Lockdown in the constraints of your own four walls in Dubai. Shot on Polaroid Originals Spectra and Fuji FP-100C.
Liz and I started having breakfast together on our front porch. The conversation centres around family, friends and world events. The flies are there too.
The PC has become an even more important tool during Lockdown. It enables work and communication. Liz is concentrating very hard on editing an article.
Until Ramadan, Lockdown in Dubai was super strict. A Police permit was required to leave one’s residence, and these were only granted for food shopping (one shop every three days), a visit to the ATM every 5 days or for urgent medical attention. My bike just sat in the garage collecting dust.
Our dogs didn’t really seem to notice the increased human presence. But they really missed going out for a walk every night.
Access to communal swimming areas is prohibited in Lockdown. So as the temperature increases we longingly glimpse at the pool through the fence. Ironically Polaroid discontinued Spectra film because of quality issues and my very last shot has an artefact in the top left corner.
Liz waters the plants next to the gate to the outside world. Apart from food shopping expeditions that I made on our behalf, we had stayed in our bubble for almost three weeks. It is almost as if the outside world has disappeared.
About the author:
Christopher Osborne is a British artist and photographer, who has been based in the Middle East for nine years. He is a keen traveller and has been making images around the world during this period.
He likes uncertainty, people, new places, visual conundrums, bright sunlight and deep shadows. And spicy food. His unique style provides a visually intriguing and yet contemporary twist on the subject at hand.
His work is all handcrafted and produced in limited editions. He primarily shoots on film. The final medium for presentation is carefully selected near the beginning of a project to maximise the impact of the series of work. He has made bodies of work using both black and white and colour silver gelatin prints, works in cyanotype, Van Dyke Brown and salt prints.
When not making images, Christopher curates the occasional exhibition and teaches infrequent, but popular courses in darkroom practice and in the application of alternative photography processes. Christopher is also a regular contributor to the globally distributed and prestigious Silvergrain Classics magazine.
Christopher has an MA (photography), is an Associate Member of the RPS (Royal Photographic Society), and is a member of the Tashkeel arts foundation in Dubai.
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