Photographer Murad Osmann and his wife Natalia Osmann have combined their two passions – photography and travel. The couple became famous for travelling the world and capturing the places they visited in a new format, creating a new tradition and the world-famous “Follow Me To” internet trend.
Murad Yusapovich Osmanov, better known as Murad Osmann, is a 38-year-old photographer from Russia, currently living in Dubai. Although he was born in the mountains of Dagestan in southern Russia. He moved to Moscow with his family at the age of five. Murad Osmann later moved to England, where he studied civil engineering at Imperial College of London and, alongside his studies, also developed an interest for photography.
After failing his exams, he had to wait a year before he could return to university. But instead, Murad Osmann returned to Moscow and started to learn photography, a passion that later developed into a profession. The photographer opened his own studio, where he created advertisements.
“Photography is something that other people may miss. It’s a way to communicate, a way to bring to surface images that I hold in my mind,” – said the photographer about his passion.
Natalia Zakharova is a journalist and blogger originally from Germany. She met Murad Osmann in Moscow. The couple were introduced by a mutual friend who was also a photographer and worked with Murad.
Nataly used to go to her friend’s photo shoots, where she also met her future husband. After a while, the couple began talking more often and got married in the summer of 2015. In 2020, Murad and Nataly Osmann had their first-born son Solomon, and this summer they had their second son.
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Today, the couple is well-known for starting the “Follow me to” trend on social media. But Murad Osmann and his wife Nataly Osmann became popular quite by accident. In 2011, the couple went on their first trip together to Spain. During the trip, they shared a photo on Murad’s Instagram account of Nataly holding her boyfriend’s hand and leading him down a Barcelona street.
The photo was unplanned: Murad tried to take a picture of his wife, but Nataly turned away in frustration. The couple later replicated the shot in other photographs. At first, according to Murad Osmann, the idea was only popular with the couple’s family and friends. But just over a year later, the project has grown into a huge internet trend.
“It’s become a little tradition of ours to make a “postcard” to our friends from each country we have travelled to together. The visual idea is exactly the same in every photo: a girlfriend takes her boyfriend by the hand and takes him to the most iconic places on earth,” – the pair explained how the idea started.
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The fact that this kind of photography style doesn’t require great photographic skills or a special camera has made it a universal trend that has rapidly gained popularity on social media. Osmann took the first photos with his smartphone. Only later, as the project gained more attention from internet users, he switched to a professional camera.
Not long after, the photo was replicated by others using the “Follow Me To” hashtag. This internet trend is still going strong more than 10 years later: “There are more than 6.1 million posts on Instagram with the couple’s popular “Follow me to” hashtag, Murad Osmann has more than 4 million followers and Nataly Osmann has almost a million followers.
“Follow Me To” photos on Instagram have received several hundreds and thousands of reactions. They have also been exhibited at the international art fair Art Basel and Times Square in New York.
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The couple continues this series of photographs on their Instagram account to this day, but with more focused attention on directing. Each photo reflects the culture, traditions and beauty of the place, not only through the environment, architecture and recognisable historical landmarks, but also through Nataly’s clothes and accessories.
The “Follow Me To” photography series has evolved into an innovative travel diary. Through the photography, the couple captures their travels and reveals different places around the world. They travel all over the world: from frequently visited tourist destinations to undiscovered but interesting places.
Murad and Nataly Osmann also share events from their personal lives with their followers through “Follow Me To” photography. As this tradition has been going on for many years, the photographer’s followers can watch the couple’s story and the growth of their family.
In 2014, Murad shared a photo taken in their popularised style, in which the photographer informed followers of his and Nataly’s engagement. In the summer of 2015, the couple celebrated their wedding, which they also memorialised with a “Follow me to” style photograph.
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Murad Osmann and his wife Nataly have become well-known opinion leaders since the launch of the “Follow Me To” project, and the couple have turned an internet trend into a successful business.
“Follow Me To” has grown into a company that organises tourist guides around the world. The company also has a blog where they share not only their trips but also tips, recommendations and other travel-related information.
The couple have their own Youtube channel where they share their travel experiences in video format. “The founders of “Follow Me To” have collaborated with well-known brands such as Samsung, Google, Dior, Michael Kors, Levi’s and others. The couple’s photographs have also appeared on the cover of National Geographic magazine.
In 2015, the couple published a book “Follow me to: A Journey Around the World Through the Eyes of Two Ordinary Travelers”. In it, the creators of the project share their experience of creating this online trend, behind the scenes of the photos and compile an album of the best “Follow Me To” photographs. The couple also had their own TV show in Russia where they shared their travels.
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In addition to the “Follow Me To” tradition, opinion leaders have launched other projects. Murad Osmann is also a film producer at “Hype Film” studio in Moscow, which the photographer founded back in 2011.
The company’s productions – films and music videos – have been awarded the prestigious Cannes Lions and Berlin Music Video Awards. Murad’s wife, Nataly Osmann, launched her own jewellery line in 2016. The opinion leader also founded the Ashram Wellness Centre, which offers yoga and meditation courses.
In 2017, the American business magazine Forbes ranked the couple third in its list of the world’s top travel opinion leaders. Despite the other projects that the two founders have started, travelling and the “Follow Me To” photographs are still what draws hundreds of thousands of followers.
The pair have built an online community of travellers and remain some of the most prominent travel influencers on the internet.
