Open Eye Gallery

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Open Eye Gallery

http://www.openeye.org.uk Open Eye Gallery is one of the UK’s leading photography spaces. We’re located on the Liverpool Waterfront. Pop by and see us!

20/06/2025

Refugee Week 2025: Community as a Superpower

Open Eye Gallery is proud to support Refugee Week 2025! Theme of this year is Community as a Superpower.

Community is the incredible everyday. Ordinary and extraordinary. Simple acts of shared generosity. Kindness multiplied to become an unstoppable force!

Communities can bring people together. Bridging divides and offering support. Spaces of resilience and places for healing.

🧡 Two of our current exhibitions highlight the superpower of communities and the creativity of people.

🧡 Waiting Rooms at Heart of Glass: socially engaged photographer Abdullrhman Hassona and members of Café Laziz have collaborated to show the diverse culture of St Helens through portraits of people with different immigration and residence statuses. Each image is an introduction to a resident of St Helens and the stories that make a town feel rich with history and experience. The photographs represent people from 13 countries and feature messages in 8 different languages.

🧡 Communities of Welcome at Kirkby Gallery & Prescot Museum: Since January 2025, artist-in-residence Anoosh Ariamehr has been working weekly with a group of Knowsley residents, including people with refugee status, at Huyton Library. Through weekly workshops, Anoosh has supported the group to develop their skills as photographers and artists via workshops, gallery visits and discussion.

The group – Communities of Welcome – became a space for people from diverse cultural and social backgrounds to celebrate their own differences and commonalities. Over several months, the group have used photography to explore their local area, encourage each other and to highlight their own lived experiences of locality and displacement.

Each person brings their own unique history and experiences to a place. This exhibition tells personal stories of connection, identity and place. When these stories are shared, they help us build stronger, more cohesive communities.

🧡 This Refugee Week everyone is invited to spend time with friends and build new connections in and beyond our neighbourhoods. Maybe visit the exhibition together and get to know all the stories?

“We can begin the process of making community wherever we are. We can begin by sharing a smile, a warm greeting, a bit of conversation; by doing a kind deed or by acknowledging kindness offered to us.”– bell hooks

Images by Declan Connolly

19/06/2025

MA Socially Engaged Photography Open Day!

Wednesday 25 June 2025 / 1pm–6pm / University of Salford

Book your place: https://www.salford.ac.uk/postgraduate/open-days

MA Socially Engaged Photography Practice course (part of School of Arts and Media: University of Salford) will give students support in producing creative projects with both arts and non-arts commissioners in mind, exploring how to create socially engaged art that is meaningful to both audiences and participants.

Students will develop and deliver live projects with partners working in health, youth, community and justice, all embedded within a critically engaged and ethical framework. You will work with active practitioners and academics to rethink the role of photography in society today, to develop your creative practice and your professional profile.

We will provide professional practice surgeries, from understanding legal, ethical and safeguarding frameworks, to developing your professional profile. You will have opportunities to engage directly with national debates and Open Eye Gallery’s national network for socially engaged photographic practice.

Image: works by the course students at Open Eye Gallery, photo by Rob Battersby

17/06/2025

What does it mean to be older, working-class and non-binary?

Join us for a poetry reading with Jay Farley, navigating the intricate intersections of identity, gender, and class.

Sunday 22 June / 1 – 3 pm / Open Eye Gallery / free

To book a place for this event contact Pauline Rowe: [email protected].

With a cinematic and surreal texture, the poet unlocks the transformative power of language in an exploration of identity and unique life experience. From the confines of the metaphorical cupboard to the expansive, defiant explorations of a new, q***r world, Farley’s poetry challenges binaries, embraces fluidity, and crafts an unflinching celebration of lived authenticity.

Jay Farley is a non-binary, neurodivergent award-winning filmmaker and digital artist. In 2022 at the age of 48 they discovered their non-binary identity, and it was a profound experience.

This event is part of Open Voices programme with Liverpool Poetry Space.

Details: https://openeye.org.uk/whatson/celebration-of-jay-farley/

15/06/2025

I often facilitate photography and art workshops at the start of a project, it’s a great way to get to know people and give something in return for people participating.

Since 2023 I’ve returned to Cheshire to continue working with care givers, I feel like there’s a lot more to document and understand. These masked portraits are from a recent project with called “The Mask Inside my Head” a play ritten by Peter Cox MBE (Brookside, 1986-2003). It’s inspired by young carers who took part in creative photo workshops earlier this year. The script will be given to schools around Cheshire for pupils to perform, spreading awareness of young carers experiences. Many young carers are not aware they are care givers. This can make it difficult for them to get the support they need at school and at home. There’s around 40,000 young carers estimated to be in Cheshire.

Images made by Sam Ivin and project participants.

Earlier this year I created the image for the new Buckinghamshire Library Card with young carers from , highlighting the new membership options and perks they provide for unpaid carers at the libraries.

✨ This is the final day of instagram takeover, where he's sharing his work to mark 2025 ✨

I was commissioned by Buckinghamshire Health Trust and to facilitate a series of creative photography workshops in-person and online. This culminated in a final session where we created bold, colourful light painting images, using slow shutter photography.

Lightpainting images are taken by Sam Ivin in collaboration with young carers. Other images are behind the scenes images or young people’s own images.

11/06/2025

Why Inclusive Photography Matters

🧡 Open Eye Gallery has been collaborating with Community Integrated Care on photography projects that build confidence, skills and opportunity since 2022. Sophie Mahon, our Head of social practice, reflects on why inclusive photography like this matters.

Full article: https://openeye.org.uk/the-power-of-inclusive-photography/

🧡 Our journey started with an empowering project led by photographers Alun Kirby and Emma Case, focused on supporting Community Integrated Care’s Inclusive Volunteering™ Model at the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 and Rugby League World Cup 2021 tournament.

Through hands-on workshops and mentoring, participants from Community Integrated Care were supported to build new skills, tell their own stories through photography, and gain confidence in creative expression. Participants were empowered to plan and deliver matchday placements, volunteering as photographers at these illustrious tournaments, and to curate their images.

One shining example from this project is Katie Richardson, who used the opportunity as a springboard into professional sports. Katie, who is autistic, secured paid employment as a photographer with the support of the charity – including working as an accredited photographer for the Rugby Football League and having her images published in newspapers and magazines.

🧡 Working with disabled communities in socially engaged photography brings countless benefits:

- Representation: It places disabled voices at the centre of their own narratives.
- Confidence & Belonging: It fosters a sense of pride, ownership, and agency.
- Skill-Building: Participants gain valuable creative and technical skills that can lead to further opportunities.
- Innovation: Adapting tools and methods for accessibility challenges practitioners to think more creatively and inclusively.

10/06/2025

Join us at RHS Garden Bridgewater to become a ‘Memory Keeper’ for a magnificent 300 year old tree!

🌿 The two-hour event will begin with a conversation between artist in residence Yan Wang Preston and Josh Corbett, Bridgewater’s arboriculture team manager and self proclaimed tree enthusiast. They will discuss their respective roles as artist and arborist, and focus on how to look after woodlands for the future.

🌿 Yan will then introduce the star of the event, the sweet chestnut tree, before inviting volunteers to take part in a raffle, in which each participant will be randomly assigned a year between 1725 and 2025.

💚 Book your spot: https://www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/rhs-garden-bridgewater/viewevent?EFID=5044&ESRC=CMS

🌿 Your task will be to write a short (5-10 sentences) historical story inspired by that year. It doesn’t have to be connected to the tree and can be about any historical event that happened during that particular year.

🌿 Please join us as one of the 300 Memory Keepers. Your memory will be part of a collaborative artwork to be exhibited at Salford Museum and Art Gallery in 2026/27. Together, we can preserve memories and celebrate the enduring presence of our sweet chestnut tree.

🌿 Memory Keepers is both a talk and a participatory event. Submitting a story is entirely optional.

OFFSHOOT Artist in Residence programme is a collaboration between University of Salford Art Collection, RHS Garden Bridgewater and Open Eye Gallery and is generously supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

Image by Yan Wang Preston

06/06/2025

Join us for the first three of the six Photo Here exhibitions!

Photo Here is a programme of socially engaged photographic residencies and exhibitions: six diverse groups from across the Liverpool City Region provide a unique snapshot of their lives and communities. Here are the upcoming exhibitions:

📍 Crosby Library
❤️ Not All Who Wander Are Lost by Stephanie Wynne and Crosby Camera Club
📅 12 June – 24 July
Celebration:14 June, 12pm–2pm

Discovering the feel of Sefton – the streets, fields, green spaces, coast and places where day to day life takes place – and responding through photography to locations across the length and breadth of the borough that are familiar and less familiar.

📍 World of Glass and Street and a Half
❤️ Waiting Rooms by Hassona and Cafe Laziz
📅 14 June – 26 July
Celebration: 15 June 12pm–2pm at World of Glass / 1.30pm–4pm at Street and a Half

Showing the diverse culture of St Helens through portraits of people with different immigration and residence statuses. Each image is an introduction to a resident of St Helens and the stories that make a town feel rich with history and experience.

📍 The Kirkby Centre
❤️ Communities of Welcome by Anoosh Ariamehr and Communities of Welcome
📅 19 June – 29 August
Celebration: 19 June, 1pm–3pm

Each person brings their own unique history and experiences to a place. This exhibition tells personal stories of connection, identity and place. When these stories are shared, they help us build stronger, more cohesive communities.

More exhibitions coming soon!

Photo Here is commissioned by Liverpool City Region Combined Authority as part of this year’s Cultural Events Programme. Developed by Open Eye Gallery in collaboration with each of six local authorities: Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral.

05/06/2025

Liverpool Biennial is here, and we're proud to be one of the venues!

The Biennial festival, titled ‘BEDROCK’, takes place 7 June – 14 September 2025.

We'll be also open 5 June, 6.30pm–8pm, for a late opening together with Tate Liverpool.

On Saturday 7 June 2025, 2pm – 5 pm, we'll have a drop-in workshop with artist Nandan Ghiya.

Informed by childhood games and urban development or city planning, this drop-in workshop with LB2025 artist Nandan Ghiya invites visitors to stack and place architectural forms which compliment his new sculpture ‘Manthan’. Join the artist to discuss and transform the work, and to share global contexts and personal connections within a diverse coexistence.

04/06/2025

Are you involved with photography in the North of England?

Then Photo Connect wants to hear from you!

Whether you’re a Sunday hobbiest, a photography student, a photography teacher or a world-renowned name; a wedding photographer or a conceptual photographic artist; a grassroots community facility or a major city gallery, if you’re based in the North of England, then we want to hear your views.

Take our 5 minute survey now to have your say and help shape the future of your network: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdWHbhfYG3htJ4q3joxN5U_LaGeZlLl1QKmlX9VHM9o5F-zyA/viewform

Photo Connect is a pilot scheme which aims to amplify the voice of northern photographers, photographic artists and photography organisations from the grassroots up. The network is open to anyone wishing to collaborate whether individuals, community groups, organisations or educational institutions, working with Impressions Gallery, Open Eye Gallery and Side Gallery.

More about Photo Connect: https://openeye.org.uk/photo-connect-survey/

03/06/2025

New publication!

“I went from taking pictures for aesthetic value to taking pictures with a purpose and meaning behind them”: Andy Yates in Tracks 02

Andy Yates is a socially engaged photographer and creative producer. His journey is an example of how creativity and curiosity always find a way, especially when supported.

Read Andy’s story in a new issue of Tracks, our case-study-style publication looking at the professional and personal development of an individual.

➡️ Full story: https://openeye.org.uk/andy-yates-in-tracks/

Andy grew up in a working class family and became interested in photography while travelling. While working at the bank, he enrolled to study Photography and Digital Imaging at Hugh Baird University Centre and made a project exploring his local community, and after an internship with Open Eye Gallery developed a young persons and schools programme at the gallery.

“I started in the summer of 2017. The project was called ‘Our North’ exploring what it is like for young people to grow up in the North. It was amazing seeing the responses of the young people, having their images on the walls and knowing that people are taking an interest in their lives.”

Andy also reflects on what was helpful for him to grow professionally: fellowship, residency programme, developing personal practice, getting a Master’s degree and working as a freelancer.

“Photography can be used as an educational tool in unlocking the way we navigate our daily lives.”

Published by Open Eye Gallery, Tracks considers where an individual and the gallery have intersected or continue to intersect; a record of shared values, learning and impact.

02/06/2025

We invite you to Kitty’s Launderette to join the fun, celebrate the People of Anfield project, and explore an outdoor exhibition!

Friday 13 June / 6–9pm / Kitty’s Launderette, 77 Grasmere Street, L5 6RH

RSVP: [email protected]

The People of Anfield is an artistic project engaging local people of all backgrounds and ages to share conversations and ideas about the Anfield area; past, present and future. The project is developed and delivered by photographer Emma Case and writer, Pauline Rowe through photography, writing and discussion.

More about the event: https://openeye.org.uk/whatson/people-of-anfield-celebration-kittys-laundrette/

Address

Opening Hours

Tuesday	10:00 - 17:00
Wednesday	10:00 - 17:00
Thursday	11:00 - 16:00
Friday	11:00 - 16:00
Saturday	11:00 - 16:00
Sunday	11:00 - 16:00

Telephone

0151 236 6768

Website

https://openeye.org.uk/

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WHO ARE WE?

WHY WE'RE HERE

We believe photography is for everyone and can be meaningful, informing our present and inspiring positive futures.

Open Eye Gallery works with people to explore photography’s unique ability to connect, to tell stories, to inquire, to reflect on humanity’s past and present, and to celebrate its diversity and creativity.

Right now, we’re working towards becoming a more useful gallery for all, and developing socially engaged photography practice both locally and internationally.

WHAT WE DO

Open Eye Gallery is an independent not-for-profit photography gallery based in Liverpool.

We are one of the UK’s leading photography spaces. We present an international programme of contemporary photography exhibitions at our Liverpool Waterfront gallery, elsewhere in the UK, and further afield. We also programme workshops, talks and evening events, and house a permanent archive of diverse photographs.

We support established and emerging artists, developing practical, critical and professional skills among photography practitioners. Alongside University of Salford, we co-deliver an MA in socially engaged photography practice. We also offer training and development opportunities to people within our local community.

OUR COMMITMENTS

We’ll work with photographers, artists, academics and communities to further the exceptional ways photography practice makes a meaningful contribution to the world. We’ll continue to push ourselves, and others, to inspire creative excellence and social change.

We’ll embed ways to actively listen, respond and engage, inviting constituents to shape our organisation. Photography is created by everyone. We develop open platforms inviting contributions to – and processes enabling co-authoring of – our programme, achieving our fundamental role in enabling creative diversity.

We’ll carry on working with others to try things out, take risks, learn and share learning.

Photography informs most contexts. We endeavour to research, investigate and learn with others through their contexts, using collective insight to innovate and inspire.