Welcome to our new home!

At the end of October we officially opened our new bookshop and gallery at           6 WILLIAM STREET that we are delighted to share with independent photographic bookshop AGITATE.

We are open for business from:
TUES - SUN 12pm - 6pm

You can purchase all our journals, books and prints as well as a wide range of photography books and paraphenilia as curated and managed by the Agitate team.
We opened with a joint exhibition FORTY-ONE POINT FIVE, a show that brought together work from 40 years of Studies in Photography and 1.5 years of Agitate and includes a diverse range of artists including Wendy McMurdo, Sekai Machache, Frances Scott, Izzy Leach, Pradip Malde, Hill and Adamson and You Liang plus many more.

We now have run a rolling calendar of exhibitions, events and happenings.

Sign up to our mailing list to keep up to date with it all:

MAILING LIST

Come along and say hi!

Background of 6 William Street

As some of you may or may not know, due to a variety of factors, we found ourselves in need of a new office earlier this year. The past few months has seen our operation spilt across multiple nooks and crannies and livingrooms and storerooms as we moved out of Gallery 525 permenantly and tried to find a place to settle permanently.

It's not been easy but it has been worthwhile as we can now officially confirm that we do have a new home.

This new space marks the start of a bright new venture and the next new chapter in our 40 year history. But we're not doing it alone!

Welcome into the mix AGITATE

Studies in Photography have teamed up with artist-run gallery and bookshop AGITATE to launch a new creative hub, just a stone’s throw from Princes Street. Our aim is to provide a go-to hotspot for lens-based artists and photo-curious passers-by, offering an expansive programme of events, exhibitions, and workshops. 

Why this collaboration

As a 40 year old organisation we were becoming increasingly aware of just how much photography had changed and developed and moved forward since 1983 when SSHoP first began. We felt that to continue to play a significant role in the Scottish photography community it was important to keep looking forward and shifting with the cultural landscape in which photography, as a creative and critical discipline, inhabits.

What we saw in a collaboration with AGITATE was a way to bring together the old and the new and a chance for both organisations to create a space which draws from a diversity of approaches, techniques, perspectives and interpretations. From our point of view, this was a way to continue to safeguard our place in Scottish photography and guarantee another fruitful 40 more years.

What we saw in 6 WILLIAM STREET was a more accesible location that our members could come and visit, to browse our archive in the dedicated members room which we can now provide, and a welcoming space that allows for more engagement with the photographic community of Scotland and photography as a whole.

Alexander Hamilton, Chair of Studies in Photography said: 

“The Scottish Society for History of Photography is opening in its 40th Year a new home for Scottish and International Photography in the heart of Edinburgh. The Society, known as Studies in Photography is delighted to be going into partnership with Agitate over 6 William Street – a home for photography. Finally, after 40 years of creating events, publishing journals, and holding conversations about photography, we are opening a centre in the heart of Edinburgh. It will be a place to find copies of our books and journals, featuring articles on the very best in historical and contemporary photography. In partnership with Agitate will aim to create Scotland’s premier photographic bookshop. I am particularly grateful to all our sponsors and supporters who through their generous financial support, our making this dream possible. I look forward to welcoming you all to 6 William Street.”

Christina Webber, Director of AGITATE said:

“We are over the moon to be working with Studies in Photography on this exciting new venture. Our mission with AGITATE is to make it easier for lens-based artists at any level to buy, sell, show, and discover photography, and to provide a welcoming platform for everyone to participate in conversations around images and image-making."

Alongside book launches, pin-ups, artist talks, reading groups and film clubs, a dynamic programme of workshops (both in-person and online) will complement partnership working with local higher education organisations, whilst the gallery will provide a space for exhibition hire, curated shows, and all manner of events.

The gallery and bookshop is now open between

Tuesday – Sunday from 12:00 – 18:00

and you can find us at:

6 WILLIAM STREET, EDINBURGH, EH3 7NH