Open eye at 30

Open Eye at 30
By Paul Coslett

Liverpool's Open Eye Gallery celebrates 30 years with new exhibitions including a glimpse of Liverpool's Chinese Community in the 1940's.

Liverpool's Open Eye Gallery is celebrating its 30th birthday with a string of exhibitions.

The gallery first opened in 1977 and is the only one of its kind in the North West.

Later in the year the gallery will be part of the Liverpool Biennial and is partnering with The Bluecoat arts centre for a project about the changing cities of the contemporary Arab world.

Open Eye Gallery, Director Patrick Henry says the galleries success and longevity is down to its relationship with Liverpool.

"It was very much rooted in the city and very much connected to Liverpool and Liverpool's culture and history.

"I think that sense of roots has really stayed with the gallery and stood it in good stead."

The gallery has recently acquired a collection of images by acclaimed photographer Bert Hardy which show Liverpool's Chinese Community in the 1940's.

The photographs, taken in the post war period, depict the community around Berry Street in the heart of Liverpool's Chinatown.

Bert Hardy, who became famous for his photographs of the Blitz, was one of the first to use a 35mm Leica camera.

Watch: BBC's Andy Gill visits the Open Eye Gallery >
Help playing audio/video

In the age of digital photography, which has made pictures far more disposable than in the past, Patrick Henry still believes there is a place for photographic exhibitions.

"It's about stopping.

"About slowing down and looking properly at photographs, we don't do that enough.

"We see them everywhere all the time and we see them for an instant and dissect them for an instant."