The Art Gallery
David Osborn
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David J Osborn was born in London, England in 1961. Upon leaving school and after a one-year Foundation in art and design at Hornsey College of Art, London, Osborn entered the Graphic Design degree program at the prestigious Camberwell School of Art, one of London’s oldest and most respected colleges for graphic design, painting, book-making and restoration. During his studies at Camberwell, Osborn discovered that photography was more suited to his personality. Since sitting at a desk held little attraction for him, he took control of his own education and, under the guidance of a tutor, organised his own photographic program. After a year of freelance work and employment in the photography department at Shell Oil, Osborn joined Reuter News Pictures in Fleet Street, where he began his intensive, on-the-job training as a photojournalist. Osborn was soon being sent on diverse assignments from photographing royalty to disasters.
During that time, Osborn photographed many Presidents including Regan, Gorbachev and ex-President Jimmy Carter. He photographed the kings of Norway, Spain, King Hussein and ex-King Constantine. He also photographed Margaret Thatcher on numerous occasions and the Royal Family over 50 times. The events Osborn covered were equally as diverse. He was on location for the Angolan Peace Talks, the Piper Alpha North Seas oil-rig disaster, the London’s Kings Cross underground fire disaster, the marriage of Prince Andrew to Sarah Ferguson, the Brixton and Tottenham race riots, the final concert of Wham, Michael Jackson in concert, and Band-Aid. Osborn also covered hundreds of assignments for national and foreign newspapers and magazines shooting portraits, features and news.
In 1987, Osborn used this diverse experience to work for nine month in the Philippines to broaden his photographic experience. Back in London, sensing a need to continue to develop his photographic skills, Osborn began producing commercial work for electronics companies, banks, public relations firms, and advertising agencies, such as Ogilby & Mather and Vallin Pollin. In 1989, Osborn emigrated to Australia to be closer to Asia and to continue working commercially. From 1993 to 1999 he ran his own studio, Graphica Photography, in the heart of Sydney, creating annual report and advertising photography for companies such as Zurich Insurance, Telstra, ICI Chemicals, Nortel Communications, and James Hardie. It was his interest in commercial photography and 10 years darkroom experience that led him to the new digital technology, particularly translating tradional darkroom techniques to digital printing.
Today, Osborn dedicates much of his tiime to personal landscape work usimg an Art Panorama 6x17cm camera with a large Nikon 90mm lens. After drum scanning the negatives they are printed using Innova FibaPrint gloss with the Epson 9800printer with K3 inks. When asked about why he uses the FibaPrint Gloss he enthuases:
“FibaPrint Gloss bridges the last major hurdle between traditional darkroom prints and digital photography. You can finally output onto a paper which retains the look you have been used to in the darkroom for the past 20 years”.