AIDAN O’ROURKE Coach and YouTuber

Language courses, photo walks & YouTube channel

 

Coach in German and English, Media Creator and Curator

German word cloud
I offer innovative German language courses that combine individual or group tuition with self-study materials from my online media collection.

Content Creator, Photography Coach, Writer & YouTuber

videos
I take photos and video clips for my AidanEyewitness YouTube channel and my aidan.co.uk site. I run photo walks and teach photography.

This is aidan.co.uk, the website of Aidan O’Rourke, aka AidanEyewitness, freelance coach, content creator, YouTuber, writer, photographer, German speaker, campaigner.

On this website, online since 1997, I present my creative work, projects, courses and services, all in one place. This is a summary of what I offer:

Photography Walks
I’ve been running my Manchester Photo Walk and Liverpool Photo Walk since around 2010. They’re suitable for all levels and last around three hours.

Articles on a range of themes
I am a writer, and write articles on a range of subjects, including languages, architecture, transport, travel and more. Some articles are turned into videos, some video scripts are adapted into article format.

YouTube videos
My AidanEyewitness channel started around September/October 2020 and focuses on the architecture, identity, attractions and culture of Liverpool, Manchester and connected cities.

Language courses
I am a linguist and have near-native competency in German. I run courses in German for individuals and small groups, as well as English and occasionally French for GCSE. My other YouTube channel AidanEyewitness Deutsch is in its early stages.

Stills photography
I am known as a photographer and have been interested in photography since I was at university. In 1996 I began taking photographs to illustrate articles in my Eyewitness website. Today I use new and archive photos and videoclips in my AidanEyewitness videos.

I am proudly multi-talented with wide interests. Contrary to advice, I prefer to present everything I do here on one website.

My guiding principle on the aidan.co.uk site since 1997 and on my AidanEyewitness channel since 2020 is to educate and inspire people.

Learn about my projects and experience in this photomosaic. Click on the images to find out more.

My main freelance activity today is running German language courses online for individuals and small groups. I have built up a large media library of content, which is available only to my students.
My Liverpool Photo Walk takes place in and around St George’s Hall. In this small are a there are many things to photograph. More info via the main menu.
My Manchester Photo Walk starts near the renovated Old Fire Station and continues either through the Northern Quarter or along Whitworth Street. More info via the main menu.
My Victoria Baths photography workshop takes place on Sundays throughout the summer season. They have been paused due to the Coronavirus.
All my photography students receive a printed copy of my Exposure Crib Card. More info on one-to-one and two-to-one photography tuition via the main menu.
In 2008 I created a groundbreaking megapixel photocollage of Manchester city centre. It was displayed at Urbis.
I tutor in GCSE French language. I studied French on a summer school in Paris and made this sketch of Notre Dame Cathedral.
I taught English language to students from Italy and Romania on the EU Erasmus scheme.
I taught English language with the UAE Military from 1992-1996. I took this photo with the Hasselblad 500C.
I taught English on the British Council summer school in Hong Kong. I spent three summers there including visits to mainland China.
My degree is BA/MA Honours in Modern Languages, German and French, from Trinity College Dublin. I spent a memorable 4 years there and still regularly visit Dublin.
I spent my undergraduate year abroad in West Berlin as an Assistant Teacher. I took this panorama in December 1982.
I spent my final summer as an undergraduate in New York, where I worked as projection assistant and student travel adviser. I took this photo on a return visit to New York in 2016.
I did my PGCE in London at what is now Greenwich University. II have a special interest in modern architecture in London.
The dream of owning a VW camper – in German ‘Bulli – turned into a nightmare. An article about this experience was the most popular page on my aidan.co.uk site. Back online soon.
I took this photo on a family visit to the Philippines. I’m a proud member of the Cloud Appreciation Society.
I’m interested in digital illustration and produced this sketch of New York based on photos from the 1930s.
On 20.10.2018, I made a groundbreaking timelapse video of the anti-Brexit march from start to finish, scoring 19,626 views and 521 likes. I am a proud pro-European campaigner and content creator.
I’ve done stills photography on films, including Daddyfox directed by John McCormack and set in Manchester and Corfu.
This image is a still frame from my short film The Train to Funky Island, completed in 2013 and set in my home base of Stockport.
I took the ‘now’ photos for the book Liverpool Then and Now, part of the Batsford then and now series. I also took the photos for the Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham editions.
I co-authored Around the M60, Manchester’s Orbital Motorway with Matthew Hyde and Peter Portland. It features 75 of my photographs.
I worked at Manchester Airport on the information desk and took this photograph of British Airways Concorde G BOAF. I’ve been an aviation enthusiast since childhood.
My Manchester Mega-Photo was used on the cover of Rebuilding Manchester by Euan Kellie. The book contains 107 of my photographs.
I took this panoramic photo of the exterior of the Hacienda for my website Eyewitness in Manchester (1997-2005). It’s been widely used in books and promotions.
I took these photos at the Bob Dylan tribute concert, organised by the Manchester Digital Music Archive, of which I am a board member.
I was one of the official photographers at the In The City music convention. In 2000 I took photos of Tony as well as Brian Eno, Peter Saville, Mark Owen and others.
At ALL fm, Manchester, I did a radio production course and had a daytime show before leaving to focus on my YouTube channel.
Karen McBride, rock photographer and creative artist took these portrait photographs in 2019.