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!

11/11/2025

Last week to see our current exhibitions!

On until 16 November, open 10–5, free, all welcome!

🧡 Firehawks (main gallery): exploring firesetting behaviour in children and young people.

🧡 Next Up (upstairs): an annual graduate exhibition of work from the MA in Socially Engaged Photography course.

🧡 New Borders of My Body (outside walls): tracing a metamorphosis that begins in trauma – the loss of limbs through war – and continues in water.

🧡 Castle of Memories (Digital Window Gallery): exploring place and identity through extensive engagement with the British landscape.

Have you seen them yet? Do you have a favourite work?

Check out our current and upcoming events: https://openeye.org.uk/whatson/

07/11/2025

Could you nominate us for the LCR Culture and Creativity Awards?

The Awards recognise and celebrate the incredible contribution that culture and creativity make to our city region.

➡️ Nominate here: https://www.liverpoolcityregion-ca.gov.uk/lcr-culture-creativity-awards

Here are some of the projects, exhibitions and events that we did this year.

For Your Pleasure and Rave On: exhibitions reflecting on the fledgling q***r club culture of the 90s in the UK.

HOME exhibition tour: showing contemporary Ukrainian photography around the UK, from Edinburgh to London.

No Iconic Images. Views of War: an exhibition and a public symposium: exploring contemporary depictions of conflict.

Rage, Riot and Revolution: an exhibition celebrating the achievements of female activists, artists, leaders and champions of disability activism.

What Makes Us: supporting young people from Whitby High School to produce and curate their own exhibition in the gallery.

Photo Here: a programme of socially engaged residencies across the Liverpool City Region, where established groups, including refugees and asylum seekers, members of the LGBTQI+ community and D/deaf and BSL users, tell their stories and the stories of the areas they live in.

Liverpool City Region Photo Awards: giving local photographic talent a chance to exhibit their work in the gallery.

Thank you for your support! 💙

05/11/2025

Join us to celebrate Residents, a unique socially engaged project by photographer Ming De Nasty and the vibrant LGBTQIA+ community of Liverpool’s city centre.

Saturday 8 November / 3pm–5pm / Open Eye Gallery

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1693110562269

During the last four months, Ming has been taking portraits of the members of Liverpool’s LGBTQIA+ community and discussing how the centre of the city feels to them. These portraits will be exhibited around Liverpool, on MerseyRail stations and on photography stands in Open Eye Gallery’s atrium.

LGBTQIA+ people have long gathered in the city centre for safety, community, and self-expression. Residents aims to honour that culture by making their presence visible via public artworks. Residents is a place for q***r people of different generations and identities to celebrate each other.

Residents is a socially engaged photography project by Ming de Nasty and LGBTQIA+ community members, co-commissioned by Open Eye Gallery and Homotopia . Residents is part of the Photo Here programme – a series of 6 residencies with a variety of groups around the Liverpool City Region. Residents is part of Homotopia Festival 2025.

03/11/2025

“What happened to this child?” instead of “What’s wrong with this child?". Firehawks film: in conversation

As part of our current exhibition, you can see a short film in Gallery 1. In the video, we hear from photographer Stephen King, Joanna Foster from fabtic and Christopher Hignett and Helen Ruseel from Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service. They talk about the reasons behind the firesetting behaviour and ways to address it.

“The question that we need to ask is “What happened to this child?”, not “What’s wrong with this child?”. It’s quick to see firesetting as something intrinsically bad and dangerous, when we should be asking what happened here and what’s the story here”, says Joanna Foster.

Have you seen the exhibition and the film yet? What do you think?

Just 2 weeks left to see the exhibition! Firehawks is on until 16 November, Tuesday to Sunday, 10–5, free, all welcome.

Image by Rob Battersby.

02/11/2025

Please support us with a nomination for £1,000!

The Movement for Good Awards is an annual programme of giving that anyone can get involved in. This year they are donating over £1 million to charities and good causes.

Nominate us: https://tinyurl.com/3jt3rv39

How the programme works:

- Nominations are accepted between Jan 1st 2025 – 16 Dec 2025.
- During this time anyone can nominate their favourite charity or charities for an award of £1,000 – it’s one nomination per charity, per person.
- You can nominate a registered charity, not-for-profit organisation or community interest company in the UK.

The more nominations a charity gets, the better their chances of being drawn, so once you’ve nominated please share with your network.

Nominate Open Eye Gallery now – it will help us to continue our work sharing photography with everyone, for everyone.

30/10/2025

How do fire services work with children and teenagers who set fires?

➡️ Firehawks exhibition is on until 16 November. More about the exhibition: https://openeye.org.uk/whatson/firehawks/ ⬅️

In Gallery 2, we explore the therapeutic and educative approaches fire services take when working with children and teenagers who set fires.

Methods such as sharing experiences through the use of Jungian sand trays, creating poetry or writing songs take children on a journey of self-expression and understanding of what their behaviours are saying without words.

For teenagers, challenging their use of fire as controllable and exploring its potential, unintended impacts through fire science and the ripple effects of their actions can change thoughts, feelings and behaviours towards fire. They are empowered to learn that fire isn’t a safe way to overcome the trauma they have experienced, but realise instead the potential devastation and unintended harms that fire can bring into their lives.

By nurturing trusted spaces and using creative expression, these specialist fire service teams provide support and an alternative voice to fire and hope for new beginnings.

Text by Joanna Foster, Criminologist, Author of ‘Children and Teenagers who Set Fires: Why they do it and how to help’ and Founder and Managing Director of fabtic, which specialises in child firesetting behaviour.

With thanks to Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service.

Have you seen the exhibition yet? What do you think of it?

Images: Rob Battersby

29/10/2025

What are the challenges in sports photography for an artist with disabilities and how to overcome them?

Katie Richardson was one of the artists behind our Unsung Heroes project – celebrating grassroots boxing in Liverpool.

Full interview: https://openeye.org.uk/sports-photography-katie-richardson/

Katie has long been immersed in sport, playing, supporting and watching, and, for her, capturing the energy of her beloved sports began to develop into something that felt more tangible:

🥊 “Photography helps me be involved and part of special moments. I enjoy being part of the event, getting to know the individuals (players, staff, coaches, media), and love the excitement building to big events such as Magic Weekend, Grand Final, etc. There’s a real sense of community in these clubs and amongst the other photographers. I feel part of something special.”

As an artist with disabilities, Katie also speaks candidly about some of the challenges around the social aspect of this work:

🥊 “The social element is tricky. But to be a sports photographer, it’s important to overcome this. I’ve worked hard on that and had some great support from clubs, other photographers and organisations.

“Having this network of people is essential and it’s always growing, so I work hard to improve every day with these essential communication skills. It will always be a challenge, but I’ll keep improving one step at a time.”

Katie’s advice for other aspiring socially engaged photographers:

🥊 “Have a camera with you every day. Take photos wherever you are going. Practice and enjoy it. Take photos of things you love. It’s ok to be nervous and maybe a little worried, but remember that’s normal. Everyone feels like that sometimes. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do it. You can. Get the right support, prepare as best you can, and have confidence in yourself, you will be able to achieve great things.”

What do you think of Katie's images?

Images by Katie Richardson

28/10/2025

"I’m not quite sure how I’m supposed to sum up how I feel about this project" – photographer Emma Case reflects on I'll Tell You Later exhibition.

💙 The exhibition is on until 1 November at Williamson Art Gallery & Museum💙

"The world and all the spaces that we use and spend time in are set up for hearing people. So for every interaction, whether that’s a GP appointment, a train journey or a visit to your local art gallery or museum.. the barriers and lack of access is a constant, exhausting battle and a recurring message ‘You do not belong here’.

"This exhibition was about breaking down that barrier and to reclaim a narrative. To transfer the power and the ownership by connecting the two worlds, sharing the group’s personal stories and to create a Deaf space.

"I felt it on launch night. A room full of vibrant conversation in sign language, the Deaf members owning the space like you so often see at Deaf club and in other Deaf spaces. And then on Saturday, with the flash mob I saw it again, and this time it felt like an overflowing joyful message, standing proud to announce (to quote from one of the songs) ‘This is Me’…and this is our space too."

Full text and flashmob video: https://openeye.org.uk/reclaim-a-narrative-emma-case-reflects-on-ill-tell-you-later/

24/10/2025

Free photography workshop! Picturing Freedom: Photography with Freedom Landmarks @ Bluecoat

Tuesday 28 October / 1pm–4pm / Bluecoat / drop-in

Join photographers Yaqeen Amir, Anoosh Ariemhar and Open Eye Gallery for a free drop-in portrait session.

The photographers will have a range of images of historic and local landmarks, objects and wider imagery connecting to the theme of freedom to explore and project onto Bluecoat’s gallery walls.

Children and families are invited to select their preferred image/s and have a free portrait (or silhouette portrait if you want to remain anonymous) with the image.

A copy of the image will be available to take home on the day. A selection of images from the workshop will be displayed as part of a national photography exhibition celebrating the wider Our Freedom Then and Now programme.

The photography activity will start on the hour at:

1-2pm
2-3pm
3-4pm

Please be there at the start of the hour to take part.

We will also have a drop in photo-collage activity between 1-4pm where you can create intimate photo-collage booklets that reflect your personal ideas of freedom, taking inspiration from the Freedom Road poem by Simon Armitage.

Image: Photographer Anoosh Ariamehr during a workshop.

22/10/2025

Northern Perspective: celebrating the visual artists and organisations who are reshaping how Northern stories are shared, seen, and experienced.

Wednesday 12 November 2025 / 6–8pm / Open Eye Hub Wigan&Leigh

Book your free ticket: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1764787660399

From photography and film to socially engaged practice, northern artists are amplifying perspectives that matter: stories of place, belonging, and what it means to live and create in the North today.

Speakers:

🔵 Sam Batley, a socially engaged photographer, filmmaker and writer based in Liverpool. He responds to life’s dualities – fear and faith, isolation and loss of purpose to the joys and interconnectedness of community.

🔵 Paula Keenan, a documentary photographer and community arts facilitator who for thirty five years has specialised in portraiture and delivering community projects around the Northwest. The work she creates involves working with groups and people who want to share their experiences, using the photograph as a medium of communication.

🔵 Northern Heart Films, documentary filmmakers, championing aspirational stories and authentic voices. They celebrate people and places of the North and champion emerging talent. Their storytelling is built on working class heritage and a belief in the power of genuine human experience.

🔵 Grace D**e (Yellow Jigsaw). In 2014 Grace co-founded PR social enterprise Yellow Jigsaw, an award-winning social enterprise that delivers media and journalism community programmes to children, young people and older people: equipping them with the skills and confidence to create, debate and navigate the media with confidence.

Image by Sam Batley

21/10/2025

🌿 Artist Talk: Yan Wang Preston in conversation with Caroline Edge

🌿 Wednesday 19 November / 12pm–1pm / New Adelphi Theatre, University of Salford / free

🌿 Book your ticket: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/artist-talk-yan-wang-preston-in-conversation-with-caroline-edge-tickets-1776943609169

How do you think plants, migration and cultivation are connected?

Dr Yan Wang Preston is a multi-award-winning visual artist and photographer who is passionate about the natural world and our positions within it. She is currently Artist in Residence at RHS Garden Bridgewater in partnership with University of Salford Art Collection and Open Eye Gallery.

She has completed many challenging projects, which have been internationally and critically acclaimed, including photographing the entire 6,211km Yangtze River in China at 100m intervals for Mother River (2010–2014), and walking to and photographing the same heart-shaped rhododendron bush on the South Pennine Moors every other day over an entire year for With Love. From an Invader. (2020–2021).

In this artist talk, Yan will explore themes of migration and cultivation in conversation with Dr Caroline Edge, Co-Programme Leader of Photography.

16/10/2025

What stories do you see in these images?

In Gallery 1, we meet our Narrator, The Black Dog (synonymous with trauma and depression), who leads us on a journey through the charred landscape of children’s stories.

These are not classical fairy tales, though they borrow their familiar shapes. They flicker, crackle, and smoulder like the element at their core.

Children's stories often cloak the unspeakable in play. Here, the line between fantasy and lived experience blurs: flames become a language, fire a companion, a compulsion, a release. The images do not attempt to explain; they invite.

More about Firehawks: https://openeye.org.uk/whatson/firehawks/

Firehawks by Stephen King is on at Open Eye Gallery until 16 November 2025, Tuesday – Sunday, 10 – 5. Free, all welcome!

Images by Rob Battersby

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.