A Brighton-based photography charity, founded in 1995, that commissions photography, publishes the Photoworks Annual and runs the Brighton Photo Biennial.
Photoworks is a UK development agency for photography. It is a registered charity that commissions new photography and writing about photography, and connects artists with audiences through partnerships. It is one of Arts Council England's National Portfolio Organisations. Its most visible activity is the Brighton Photo Biennial, described as the UK's largest international photography festival, and it also publishes the Photoworks Annual, a journal about photography and visual culture, as well as photobooks by artists including Daniel Meadows, Mark Power, Stephen Gill, Rinko Kawauchi and Joachim Schmid.
It began in 1995 as the Cross Channel Photographic Mission, an arts project in St Leonards-on-Sea, founded by Anne McNeill and Liz Kent. Ms McNeill was founding director and curator. The organisation moved to Maidstone in 1997 and to Brighton in 2003, and merged with the Brighton Photo Biennial in 2011. Photoworks Presents is a touring programme of live talks and events, and the Jerwood/Photoworks Awards, run with the Jerwood Charitable Foundation since 2014, help emerging UK photographers with funding, mentoring and a touring exhibition. Photoworks does not publish a one-line mission in the pages we read, so we use the description of its work above.
Its address is 28 Kensington Street in Brighton and Hove. Wikipedia lists the staff as eight full-time equivalents, which makes it a small organisation. It works with partners across the UK, so its exhibitions and events appear in many places beyond Brighton. The Brighton Photo Biennial has been taken to venues across the city and in other towns. Shoair Mavlian was director from 2018, before moving to The Photographers' Gallery, and Louise Fedotov-Clements is listed as a more recent director.
Photoworks is described as supporting new talent, with a learning programme and awards for emerging photographers. A small team working with a large network of artists, writers and volunteers is a common pattern for a charity of this kind. Past recruitment notices for the Biennial listed roles such as programme participation co-ordinators and creative workshop facilitators, as well as volunteers who helped run educational workshops, which shows that learning and community work is a big part of what staff do.
Jobs at an organisation like this include curators, producers and project managers, learning and workshop leaders, editors and designers for publications, marketing and communications staff, development and fundraising officers, and technical installers. If you are interested in photography, writing, art or events, it is a way to learn how a cultural charity works. Photoworks' own website lists current roles.
Website: photoworks.org.uk
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