The European Society for the History of Photography (ESHPh), founded in 1978, is a society concerned with the historical events within photography from a

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an perspective. The ESHPh publicly hosts symposia, publishes journals, and distributes the "International Letter" to its members. The ESHPh is actively chronicling the

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...

of the

history of photography The history of photography began in remote antiquity with the discovery of two critical principles: camera obscura image projection and the observation that some substances are visibly altered by exposure to light. There are no artifacts or de ...

in Europe.

History

The founding of the Europäischen Gesellschaft für die Geschichte der Photographie (ESHPh) uropean Society for the History of Photographytook place at the first general meeting on 19 November 1978 in

Leverkusen Leverkusen () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the south, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne, and to the north the state capital, Düsseldorf. With about 161,000 inhabitants, Leverkusen is on ...

, Germany. The decision to form a society of this nature had been taken one year earlier in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

, Belgium. A group of museum curators and photographic historians from six European countries - notably Laurent Roosens (of the Sterckshof Museum, Antwerp),

Margaret Harker Margaret Florence Harker (17 January 1920 – 16 February 2013), was a British photographer and historian of photography. She was the UK's first woman professor of photography, founded the country's first photography degree course, and was the f ...

(the UK's

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

) and Rolf Krauss (

German Society for Photography German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

) - came together to establish a new society dealing with the history of photography in a European context. Since 2001, the presidential headquarters are to be found in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. From 1978 until 1989, those headquarters were in Antwerp; thereafter, until 2001, in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, UK. It is currently based in Vienna, although the website is hosted by the Donau University Krems, Austria.

The aims of the ESHPh

The ESHPh was founded with the primary aim of researching the historical development of photography from its origins up to the present and integrating it within a European context within the social political matrix of photography's inherent interdisciplinary nature. Photographers, general historians and historians of photography, philosophers, sociologists, ethnologists, academics, curators and private collectors as well as many important European institutions and some from further afield all belong to the ESHPh. Alongside its research activities, the ESHPh takes part in a worldwide exchange of information. It supports both the recognition of the history of photography as an academic discipline and the establishment of chairs in the discipline at European universities. From 1981 until 2004, the society has held symposia in various locations in Europe, as evidenced by diverse publications. For its 30th anniversary in 2008, the ESHPh celebrated an internationally attended photography congress at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, in Vienna, from 6–8 November 2008. This anniversary event was accompanied by an English language commemorative publication and took place as the theoretical focus of the European Month of Photography 2008 in Vienna. The ESHPh as a society was entered in the Austrian Register of Societies on 3 March 2004. However, the seat of society is connected to the presidency. The first general meeting, at which the board was elected, took place on 8 June in the WestLicht Gallery in Vienna. The new Executive Committee of the ESHPh was elected at the Society's annual general assembly that was held in Vienna on 4 November 2010, at the invitation of the Department for Pictures at the

Austrian National Library The Austrian National Library (german: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek) is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items in its various collections. The library is located in the Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg in center of V ...

ESHPh board (as of 2011)

*Mag. Uwe Schögl – President *Dr. Ulla Fischer-Westhauser – Vice-president

International advisory board

*Hans Christian Adam, picture research, photo consulting (

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

, Germany) *Professor Anna Auer, photo historian (Vienna, Austria) *A. D. Coleman, photography critic (

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, USA) *Professor Alistair Crawford, artist and writer ( Sudbury/

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, United Kingdom) *Rolf H. Krauss (

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, Germany) *Liz Wells (

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, United Kingdom)

Activities

The International Letter is sent to members twice a year; the letter is a summary of recent events and information of new events and symposia concerning photography across the world, and also includes exhibition notices and auctions.

Symposia

Since 1981, the society has brought together practitioners and specialists with the aim of discussing photography and to create contacts from a variety of disciplines relating to photography. *2012 Vienna (A) **The Material and Immaterial in Photography **2nd Congress of Photography in Vienna at the MUSA **24 November 2012 **Felderstraße 6-8, 1010 Vienna *2008 Vienna (A) 22nd International Symposium **The 30 Years Jubilee of ESHPh **1st Congress of Photography in Vienna at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (Theatre-Hall) **6–8 November 2008 **Sonnenfelsgasse 19, 1010 Vienna *2004 Stockholm (S) 21st International Symposium **From Nordic Landscapes to North American Indians Current Trends in Nordic and International History of Photography **9–10 September 2004 at the

National Library of Sweden The National Library of Sweden ( sv, Kungliga biblioteket, ''KB'', meaning "the Royal Library") is Sweden's national library. It collects and preserves all domestic printed and audio-visual materials in Swedish, as well as content with Swedish ...

and

Moderna Museet Moderna Museet ("the Museum of Modern Art"), Stockholm, Sweden, is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened a new branch in Malmö in t ...

, Stockholm *2003 Mannheim (D) 20th International Symposium **Helmut Gernsheim Reconsidered **12 October 2003 at the Museum of Anthropology and Natural History (Reiss-Engelhorn Museen),

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

*2002 Maastricht (NL) 19th International Symposium **BOXED **11–13 November 2002 at the Academy of Visual Art,

Hogeschool Zuyd Zuyd University of Applied Sciences ( nl, Zuyd Hogeschool) is a University of Applied Sciences with campuses in Heerlen, Sittard and Maastricht in the southeastern Netherlands. The main focus of Zuyd University is on Bachelor programmes, 52 in ...

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

, Netherlands *2001 Vienna (A) 18th International Symposium **Photography and Research in Austria – Vienna, the Door to the European East **20–22 June 2001 at the Austrian National Library in Vienna *2000 Bradford (UK) 17th International Symposium **Retracing the Image: The Emergence of Photography in the Nineteenth Century **16–17 June 2000 at the Museum for Photography, Film & Television,

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

, UK *1999 Udine (I) 16th International Symposium **Photography in Italy **5–8 May 1999 at the

University of Udine The University of Udine (Italian ''Università degli Studi di Udine'') is a university in the city of Udine, Italy. It was founded in 1978 as part of the reconstruction plan of Friuli after the earthquake in 1976. Its aim was to provide the Friul ...

, Italy *1998 Antwerpen (B) 15th International Symposium **20 Years of European Society for the History of Photography **8–11 January 1998 at the Congrescentrum‘t Elzenveld, Antwerp, Belgium *1997 Helsinki (FIN) 14th International Symposium **Finland Shamanism and Beliefs in Europe Photography **9–12 October 1997 at Hanasaari (The Swedish - Finnish Cultural Centre),

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, Finland *1997 Brussels (B) 13th International Symposium **Photoresearcher ESHPh **18 April 1997 at the Free University Brussels, in collaboration with Higher Institute for Fine Arts and ESHPh Belgium, Brussels, Belgium **Essays third symposium 'Image & University' - Philosophy of photography *1996 Charleroi (B) 12th International Symposium **Questioning the World **25–28 April 1996 at the Museum of Photographie,

Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.

, Belgium *1994 Oslo (N) 11th International Symposium **25–28 August 1994 at Lysebu Conference Centre,

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, Norway *1993 Vilanova (E) 10th International Symposium **28–30 June 1993 at the Town-Hall of

Vilanova i la Geltrú Vilanova i la Geltrú () is the capital city of Garraf ''comarca'', in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Historically a fishing port, the city has a growing population of approximately 66,000, and is situated 40 km south-west of Ba ...

, Barcelona, Spain *1992 Edinburgh (UK) 9th International Symposium **Photography 1900 **In association of The Scottish Society for the History of Photography **24–26 September 1992 at the

National Museum of Scotland The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, and the adjacent Royal Scottish Museum (opened in ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

*1992 London, (UK) 8th International Symposium **The changing Role of Photography in Advertising & Fashion **30 May 1992 at the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

*1991 Toulouse (F) 7th International Symposium **27–29 June 1991 at the Galerie du Château d'eau,

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

, France *1989 Göteborg (SE) 6th International Symposium **28 September – 1 October 1989 at the Department of Design and Crafts,

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

, Sweden *1989 Vevey (CH) 5th International Symposium **150th Anniversary of the Invention of Photography **29 June – 2 July 1989 at the Centre Doret,

Vevey Vevey (; frp, Vevê; german: label=former German, Vivis) is a town in Switzerland in the canton of Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, near Lausanne. The German name Vivis is no longer commonly used. It was the seat of the district of ...

, Switzerland *1988 Antwerpen (B) 4th International Symposium **10 Years Jubilee of the ESHPh **23–25 September 1988 at the Provinciaal Museum voor Fotografie, Antwerp, Belgium *1985 Bradford (UK) 3rd International Symposium **11–14 April 1985 at the Museum for Photography, Film & Television,

, UK *1982 Antwerpen (B) 2nd International Symposium **5 June 1982 at the Crédit Communal de Belgique, Brussels *1981 Bath (UK) 1st International Symposium **9–12 April 1981 at the Royal York Hotel, Bath, UK

Publications

''PhotoResearcher''

The society's printed journal, ''PhotoResearcher'', has been published since 1990. 2010 saw the journal published three times a year by contributing authors who are internationally recognised experts in the field of photography. No. 12 onwards: *Co-editors: Uwe Schögl and Ulla Fischer-Westhauser No's. 7–11 (2004–2008) *Co-editors: Anna Auer, Vienna (A), Alistair Crawford,

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in ...

(UK). No. 6 (1994–1996) *Editorial: Alistair Crawford,

University of Wales The University of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Prifysgol Cymru'') is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff � ...

, School of Arts,

(UK). No. 5 (1993) *Editorial: Margaret Harker Farrand, Roy Green (UK). No's. 1–4 (1990–1992) *Editorial board: Margaret Harker Farrand, Roy Green, Anthony Hamber, Sidney F. Ray (UK).

30 years of ESHPh 2008

This jubilee publication coincided with the 2008 conference in Vienna. It served to formulise the direction of the ESHPh and give an overview of the "picture" from trans-disciplinarian perspectives.

''Photohistorica''

''Photohistorica: Serial Literature Index of the European Society for the History of Photography'' consisted of a bibliographical listing, with abstracts, of articles that had appeared in serial publications of the relevant years of publication. The first issue in May 1978 was a bibliographic listing only, but thereafter most bibliographic entries were accompanied by a short abstract. Apart from that pioneering issue of May 1978, each issue was double-numbered (such as 02/03) and except for 1979 and 1981 two double-numbered issues appeared annually (i.e. covering 1992 the two issues were numbers 50/51 and 52/53 containing abstract No.s 6656-6963 and 8964-7229). Karel van Deuren (the editor throughout the 1980s), Dr. Laurent Roosens (inaugural President of ESHPh), and Luc Salu (librarian of the Museum voor Fotographie, Antwerp) were the first compilers of the bibliography and abstracts. The production of those twenty–seven double-numbered issues of ''Photohistorica'' of 1978-1992 made possible in Belgium by annual grants provided until 1993 by Agfa–Gevaert. From the remaining funds provided by Agfa-Gevaert, a detailed Cumulative Index was sent out to members of ESHPh in mid–1994. For some years, the office of the ESHPh (under the society's President Prof. Margaret Harker Farrand) was based in England, and 1993-94 witnessed two years of financial insecurity for the Society, with an income apparently limited solely to the subscriptions of its members. Yet the production of a bibliography of articles on the history of photography from current serials had been of undoubted value and a justified function of the ESHPh. After a lapse of two years, a new volunteer - R. Derek Wood (historian of early photography) - from its members in England was found to compile and edit a renewed bibliography. Thus with Agfa-Gevaert (Belgium) making a grant to ESHPh in February 1995 to cover printing costs, another two double-numbered issues (No. 54/55 and 56/57) of a renewed Photohistorica covering the years 1993 and 1994 could be published. However, with a low membership inevitable for a specialist subject area unable to provide a strong financial base, both publications (''Photohistorica'' and ''PhotoResearcher'') of ESHPh could not continue in the late 1990s - except that is for ESHPh member Audrey Linkman of Manchester compiling and editing a final ''Photohistorica'' (issue 58). It provided 296 abstracts of articles on the history of photography, published in serials, mainly, but not exclusively, during the half-year January to June 1997. Unlike all the earlier issues (of a square 20x20cm format), issue 58 was printed in A4 format and a new categorisation of subjects was introduced. This account of ''Photohistorica'' is derived mainly from R. Derek Wood's preface and postscript to the issues for 1993-1994.

Current president and vice-president

*Uwe Schögl, President of ESHPh since 2010; Vice-president of ESHPh from 2004 to 2010 **Born 1965 in

Bad Ischl Bad Ischl (Austrian German ) is a spa town in Austria. It lies in the southern part of Upper Austria, at the Traun River in the centre of the Salzkammergut region. The town consists of the Katastralgemeinden ''Ahorn'', ''Bad Ischl'', ''Haiden' ...

, Austria, and studied at the University of Salzburg and Vienna. **Since 2002: Assistant Director and Senior Curator of Photography of the Picture Archive of the

, Vienna. **Since 2006: visiting lecturer at the Department for Images Sciences,

Danube University Krems The University for Continuing Education Krems () is an Austrian university specializing in further education for working professionals. It is located in Krems an der Donau, Lower Austria. Name The Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Re ...

. **Recent publications: ''Ferdinand Schmutzer: Photographic Works 1894-1928'' (2008) and ''Photo Simonis: Prominente und Werbung 1960-1970'' (2010) *Dr. Ulla Fischer-Westhauser **Born in Vienna **Studies in English language and literature and history (PhD) in Vienna **Self-employed author and curator **Exhibitions and publications about history of economics and photo history.

Past presidents

*2004–2008 **President: Anna Auer (Vienna, Austria) **Vice-president: Uwe Schögl (Assistant Director and Senior Curator of Photography at the Picture Archive of the Austrian National Library, Vienna, Austria) *2001–2003 (provisory committee) **President: Anna Auer (Vienna, Austria) **Vice-president: Johan Swinnen (Antwerp/Brussels, Belgium) *1997–2001 **President: Margaret Harker Farrand (Croydon/Surrey, UK) **Vice-president: Karl Steinorth (President of the

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, Germany) *1993–1997 **President: Margaret Harker Farrand (Croydon/Surrey, UK) **Vice-president: Karl Steinorth (President of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie (from 1996),

, Germany) *1989–1993 **President: Margaret Harker Farrand (Croydon/Surrey, UK) **Vice-president: Rune Hassner (

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden) *1986–1989 **President: Margaret Harker Farrand (

Egdean Egdean (pronounced Egg-deen) is a small village in the Chichester district of West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Ch ...

, UK) **Vice-president: Rune Hassner (

, Sweden) *1982–1986 **President: Laurent Roosens (

Mortsel Mortsel () is a city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality close to the city of Antwerp located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the city of Mortsel proper. In 2021, Mortsel ha ...

/Antwerp, Belgium) **Vice-president: Margaret Harker (

, UK) *1978–1982 **President: Laurent Roosens (

/Antwerp, Belgium) **Vice-president: Margaret Harker (

, UK)

Membership

Membership is open to students, private individual and to contributing international museums and institutions in photography. It incorporates interested disciplinarians from the professional scientific and academic fields where photography is significant in whole or in part.

References

{{Reflist

External links

ESHPh website
(hosted at Donau-Uni Krems)
Chronology of the ESHPh 1977–2008
(PDF)

at Midley History of Early Photography Arts organizations established in 1978 History organisations based in Austria Photography organizations History of photography Photography magazines