

The winners of the North Norfolk Radio  Best View competition (in association with – and with prizes by – Keith Osborn Photography!) were announced last Saturday. The winners are the two pictures below – the first is Marsham by Jacky, and the second is East Runton by Yasmin. Congratulations to Jacky and to Yasmin - I look forward to meeting  and working with you both very soon.

My Photography Book Library #1

Amongst other things I love books – always have and suspect always will do. As a result I have developed and am continuing to develop a library of photography books: so I thought – why don’t I share my favourite titles so that others may be inspired to go and seek out these brilliant books. Part review (if I’m honest it won’t be much of an actual review), and mostly just a sharing of my enthusiasm about photography and about books, this is my photography book list (as it is now and as it grows). #1 on the list (not in any particular order) is Image Makers Image Takers which is a review of a  number of contemporary photographers across a range of disciplines (art, documentary, fashion, portraiture and next generation) which crucially doesn’t just talk about their work but actually interviews them and records their own views about what they do. It’s a great intro to some great photographers, eg William Egglestone, Martin Parr, Ellen Von Unwerth, Rineke Dijkstra, and Alec Soth to take just one from each discipline. I was hooked the minute I saw it and refer to it a lot. The listing at Amazon is here. A definite recommendation:

Image Makers Image Takers - Anne-Celine Jaeger

Artist’s Book – Chairchain

Chairchain was the first artist’s book I made. From generating the concept, taking the photographs through printing them out and then constructing the book, it was a very enjoyable exercise and I was very pleased with the result. I have made some other books which I’ll share in due course but this is definitely something I’ll be continuing to do (and hopefully getting better and better). I hope you like the look of it – comments most welcome. The book is for sale as are the original framed photographs (see previous post to view these images). Please enquire if you are interested.

Chairchain Artist's Book 1

Chairchain Artist's Book 2

Chairchain Artist's Book 3

It’s Promo Week This Week!

Hot on the heels of doing Billy MacConnolly’s promo photos, I was commissioned yesterday by a VERY important client, one Debbie Osborn – Artist & Designer extraordinaire, to undertake a photoshoot for some photos for her new website and upcoming press releases. Did the shoot with my work experience student from Fakenham College, the wonderful Freya, and together we got some good shots I think. These are a couple of mine and I’ll post a couple of Freya’s when I get them. I’m up for doing any promo photos that anyone wants for their business – give me a shout…. Check out Debbie’s new website  as well by the bye…..

Debbie 5

Debbie 2

Debbie 1