two pictures from the weekend
i've recently decided to walk away from teaching (for now) at the end of the academic year. one reason was to prioritise personal projects whilst working a less stressful job
i've wanted to work in the fens since, i think, 2017. i've started a few times w/o being able to find my way in, and even received a little grant to make the work in 2021, but i've finally found a direction i'm excited about
the tentative working title is 'heaven's floor', and i'll try to share slightly more than i have of past work... although that's not saying much
cheers anyway X
i spoke to the good people at @fstopmagazine ahead of ‘Castle of Memories’ featuring in their newest issue. very grateful. the link’s in my bio if anyone’s interested
1. Przemysław, Cumbria, 2022
5. Cardiff, 2022
Castle of Memories | Digital Window Gallery | Open Source 32
Open Source is our rolling submission-based open call, giving developing and early-career artists the opportunity to showcase their work digitally on the gallery’s exterior screen. Our current Open Source artist is Billy Osborn @billyosb with his project Castle of Memories, on our digital screen until 16 November.
Billy Osborn is a photographer and teacher from Lincolnshire, England. His long-form projects aim to resolve personal questions about place and identity through extensive engagement with the British landscape.
“I spent much of my early 20s trapped inside a room. Having developed agoraphobia shortly after leaving home, it was increasingly difficult to face the panic and fear I felt whenever I left my flat; living in cities and feeling that busy spaces were impenetrable, I found ways to avoid going outside for weeks at a time.
Making pictures for Castle of Memories gave me respite. Driving extensively through Britain, forming a bubble of safety inside my little car, I sought to use photography to express my experience with agoraphobia. The view camera became a tool that allowed me to connect to the people and places I found – it mediated between my own discomfort and the outside world, which often reflected my fear, isolation and fantasies back at me.
Castle of Memories was made to initiate conversations about an anxiety disorder. It was intended to push me beyond the stoicism of outdated masculinity and make discussions about mental health unavoidable.”
Read the interview with Billy Osborn on our website, openeye.org.uk/news.
@theislandbristol
super excited to share that my long-term project, 'Clay Pigeons', will be exhibited in The Island's gallery space in April
i've been slowly working on my series, and sharing very little of it, since 2019. but if you're not interested in little old me, consider coming to see work by the rest of the talented group. it'll be special X
