RPS (Royal Photographic Society)

RPS (Royal Photographic Society)
Name	Royal Photographic Society
Abbreviation	RPS
Formation	1853
Status	Charitable organization
Purpose	Promotion of photography
Headquarters	Bristol
Location	United Kingdom
Region served	International
Membership	Photographers, artists, institutions

RPS (Royal Photographic Society) is a learned society and charity founded in 1853 to promote the art and science of photography. It has played roles in photographic innovation, exhibition and education, engaging with practitioners, institutions and the public through awards, collections and qualifications. The society's activities intersect with galleries, universities and archives across the United Kingdom and internationally.

History

The society was founded amid the era of William Henry Fox Talbot, Louis Daguerre, Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Science Museum, London and Great Exhibition debates about optics and chemistry. Early meetings involved figures linked to Cambridge University, Royal Society, Imperial College London, Victoria and Albert Museum and industrialists connected with Manchester and Birmingham. Throughout the Victorian period it interacted with inventors associated with George Eastman, Hippolyte Bayard, Henry Fox Talbot, Frederick Scott Archer and technicians from Royal Institution discussions on emulsions, lenses and processes. In the 20th century the society engaged with photographers whose work circulated via Tate Modern, National Portrait Gallery, British Museum, BBC broadcasts and exhibitions at Royal Academy of Arts; members included figures who collaborated with Magnum Photos, Life (magazine), The Times and international salons in Paris, New York City, Berlin and Tokyo. Postwar developments connected the society with conservation debates involving Getty Conservation Institute, ICOM, UNESCO lists and digital transitions influenced by Apple Inc., Adobe Systems, Microsoft and university departments at University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and University College London.

Structure and membership

Governance has involved trustees and officers comparable to boards at National Trust, British Council, Arts Council England and councils with specialists from Royal Holloway, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London and museum partners like National Museum of Photography, Film & Television. Membership includes individual practitioners who exhibit at Serpentine Galleries, Saatchi Gallery, Barbican Centre and institutions such as Royal Photographic Society Collection, academic researchers associated with Courtauld Institute of Art and corporate subscribers from Canon Inc., Nikon Corporation, Sony Corporation and photographic publishers like Time Inc. and Condé Nast. Membership grades echo professional qualification systems used by Chartered Institute of Marketing and Royal Institute of British Architects.

Activities and programmes

The society runs exhibitions, lectures and workshops that have partnered with Tate Britain, V&A South Kensington, National Portrait Gallery, London, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and festival collaborators such as Fotofest, Rencontres d'Arles, Photo London, Brighton Photo Biennial and Venice Biennale. It organizes panels with curators from Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, critics from The Guardian, The New York Times and academics from Goldsmiths, Royal College of Art exploring practice linked to companies including Fujifilm Holdings Corporation and Leica Camera AG. Training programmes have been run with partners like Open University and cultural policy bodies such as Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Awards, distinctions and qualifications

The society confers distinctions and honours comparable in prestige to awards issued by Turner Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Sony World Photography Awards and collaborates with foundations such as Wellcome Trust, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Leverhulme Trust. It awards fellowships and accredited qualifications that reference professional frameworks used by City & Guilds and national bodies including Arts Council England accreditation. Past recipients and associated figures have included practitioners whose work appears in BBC Television, Channel 4, The Independent and international biennials alongside names represented by Magnum Photos, Agency Magnum and gallery dealers from Gagosian Gallery and Lisson Gallery.

Collections and archives

The society curates collections and archives held with partners such as Science Museum Group, National Media Museum, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum and university special collections at Bodleian Library, Cambridge University Library and John Rylands Library. Holdings encompass prints, negatives and documents connected to photographers exhibited at Photographers' Gallery, National Galleries of Scotland, Hayward Gallery and material conserved with standards from Getty Conservation Institute and catalogued in collaboration with British Library initiatives. The archive supports research used by curators at Tate Modern and academics publishing through Routledge and Oxford University Press.

Publications and exhibitions

The society publishes journals and monographs akin to periodicals from Aperture, History of Photography (journal), British Journal of Photography and publishes exhibition catalogues used by institutions like National Portrait Gallery and Tate. Exhibition programmes have toured to venues including V&A Dundee, Manchester Art Gallery, Royal Albert Hall ancillary spaces and international museums such as Musée d'Orsay, Centre Pompidou, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna and Stedelijk Museum. Editorial partners have included publishers such as Phaidon Press, Thames & Hudson and Bloomsbury Publishing.

Education and outreach

Educational activities have engaged schools, colleges and universities including Royal Academy Schools, University of Westminster, Falmouth University and international exchange programmes with Sorbonne University, New York University, Columbia University and community projects with Nesta and Big Lottery Fund. Outreach collaborations have linked the society with festivals like Edinburgh Festival Fringe, public programmes at Science Museum, London and partnerships with charities such as Arts & Business and British Red Cross to broaden access and participation in photographic practice.

Category:Photography organizations