Robert Osbourne is a Jamaican-Canadian photographer with 38 years experience in film & digital photography.

My affair with photography began in my early teens and I remember getting my first point and shoot film camera around age 13 or 14. My favourite subjects were landscape/seascape and architecture (still is). My interest and experience accelerated after high school and while working at the Bank of Jamaica. I hooked with Orville Beckford (Becky) who was an avid photographer and learned a great deal from him.

In the late 1980s when I attended the University of the West Indies (UWI), I joined the Camera Club on campus and during that time (I think) I bought my first single lens reflex camera (a Canon which I sold to a friend of mine 26 years ago and he still has this camera). The club was strictly a black and white club with its own darkroom, meaning that all shooting was shot with black and white film and you had to develop the film yourself and print your photos. The more experienced members would teach/coach new members and would bring in guest photographers to conduct seminars and impart knowledge to us from their own experiences.

After university my skills were greatly developed when I joined the Colour Photographic Club of Jamaica (CPC) which allowed me to tour the island taking photos of our beautiful island. This journey has allowed me to travel to all parts of the island and perhaps have circled the island over 6 times in a 10-year period. CPC met on a weekly basis and members could enter photos that in whatever category which are judged by other members and the best photographs would trophies in their various classes at the end of each club year. Members also entered the Jamaica Cultural Photographic competition during independence celebration. A number of my photos have won medals or place as honourable mentions in this competition over the years.

During the post university era I again partnered with Becky (became his apprentice) in his growing wedding photography business. I eventually started photographing weddings on my own. After I sold my Canon camera I switched to Minolta and bought a Minolta X-700 which at the time was reputed to be the best manual camera ever made (still has this camera and it works). I eventually bought another Minolta that was equipped with autofocus a motor drive.

When I migrated to Canada in 1999, one piece of our luggage (a very large suitcase) contained all my photos, slides, negatives and enlargements. I am currently digitizing the best of the lot after my kids bought me a slide and negative scanner for my birthday. In 2000 I embraced the digital age and bought my first digital camera, a Nikon 900 and am still a Nikon user today.

I have amassed a large collection of photographs (approximately 60,000) since moving to Canada. Regretfully, I have not been able to pursue wedding photography as a sideline although I have done a couple of weddings as gifts for good friends of mine. I still actively shoot often and my camera is always with me when I travel for work or recreation. I thank my daughter Rachel for pushing me to develop and show my work and earn some money from selling my images. Perhaps this will be my retirement plan.