Manager – NEPN (North East Photography Network); Academic Tutor
I am a photography project manager, producer, curator and academic tutor based at the Northern Centre of Photography.
My work with students focuses on professions-facing activity and development.
Since 2009, I have been the Manager of NEPN (North East Photography Network),
which commissions photographic projects, develops regional, national, and
international partnerships for the presentation of new works, and offers professional
development programmes and critical dialogues for students, staff, alumni and the wider photographic community.
My recent projects with NEPN include curation of Observe Experiment Archive, a series of photography commissions and critical conversations exploring the links between photography and science, culminating in an international group exhibition at Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens, supported by Arts Council England; SHIFTS, a professional development programme for photographers in the north-east (mentoring, talks, workshops, mapping the ecology and photographers' needs), supported by Arts Council England; and Sunderland ’73: The People’s Visual History, a photographic and cultural heritage project with Visiting Professor Julian Germain, supported by National Lottery Heritage Fund.
I am the NE regional co-commissioner of the national We Feed The UK project, working with lead commissioner The Gaia Foundation to explore sustainable food production, culminating in the commission of Johannah Churchill.
I am Coordinator of the UKRI AHRC-supported research networking project Museum Dialogues, led by Professor of Photography/Curating Alexandra Moschovi, which aims to bring together an international community of researchers, photographers, curators and museum professionals to discuss the commissioning and collecting of photography.
I have held previous roles at Arts Council England, IPRN
(International Photography Research Network) and freelance in the creative industries.
Teaching and supervision
I am an Academic Tutor on BA (Hons) Photography, Video and Digital Imaging module, Issues in Contemporary Photographic Practice (PVD227).
I also deliver professional practice workshops in BA (Hons) Photography, Video and Digital Imaging modules Sites for Practice (PVD226), and Your Professional Presence (PVD373).
Publications
Conference or Workshop Item
Ritson, Amanda and McKay, Carol (2024) Sunderland ‘73: The People’s Visual History. A Model for Activating and Initiating Vernacular Collections. In: Museum Dialogues International Conference: Photography and the Museum: Re-evaluating the Past, Capturing the Present, Anticipating the Future, 22-24 Nov 2024, David Puttnam Media Centre, University of Sunderland. (Unpublished)
Show/Exhibition
Ritson, Amanda (2024) Reimag(in)ing WORK: Photographs from the IPRN Changing Faces Collection. 22 Nov 2024 - 27 Apr 2025, Sunderland Creatives Gallery, National Glass Centre, Sunderland.
Ritson, Amanda (2020) Observe Experiment Archive. 15 Nov 2019 - 05 Jan 2020, Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens.
Ritson, Amanda (2013) The Social: Encountering Photography. The Social Encountering Photography Festival, 16 Oct - 15 Nov 2013, Various venues in Sunderland and the wider North East.
- Commissioning
- Professional development for photographers and artists
- Socially-engaged photography
- Curating and curatorial brokerage
- Project and partnership development