The ''Journal of the Photographic Society'', later the

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 ...

, was first published on 3 March 1853 and it has been published continuously ever since. The

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

's title was changed with volume 5 (1859) when it was renamed ''The Photographic Journal'' and this was recently updated to the ''RPS Journal''. The publication is the oldest photographic periodical in the world. For much of the magazine's history it had an influence that went far beyond the society and a print run considerably in excess of the society's membership. The magazine has had its circulation ABC audited since 2010. From June 2014 Think Publishing took on responsibility for publishing the journal on the society's behalf. ''The Photographic Journal'' is not affiliated wit
ThePhotographicJournal.com
which is an online publication that began in 2013.

Editors

The first

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

was Arthur Henfry FRS FLS. When

Roger Fenton Roger Fenton (28 March 1819 – 8 August 1869) was a British photographer, noted as one of the first war photographers. Fenton was born into a Lancashire merchant family. After graduating from London with an Arts degree, he became interested i ...

retired as the society's secretary in January 1856 the role of editor and secretary was combined. The Rev. J. R. Major was elected to the post which he held until June 1857 when

William Crookes Sir William Crookes (; 17 June 1832 – 4 April 1919) was a British chemist and physicist who attended the Royal College of Chemistry, now part of Imperial College London, and worked on spectroscopy. He was a pioneer of vacuum tubes, inventing t ...

replaced him. In August 1856

Hugh Welch Diamond Hugh Welch Diamond (1809 – 21 June 1886) was an early British psychiatrist and photographer who made a major contribution to the craft of psychiatric photography. Early life Diamond was educated at Norwich School and later studied medic ...

took over from Crookes who founded his own journal, ''Photographic News''. Diamond remained editor until December 1868 when John Spiller took over until February 1880. The position was taken over by

William de Wiveleslie Abney Sir William de Wiveleslie Abney (24 July 1843 – 3 December 1920) was an English astronomer, chemist, and photographer. Life and career Abney was born in Derby, England, the son of Rev. Edward Abney (1811–1892), vicar of St Alkmund's Chu ...

who remained editor well into the twentieth century. The current editor is Clare Harris. :Vols. 1-2 . Arthur Henfry FRS FLS :Vol. 3. Rev J R Major MA FSA :Vol. 4.

:Vols. 5-12.

MD FSA :Vol. 13.

MD FSA and John Spiller FCS :Vol. 14. John Spiller FCS :Vol. 15. John Spiller FCS and H Baden Pritchard FCS :Vol. 16. H Baden Pritchard FCS and R J Friswell FCS :Vols. 17-23. Anon, but possibly

:Vols. 24-.

RE FRS (later Sir)

The magazine was an important medium for the announcement and discussion of new discoveries, processes, and exhibitions. It also included ideas other photographers had to help improve their own practice, in a sort of "letter to the editor" style, as well as responses to questions. In addition, it also had a strong interest in scientific photography, particularly under Abney's editorship. From January 1948, the ''Photographic Journal'' was split into ''Part A: Pictorial'' and ''Section B: Scientific.'' In 1953 the latter became the ''Journal of Photographic Science,'' now '' The Imaging Science Journal.''

Availability

The magazine is available to members of the society and to institutions on subscription. Runs of the magazine are available in major libraries in the United Kingdom, including the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

and in the society's own library housed at the

National Media Museum The National Science and Media Museum (formerly The National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, 1983–2006 and then the National Media Museum, 2006–2017), located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, is part of the national Science Museum G ...

. However, complete runs are rare and as a consequence the society decided to digitise the magazine. In January 2014 it was announced that the magazine had been digitised from 1853 and would be made freely available through the Society's website. The RPS Journal is freely available from 1853 to 2012 in a searchable form at: http://archive.rps.org/

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Photographic Journal, The English-language magazines Magazines established in 1853 Photography magazines Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom 1853 establishments in the United Kingdom Photography in the United Kingdom Magazines published in London

Editors

Contents

Availability

References

External links