Look2011 – Liverpool International Photography Festival – has announced the appointment of Stephen Snoddy as its Artistic Director.

Stephen, who is currently Director of The New Art Gallery, Walsall will work over the next year providing a strategic vision for the festival and developing programme and content with key stakeholders and partners in the lead up to the festival’s opening in May 2011.

As the inaugural Director of Contemporary Art Norwich 2005 (CAN05) and the founding Director of Milton Keynes Gallery he has worked with such artists as Annettte Messager, John Baldessari, Rachel Whiteread, Juan Munoz, Chris Ofili and Gilbert & George and most recently with photographers Alison Jackson, Richard Billingham, Stuart Whipps and Andrew Jackson.

He was also a judge for the Taylor Wessing NPG Photography Portrait Prize in 2009.

Stephen will be assisted by Daniel Cutmore, who has been appointed to the role of Festival Manager. Daniel will be responsible for the delivery of content, programming and projects for the festival and will liaise directly with the Artistic Director and key stakeholders and participants.

Photography as a ‘call to action’ will be the central theme of Look2011, the first photography festival to be staged in Liverpool, and is set within the context of Liverpool’s Year of Social Justice and City of Radicals in 2011. Events will take place at galleries and exhibition spaces across Merseyside and will showcase significant new bodies of work by emerging and established photographers from both home and abroad. Look2011 will launch with a four-day event in May 2011 featuring exhibition openings, artists’ talks, workshops and will play host to the 3rd National Photography Symposium.

The festival has been awarded £50,300 in National Lottery Funding from the Arts Council’s Grants for the Arts scheme. Key partners already in place include the photography network Redeye and venues such as the Bluecoat, National Museums Liverpool, Open Eye Gallery and also include Magnum Photos, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and Liverpool City Council.

Colin McPherson, chair of the Look2011 organising committee said: “I am excited by the appointment of Stephen Snoddy as our Artistic Director. Stephen brings a wealth of experience to the job and has a proven track record of delivering high-quality exhibition programming and project work. I am confident that Look2011 will be an innovative and memorable experience for everyone who participates in or attends this exciting new festival.

Stephen Snoddy commented: “I am delighted to be working with colleagues and venues in Liverpool, which has proven to be one of the most exciting cities working in the visual arts for the past 10 years in the UK, with its mix of spaces it gives Liverpool a rich context within which to work.”