Photo Alchemy
Photo AlchemyThe workbench
Collage and montageCut and rebuilt
African Art FusionWith Simon Shone
Majestic Panoramas
More collections
Twenty eight collections, and more being added
Photo AlchemyThe workbenchCollage and montageCut and rebuiltAfrican Art FusionWith Simon Shone
Abandoned places photography by Martin Osner: forty prints made over thirteen years, from a rusty car on a pole to an old harvester at sunset in Swellendam.
"In the Abandoned collection I am trying to highlight modern consumerism. Today it seems that everything we own is not good enough. The new model comes out, so we upgrade, and we push aside what was fine yesterday. I look for the orphans, the elderly if you like, the subjects that are no longer good enough, and I put them back in the spotlight.
From day one I decided not to go looking for them, because that could make the work predictable far too quickly. I let the subjects come to me, on my normal travels. I photograph each place once and never go back, so there is no compromise: I have to find the best vantage point and do it to the best of my ability on the day. And I photograph in heavy weather, cloud and late light, because the mood suits them. I capture them the way they are, and I do not add anything that should not be there."
He always knew forty would be the magic number. He did not know it would take thirteen years.
Prints and originals from this series are sold through Osner Art Gallery, not on this site.
See prints of this seriesTap any picture to see it larger. Nine show on a phone, the whole collection is here on a larger screen.
Abandoned No.1
Abandoned No.2
Abandoned No.3
Abandoned No.4
Abandoned No.5
Abandoned No.6
Abandoned No.7
Abandoned No.8
Abandoned No.9
Abandoned No.10
Abandoned No.11
Abandoned No.12
Abandoned No.13
Abandoned No.14
Abandoned No.15
Abandoned No.16
Abandoned No.17
Abandoned No.18
Abandoned No.19
Abandoned No.20
Abandoned No.21
Abandoned No.22
Abandoned No.23
Abandoned No.24
Abandoned No.25
Abandoned No.26
Abandoned No.27
Abandoned No.28
Abandoned No.29
Abandoned No.30
Abandoned No.31
Abandoned No.32
Abandoned No.33
Abandoned No.34
Abandoned No.35
Abandoned No.36
Abandoned No.37
Abandoned No.38
Abandoned No.39
Abandoned No.40The first print, and the three that completed the collection. The last three came surprisingly quickly: the car, the motorcycle and the harvester were all found within metres of one another near Swellendam, in the Overberg.
A car raised high on a pole behind a no parking sign, the work that began the collection. The man who put it there told Martin he kept missing his own driveway driving home from the pub late at night, so he needed a landmark.
See it in the gallery
A beautiful old car hidden away in a forest of trees on a farm near Swellendam.
See it in the gallery
An old motorcycle, parked under a tree on a smallholding. Found after a conversation with the owner.
See it in the gallery
An old combine harvester, as the sun sets on the collection. The fortieth print, and the last.
See it in the galleryThree films, from the day the first print was made to the day the fortieth was found.
Martin's most special photograph, and how it started the collection: a remark in a college canteen, a storm and a lightning strike over an old marina, and the same afternoon, the car on a pole he had driven past for months. The day he walked away from commercial photography.
Watch on YouTube
Filmed in 2016, long before the collection was complete, and watched more than 137,000 times. Martin explains why the work is about consumerism, why he never goes looking for subjects, why he never returns to a location, and why he waits for heavy weather, on a cold day at a hilltop hut in the Karoo.
Watch on YouTube
Made when the fortieth print was found. The last three, a motorcycle, a rusted car in a forest and a harvester, and the coffee table book that closed the chapter.
Watch on YouTubeThe first exhibition, at the Gordart Gallery in Johannesburg, showed just twelve prints. From there the collection grew steadily, to a major exhibition at the Stephanie Hoppen Gallery in London and then Montreal, and to a limited edition coffee table book with the stories behind the photographs and some poetry.
For years afterwards the prints hung on permanent exhibition in Martin's own gallery in Cape Town, and they are now held by collectors around the world.
Sold through Osner Art Gallery online, shipped worldwide, and shown in person at Osner Gallery in Hout Bay.
Go to the gallery
Online courses at the Art Photography Academy, live fine art classes on Zoom, and workshops on location.
See the courses
