A Bristol-based charity and learned society, founded in London in 1853, that promotes the art and science of photography and awards the LRPS, ARPS and FRPS distinctions.
The Royal Photographic Society (RPS) is the world's oldest photographic society. It exists to promote the art and science of photography, and it acts as a national voice for photographers, including on matters such as copyright. It has around 11,000 members from all over the world, and membership is open to anyone with an interest in photography. It is a registered charity and received a royal charter in 2004 recognising it as a learned society. Members can earn distinctions, assessed by expert panels, called Licentiate (LRPS), Associate (ARPS) and Fellow (FRPS).
The Society was founded in London in 1853, with its first meeting on 20 January that year. The photographer Roger Fenton was the catalyst behind it and was its first secretary. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert granted patronage in 1853, and Catherine, Princess of Wales became Patron in June 2019, following Queen Elizabeth II. Its journal, now called the RPS Journal, has been published since 1853 and is described as the UK's oldest photographic periodical. For many years the Society was based at The Octagon in Bath, which Princess Margaret opened in 1981, before it moved to Bristol in 2019.
Today the RPS's headquarters is in Bristol. Wikipedia says that the Society first set up in Paintworks and moved to a building called HERE at 470 Bath Road in July 2025. The Society's historic collection was moved to the V&A in London in 2017, where it forms a central part of the museum's photography centre. Its members are spread across the UK and abroad, through a network of local and special-interest groups, so a lot of the Society's activity happens in places other than its headquarters.
The pages we read give little about staff culture. They do show an organisation with a long public purpose, and we rely on the Wikipedia summary of its aims. Its members are a large volunteer community of amateurs and professionals, so staff typically work with members, volunteers and partners as well as colleagues.
Roles at a membership charity like this include membership and customer-service staff, events and exhibitions organisers, editors and designers for the journal and website, education and awards administrators, fundraisers and finance teams. If you enjoy photography and want to work for a cultural charity, this is the kind of organisation to look at. Check the Society's own website for current vacancies.
Website: rps.org
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