Retina was established by a group of Edinburgh based professional photographers, creative leaders and photography enthusiasts in 2013. The aim has been to create an annual festival of photography based in the festival city of Edinburgh. We have set out to create a platform that might grow annually by bringing together the best professional and commercial talent from around the world and indeed from across Scotland.The festival has been initially driven by the good will of volunteers including established photography leaders, academics and emerging talent, as well as those that wish to support and promote the venture.Our plan is to do our best to test the concept during a 2014 test launch and learn from our efforts and the feedback we get and hopefully plan a full and inclusive launch for 2015 and grow the festival annually if we create the anticipated demand.So far we have been very fortunate and have attracted a great festival team, super venues, brilliant supporters and leading international photogarphers and curators at the peak of their profession. This gives us a great initial platform from which to learn, share, have fun and hopefully grow in successive years.Our desire is to share our learnings with those also interested in photography and in developing a festival. Anyone with ideas, feedback and a desire to contribute in anyway is encouraged to reach out to any of our group. If we work together we might get the festival that Scotland and its photographers deserve.