The Royal Photographic Society Historical Group and the Wolverhampton School of Art invite proposals for papers for the 2026 Research Symposium. This year’s event continues our commitment to exploring photography’s rich and multifaceted history, while placing it in dialogue with contemporary issues and technological transformations.

We welcome contributions that examine photography’s historical trajectories alongside its evolving role in today’s cultural, scientific, and technological landscapes. The symposium aims to foster critical conversations that connect past practices with present innovations, whether through archival research, artistic experimentation, or interdisciplinary inquiry.

Suggested Themes:
- Photography in Flux: Mobility, Migration, and Global Networks
Investigating historical movements of photographers and studios, and their resonance with today’s transnational image economies and digital platforms.
- Art, Process, and Post-Digital Experimentation
Exploring intersections between photography and other media, including historical techniques and contemporary digital or AI-driven practices.
- Memory, Identity, and Representation in the Age of Algorithms
From early portraiture to facial recognition and deepfakes, how photography continues to shape and challenge notions of self and society.
- Imaging the Invisible: Science, Technology, and Visualisation
Tracing photography’s role in scientific discovery, from radiology and microscopy to satellite imaging and machine vision.
- Reframing Photographic Heritage
New approaches to archives, lost works, and marginalised histories, rethinking preservation and access in the digital age.

We welcome proposals from both established and emerging researchers. As in previous years, we aim to reserve a part of the programme for first-time presenters. Presentations may be 10 or 20 minutes in length and delivered in person or online.
Speakers will be invited to submit their papers for consideration in the RPS journal, The PhotoHistorian.

Submission:
Please send your proposal (title, abstract of up to 250 words, and preferred presentation length) to Janine Freeston at historicalresearchrps.org and Dr Euripides Altintzoglou at E.Altintzoglouwlv.ac.uk by 12 January 2026.
We look forward to receiving your proposals and to another inspiring day of photographic research and exchange.