Figures in red tops lessen photos initially dispatched (3,6)

'tops lessen photos initially dispatched' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot tell whether it can be defined by this definition.

'figures in red' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'figures in red' could be 'losses' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'losses' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'net' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?