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KeepCup 

When we launched the new look website we had great feedback saying how colourful it was, taking that on board we’ve designed custom KeepCups in Open Eye Gallery colours.

The size and height of a throwaway cup from your favourite coffee shop, KeepsCups are

special barista standard re-usable cups. You can use your cup again and again, reducing landfill with a BPA free alternative to disposables.

Take a re-usable cup to any Starbucks in the UK for 30p off the price of a hot drink. Use your KeepCup at our local Starbucks Mann Island for an extra 10% off.*

Available in two sizes:
8oz £8.00
12oz £10.00

(As seen in The Observer)

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Martin Parr books

Our book selection is growing and we have great offers on books relating to our Painted Photographs exhibition . Buy one of these books during the exhibition for a special discount (until 18 March):

Martin Parr Postcards
RRP £29.95 Exhibition offer price £16.00

Martin Parr From Our House to Your House
RRP £10.99 Exhibition offer price £6.00

News Art: Manipulated Photographs from the Burns Archive
RRP £31.99 Exhibition offer price £20.00

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Lomography film

Lomography film is one of our best sellers and has flown off the shelves since we opened. We’ve replenished our stocks with two new Lomo films, perfect for use with the 35mm cameras we have in store:

Colour Negative 400 ASA
3 pack £8.50

Quick shutters, small apertures, fast subjects, and low lights call for film that’s a little faster than your standard ISO 100 contender. We’ve got it covered with Lomography’s own 400 Color Negative 35mm film which doesn’t sacrifice great colours or effects for a little extra speed.
Earl Grey B & W 100 ASA
3 pack £13.00

Earl Grey is ready to give your 35mm images a timeless appeal. Your subjects are captured in moody blacks, stark whites, and all kinds of greys in between. Whether you’re taking landscapes or portraits, you will get jaw-dropping results with Earl Grey’s super-fine grain and wide tonal range.

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We also have notebooks made from 100% recycled materials as well as Open Eye Gallery t-shirts, gifts and cards.

If you have a product request or shop query email laura@openeye.org.uk

*Starbucks Offer: 30p + an extra 10% off your first purchase of a hot drink at Starbucks Euro Garages, Mann Island, Liverpool, Merseyside L3 1DG. Subject to presentation of a KeepCup and receipt from the Open Eye Gallery shop.

We picked one out for each photographer and scrambled (gracefully) after them in the midst of a press day:

Q. Simone Lueck, if you were to dress up as a fantasy persona like the ones in your pictures, who would you be?

SL: Ah, good question, I haven’t been asked that one before! I don’t know. Actually, we did a video trailer to invite people to the book launch for my other project, Cuba TV. I dressed up in this big blonde wig, really over exaggerated make-up and leopard print pants too. It was a lot of fun. I would say my fantasy character would be a soap star.

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Q. Martin Parr, I would love to know how you remain inconspicuous while photographing people and situations?

MP: I just appear confident, and this seems to work. I also use body language sometimes to give the impression I am interested in something else!

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Q. Richard Simpkin, if you could choose one photograph from the ‘Richard and Famous’ collection for people to remember you by (as a photographer), which photograph would you choose and why?

RS: Don Bradman. It’s the rarest photo, not many people have it. Even though Martin Parr doesn’t know even know who he is.

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We’ve had some great feedback that some of you would like recorded interviews or videos, so we’re working on it!

The catch? Like us Facebook and share* this status , or follow us @OpenEyeGallery on Twitter and retweet our giveaway tweet by midnight 31 December 2011.

In 2012 we’ll offer a wide programme of free and ticketed events including curators talks, artists conversations, workshops, breakfasts and more.

We’re a charity so purchasing tickets to our paid-for events supports our running costs and keeps our free events free.

The Golden Ticket winner will be announced on New Years Day, 1 January 2012.

The winner will receive free entry for 1 x person to every ticketed talk here at Open Eye Gallery in 2012. The prize is non-transferable and does not include workshops or private events. The winner will be contacted via Twitter or Facebook and will need to confirm their details via email with 48 hours of notification or a new winner will be drawn.

*New to sharing on Facebook? Click share at the bottom of the link and you can post our status to your own wall!

Our Christmas decorations are up and we’re feeling festive. To celebrate we’re offering 20% off Open Eye Gallery notebooks, t-shirts and exhibition posters and 10% off everything else in store. So while you’re doing your shopping in Liverpool One, pop down and have a look.

If you fancy one of everything, we’ve put together some money-saving bundles containing our favourite items:

Stocking filler 
Retro flashing camera key-ring + Open Eye notebook OR Exhibition Poster £5

Fill your stockings to the brim with one of our mini retro flashing camera key-rings AND one of three limited run exhibition posters OR one of our 100% recycled A6 notepads, printed with the dark room mantra Develop, Stop, Fix.

Secret Santa
Santa is a secretive fella, he knows who has been good and bad and has to hide the mince pies somewhere.

Pring’s Photographer’s Miscellany book + Open Eye notebook £10
Beautifully illustrated Pring’s Photographer’s Miscellany is the book for photographers and photography lovers alike, full of old time illustrations and bound in handsome textured paper this book is a steal, plus we’re throwing in a 100% recycled Develop, Stop, Fix notebook to sweeten the deal.

Gorilla Pod + Open Eye notebook £20
Pushing the boat out a bit further? Go wild with a Gorilla Pod, these little guys act as your mobile photography buddy. Wrapping around virtually anything or behaving themselves acting as a normal tripod these can help you get a steady shot anywhere, and again you get a 100% recycled Develop, Stop, Fix Notebook.

Biblio bundle
How to Read a Photograph + 1 Open Eye event ticket £40
Ian Jeffrey’s How to Read a Photograph is an informative guide for any lover or student of photography add into this a ticket to a talk in 2012 and you have the perfect gift for the bookish photo enthusiast.

The Absolute Bundle
Polaroid Land Camera + film + Boring Postcards book £100

As a super nice deal we’re doing our usual £100 Impossible Project re-furbished Polaroid Land Camera + film deal and adding in a free copy of Martin Parr’s Boring Postcards. Absolutely amazing!

As the year draws to a close we would like to say a big thanks to all the customers who’ve shopped with us since the re-launch, your support means a lot and as a non-profit charity, your purchases contribute to running Open Eye Gallery.

In 2012 we’re launching an online shop where you can purchase all of our in store products and event tickets.

Take a behind-the-scenes look at our opening week and find out more about the inspiration behind the work of some of our exhibiting artists Mitch Epstein, Chris Steele-Perkins and S Mark Gubb.

Alexei also interviewed Open Eye’s Director, Patrick Henry, and Curator, Karen Newman, to discover more about our new space and Archive of photographs, and met up with Martin Parr to find out about his relationship with the gallery.

We’re using the wall – made out of Corian® - for a series of artworks. The first is Good Sailing… by Cardiff-based artist S Mark Gubb, based on dazzle camouflage and the last words of revolutionary American poet, natural scientist and historian Henry David Thoreau.

Our intrepid Exhibitions Intern Thomas spent a cold, grey day at the beginning of November photographing Jane and the team from Signs 2000, capturing Liverpool’s largest jigsaw puzzle going up on the wall!

At the helm of the gallery is Director Patrick Henry who drove the re-launch from its very first stages after joining Open Eye in 2004. Working with him is Curator Karen Newman who joined in 2010. Karen is supported by Thomas Dukes our Exhibitions Assistant (internship), who wrangles with the logistics of international art shipping and loans through to installing exhibitions.

To prepare for our move, Archive Assistant (internship) Julia took care of our Archive, packing and transferring some 1600 prints, including two large plan chests and several boxes. We can safely say they all made it here!

In July we appointed Gallery Manager Laura Parker who takes care of our front of house, retail and office management and who has kept us all sane in our frenetic move to the new space. Laura manages Gallery and Retail Assistants Ceri-Jayne Griffith and Eleanor Suggett who represent our front of house team and work alongside our fantastic Volunteer Gallery Assistants  - Sarah, Alice, Marianne, Kyle and Luke, who joined us on opening night.

Marketing is looked after by Communications Manager Rhiannon Butlin and Marketing Assistant (internship) Ashley Middleton.

Our open plan office is situated on a mezzanine above one of the main galleries and is fuelled by coffee and cake and talk of the strange goings on of our various pets (cats, guinea pigs and house rabbits to name a few!) But what really keeps the team going is a passion for sharing photography so any questions, insights or points of view are most welcome via our Facebook page or Twitter feed, or drop in and say hello at the gallery.

More details of the team and the Board who support us on our people page.

When it came to kick-starting the Open Eye shop we put our heads together and came up with a range of products from our own wish lists. We have a history of selling books but in our new location we’ve built a dedicated shop with big bright windows and more space to display lots of lovely things.

Our online shop will be up and running shortly, but here are some highlights in the meantime:

Books

From Mitch Epstein to Martin Parr, we cover the contemporary photography greats. Our book selection is led by our exhibitions programme and favourites recommended by staff and friends of the gallery. Tucked into the pages  you’ll find hand written recommendations telling you just why we chose the book and what we like about it.

Retro Cameras

Some of us at the gallery like taking photographs (most of us if we think about it!) and as Open Eye was established back in ’77 we figured it would be neat to get some retro cameras.

We can say (with 99% certainty) that we’re currently the only Liverpool high street stockists of Impossible Project film, Silver Shade 600 to be precise. We also carry their beautifully refurbished Polaroid 600 and Land cameras that come with a pack of film and endless instant possibilities.

Our 35mm range starts with Lomography 35mm film, a classic and that matches perfectly with our Diana F+ Mini, Fisheye and Fisheye 2. We also carry Superheadz Golden Half and Slim Devil. In the market for a spot of DIY? We have Impossible Project’s build it yourself pinhole camera.

T-shirts and notebooks

Great-looking graphic t-shirts available exclusively at Open Eye Gallery and designed especially for us by Smiling Wolf. They come packaged in a nifty gift box because if you’ve ever tried to wrap a t-shirt, you’ll know it’s tricky business (we also like to avoid crumpling!).

Our A6 notebooks are made from recycled materials and feature the phrase Develop, Stop, Fix. Perfectly pocket sized you can use them for ‘field notes’, phone messages or making little paper aeroplanes on the go.

Bits & Bobs

We wouldn’t be a proper gallery shop if we didn’t have some bits and pieces to tempt you with. Key rings, bookmarks and mini flashing cameras (just because) are order of the day.

As the shop grows we’re going to expand the range but for now we though we’d keep it small and sweet. Got a product request or shop enquiry email: Laura@openeye.org.uk

Pop in and have a browse all give us a call on +44 151 236 6768 to see if we stock what you need – we’re happy to post!

For your chance to win one visit us this weekend (5^th & 6^th November) and tag us in a tweet or Facebook status telling us what you think of the new gallery! Entries are limited to one per person; winner will be chosen by random draw and announced on Monday 7^th November.

More details of products available in our shop coming soon, including books, cameras, t-shirts and more!

Sky Arts are in the building with scouse humorist Alexei Sayle filming for their ten minute documentary.  Alexei is exploring our Archive and getting to know some of the work it holds, including a photograph of him from the 1980’s by an unknown photographer.

The press visiting today are writing reviews of the new exhibitions and site, but we have had a lot of coverage about the re-launch already.  Here are some of the highlights:

The British Journal of Photography were one of the first to announce the re-launch and recently published an interview with Director, Patrick Henry about what it has meant to work on such a long-term project.

Aesthetica Magazine were amongst the first to announce the new exhibitions on their blog and led with a selection of photographs.

The Observer recently mentioned our re-launch as the silver lining on cloud of uncertainty hanging over photography galleries; American Power and The Pleasure Principal will be reviewed by The Observer and others in the coming week.

In the picture accompanying this blog you can see The Guardian Weekend, Big Picture (1^st Oct) was Margaret Thatcher by Chris Steele Perkins, along with printed pieces from the local press. The Liverpool Echo met with Patrick and ran a piece on Friday, you can read it online here. While the Liverpool Daily Post focused on American Power and ran an interview with Mitch Epstein.