What is Redeye?

Redeye, the Photography Network, is based in Manchester, England. It aims to make life easier for photographers and photography in the region, the UK and beyond, by providing information, opportunities, events, training and professional development. It is a voluntary sector not-for-profit company. Anyone can become a subscriber free of charge.

Programme

Redeye provides a number of services which are free to all subscribers. An email update bulletin is sent out every month, containing news and opportunities for photographers. It's worth subscribing as a lot of the information is in the update before it's on the web. We send out occasional postal mailings for those who tick that box when subscribing. This website holds an archive of emails and publications and a wide range of advice and information. Redeye's free network meetings are in Manchester and Liverpool every six to eight weeks. Anybody can email or phone Redeye for help and advice on any photographic subject. And don't forget to follow us on Twitter or Facebook.

There's also a range of events for which we sell tickets. There are several talks each year by established photographers; workshops at beginner, intermediate and advanced level; monthly portfolio viewing & advice sessions, called Critique/Surgeries, with curators, picture editors and experienced photographers; and other events such as forums, masterclasses and an annual national symposium.

Redeye is very pleased to work with a large number of partner organisations to deliver its events, such as galleries, universities and other photographic and arts organisations, across the region and beyond.

Structure

Redeye is governed by a voluntary board, and advised by an expert advisory group. It's run by part-time workers: Director Paul Herrmann; Co-ordinator Richard Evans (leaving January 2010); office administrator Alex Hodby and Petra Hoschtitzky on research and development. Redeye particularly welcomes and encourages anybody to suggest events and get involved in organising them. Redeye receives regular funding for its core activities from the Arts Council of England (North West); and has also had project funding from ACE, RALP, CIDS, AGMA and a number of other organisations.

Beginnings...

In 1998 a group of photographers met upstairs in a Manchester pub to discuss some North West Arts research into what the region's practitioners needed. The answer was more complex than it first appeared; while some needed darkrooms, others wanted digital facilities, exhibition space, talks by photographers, help with business and legal matters. Most importantly they wanted to talk and listen to each other, to learn from the experience of others about an industry which can sometimes seem closed and impenetrable. By the beginning of 1999 these meetings had become regular; some of those photographers, chaired by Len Grant, volunteered to help run the organisation, and Redeye had a name and a newsletter. October 99 saw its first events, six talks starting with Paul Hill. The first paid worker was appointed in 2001, and the co-ordinator began working in 2002.