Society for Photographic Education
A society of photographers who teach, born when Nathan Lyons gathered 28 photographers, curators and teachers at the George Eastman House in 1962 as art departments began to teach the medium, and still meeting every year to show work, honor its teachers and ask what photographic education should become.
Financial profile
Society For Photographic Education Inc · EIN 13-2853963 · 501(c)(3)
| Fiscal year | Total revenue | Contributions | Program services | Total expenses | Net assets | Year end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $501,915 | $172,694 | $327,206 | $353,613 | $218,255 | Dec 2025 |
| FY2024 | $348,974 | $95,121 | $253,851 | $366,811 | $153,851 | Dec 2024 |
| FY2023 | $373,311 | $96,595 | $273,965 | $376,347 | $168,423 | Dec 2023 |
| FY2022 | $213,303 | $67,105 | $146,198 | $119,931 | $171,459 | Dec 2022 |
| FY2021 | $150,501 | $66,412 | $45,432 | $112,269 | $73,007 | Dec 2021 |
| FY2020 | $471,841 | $152,763 | $319,078 | $398,660 | $45,531 | Dec 2020 |
Figures exactly as reported. A blank cell was blank on the form. The fiscal year links to the filing.
Peer societies
Five societies SPE is read alongside.
UFVA
University Film and Video Association
An international association where media production and writing meet the history, theory and criticism of…
CAA
College Art Association
The oldest and largest support organization for people working in the visual arts, a professionally staffed…
26 companies named
NAEA
National Art Education Association
The national community of visual arts educators that sets the field's standards, publishes its scholarship…
29 companies named
ASMP
American Society of Media Photographers
An eight decade professional society of visual content creators that upholds the business practices of the…
25 companies named
APA
American Photographic Artists
A chapter based community of professional photographers that advocates, educates, and elevates the working…
11 companies named
Who backs SPE
Every company SPE names publicly as a supporter, exactly as published. Companies also named by other associations on Sociogene come first.
| Company | Support as published | Also named by |
|---|---|---|
| Canon USA | Exhibitor | AWD ASRO NIPP PUA PPA +1 |
| Capture One | Exhibitor | APA ASMP PPA |
| B&H PhotoPublished as B&H | Exhibitor | ASMP VRA |
| Charles Beseler Co. | Exhibitor | PPA |
| Eastman Kodak | Exhibitor | BCNYS |
| HahnemühlePublished as Hahnemühle USA, Inc. | Meeting sponsor | PPA |
| Intellect Books | Exhibitor | MESAN |
| MPB | Meeting sponsor | ASMP |
| Red River Paper | Exhibitor | ASMP |
| Cambo USA | Exhibitor | Only SPE, so far |
| Digital Silver Imaging | Exhibitor | Only SPE, so far |
| Fall Line Press | Exhibitor | Only SPE, so far |
| Freestyle Photographic SupplyPublished as Freestyle Photo and Imaging | Meeting sponsor | Only SPE, so far |
| George F. Thompson PublishingPublished as George F Thompson Publisihing | Exhibitor | Only SPE, so far |
| Harman Technology (Ilford)Published as Ilford/Harman | Exhibitor | Only SPE, so far |
| K.B. Canham CamerasPublished as CFC&F/ K.B. Canham Cameras, Inc | Exhibitor | Only SPE, so far |
| Legion PaperPublished as Legion (Moab/Canson) | Exhibitor | Only SPE, so far |
| Negative Supply | Meeting sponsor | Only SPE, so far |
| Shades of Paper | Exhibitor | Only SPE, so far |
Sources: 3 published lists, read October 2026
2026 SPE Annual Conference Exhibitors. Read October 9, 2026. Companies exhibiting at the 2026 SPE Annual Conference in Atlanta.
2026 SPE Annual Conference Sponsors. Read October 9, 2026. Company sponsors of the 2026 SPE Annual Conference in Atlanta.
SPE Awards + Grants. Read October 9, 2026. Companies funding SPE's annual member awards.
Who backs SPE's peers, but not SPE
Companies named publicly by at least one of SPE's five peer societies, and not found in SPE's reviewed public records.
| Company | CAA | NAEA | ASMP | APA | Peers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AdobePublished as Adobe-Logo-2022-1536x864-1 | Diamond | Named | 2 of 4 | ||
| Cradoc fotoSoftwarePublished as Cradoc-fotoSoftware-Logo-1 | Silver | Named | 2 of 4 | ||
| SonyPublished as SONY-no-R_Logo_black | Diamond | Named | 2 of 4 | ||
| Tether ToolsPublished as tether-tools-optical-crop | Silver | Named | 2 of 4 | ||
| Agency Access | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Amaco Brent | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Arlington CameraPublished as arlington-camera-logo | Silver | 1 of 4 | |||
| ARTBOOK | D.A.P. | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| ARTEFFECT | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Artsonia | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Ashley Productions | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Blazing Editions | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Blick | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Blick Art Materials | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Bloomsbury Visual Arts | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| BlurbPublished as Blurb_logo | Platinum | 1 of 4 | |||
| Brill CompanyPublished as Brill | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Camera BitsPublished as camera-bits-logo | Silver | 1 of 4 | |||
| Davis Publications | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| De Gruyter | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| DelMonico Books | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Deutscher Kunstverlag | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Dixon Ticonderoga | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| e-flux | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Ed Hoy's International | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| ExcirePublished as excire-logo | Platinum | 1 of 4 | |||
| Flatpage Editorial and Publishing | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Found | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| FujifilmPublished as fujifilm-all-black | Diamond | 1 of 4 | |||
| FullFramePublished as fullframe-blacklogo2-2048x623-1 | Silver | 1 of 4 | |||
| GeekotoPublished as geekoto-logo | Diamond | 1 of 4 | |||
| Gelli Arts | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Hahnemuhle | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Heritage Auctions | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| HIS Glassworks | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Hunt's | Platinum | 1 of 4 | |||
| ImageRights | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Ingram Academic & Professional | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Inspired by EDO | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| IntellectPublished as Intellect Press | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Jack RichesonPublished as Jack Richeson & Co | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Jack Richeson and Company | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Kremer Pigments | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| KT PressPublished as KT Press (n. paradoxa) | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| MAC GroupPublished as macgroup_v2 | Silver | 1 of 4 | |||
| MACK | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Mayco Colors | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| MD Enterprises ProPanels | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| MDPIPublished as Arts MDPI | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Mohawk Valley Trading Company | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Muench Workshops | Platinum | 1 of 4 | |||
| Nidec-ShimpoPublished as Nidec-Shimpo Distributed by Daido | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Old City PublishingPublished as Woman's Art Journal / Old City Publishing | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Palgrave Macmillan | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Pentel | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| PhotoShelter | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Pixel ConnectionPublished as pixel-connection-optical-crop | Platinum | 1 of 4 | |||
| PLC Detroit | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Polyform Products (Sculpey) | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| ProfotoPublished as Profoto-Logo-100 | Platinum | 1 of 4 | |||
| Purgatory Pie Press | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Rizzoli International Publications | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| RODOVID | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| RoutledgePublished as Routledge, Taylor & Francis | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Royal Brush Mfg. | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Screenflex Portable Partitions | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| SigmaPublished as SIGMA_Wordmark_Black_CMYK | Silver | 1 of 4 | |||
| Signs365 | Diamond | 1 of 4 | |||
| Skutt Ceramic Products | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| SnapCaptionPublished as snapcaption-optical-crop | Silver | 1 of 4 | |||
| Spectrum Glazes | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Standard Clay Co | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Stapledon Arts | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Still River Editions | Silver | 1 of 4 | |||
| Thames & Hudson | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| The Ceramic Shop | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| The Scholar's Choice | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Think Tank | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Uglybooks | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| United Art and Education | Named | 1 of 4 | |||
| Westcott CompanyPublished as Westcott_2c | Platinum | 1 of 4 | |||
| WorldStrides | Named | 1 of 4 |
The outside view
A society of photographers who teach, born when Nathan Lyons gathered 28 photographers, curators and teachers at the George Eastman House in 1962 as art departments began to teach the medium, and still meeting every year to show work, honor its teachers and ask what photographic education should become.
- Consensus
- Build
- Inward
- Volunteer
Their shape
The Guild
Where mastery is the price of belonging.
The Guild is the keeper of a craft and its standards, where belonging means meeting a real bar. Its gift is depth and trusted expertise, its challenge is opening up to newcomers and new ways.
Also reads toward The Village and The Movement.
Strengths
Not an official page of Society for Photographic Education. Sociogene does not consult. Everything here comes from public sources, dated and linked. Something wrong here? Tell us what we missed.