Osborne Macharia Kenya, b. 1984

Osborne is a self-taught Commercial Photographer and Visual Artist born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya and currently living in Vancouver, Canada. His style of photography fall within the genre of AfroFuturism, governed by 2 key elements being Cultural Identity and Fiction. Through storytelling and social inclusion, it creates a powerful platform to convey important messages on topics such as Equality, Inclusion, Representation, Gender Abuse, Ivory poaching, FGM, Albinism, Dwarfism, Conservation and Elderly Care.

 

As a commercial photographer, Osborne has been privileged to work with some of the top local and international brands including Marvel’s Black Panther, Disney, Oprah Winfrey Network’s Queen Sugar, Absolut Vodka, Campari, Coca Cola, Guinness, Mercedes, MTV, VW, Samsung, Danone, Nestle, Cadburys, Forbes, Pepsi, just to name a few. Some of his accomplishments include being the first Kenyan ever to be appointed as a jury member for the prestigious Cannes Lion Awards and One Club / ADC Awards both in 2018. A PhotoVogue (2019) Selected Artist, a speaker at the University of Michigan’s Penny Stamps Speaker Series (2018) and Design Indaba speaker (2017). Osborne was also a finalist in the Hasselblad Masters 2016 competition. Osborne was also part of the team that won Kenya’s first ever Cannes Lion in 2015. His work has been published on Lurzer’s Archive 200 Best Digital Artists Worldwide 2015/16 and 2017/18.

 

He’s been featured in respected publications and news channels such as CNN, BBC, WeTransfer, i-D, Vogue Italia, Foam, Communication Arts, Complex, Huffington Post, Bored Panda, Buzz Feed, The Metro (UK), Adobe Create, Design Indaba, Okay Africa, Afro Punk, Elle Magazine, Fubiz, Abduzeedo, African Digital Arts, and Behance Year In Review.

 

His works are in numerous private and public collections around the world, including the Jean Pigozzi African Art Collection (France), The Smithsonian Museum of African Art (USA), the Tropen Museum (Netherlands), and the ZEITZ MOCAA (South Africa), .