This community exists because photobooks and zines reward close attention, shared knowledge, and genuine conversation. It was built for people who linger over a sequence, argue about a binding choice, and press books into each other’s hands.
What follows are not bureaucratic constraints but an honest description of the community we are trying to build together. Please read them in that spirit.
Welcome to the e-SIG. We are glad you are here.
Who This Community Is For
The RPS Books & Zines e-circle is an online learning and discussion community for photographers, photobook makers, zine publishers, collectors, curators, and anyone with a serious interest in the photobook as a form. Membership is open to RPS members participating in the Books & Zines Special Interest Group.
You do not need to be a practitioner to belong here. Thoughtful readers, researchers, librarians, and students of photography are equally welcome. What matters is a genuine curiosity about photographs in book and zine form, their making, their history, their ideas, and their future.
Your Profile & Real Identity
Every member is expected to use a real, recognisable photograph of themselves as their profile picture. Not a logo, not an avatar, not an illustration, not a camera, not a favourite photograph from your portfolio, a photograph of your face.
This is not a vanity requirement. It is a social one. When people can see who they are talking to, conversation becomes more human, more considered, and more honest. Knowing that a real person is behind a comment changes how we write and how we read.
Accounts without a genuine profile picture may be asked to update before full participation is granted. Persistent use of a non-portrait placeholder may result in a reminder from the moderation team.
Your display name should be your real name, or the name by which you are known in photographic circles. Pseudonyms and handles are not appropriate in this community.
You are welcome to include your RPS distinctions, professional background, or location in your profile bio. Please keep this factual and brief.
The Spirit of Curious Discussion
This community is built around the premise that good discussion is generative, that talking about a book carefully and openly produces something that neither party could have arrived at alone. We encourage members to:
- Ask questions before making pronouncements. Curiosity is more useful than certainty.
- Disagree openly and constructively. Disagreement about books, sequences, and ideas is healthy and welcome.
- Share the reasoning behind your opinions, not just the opinions themselves.
- Acknowledge when a discussion has shifted your perspective. Changing your mind is a sign of engagement, not weakness
- Bring specific examples, a spread, a sequence decision, a binding choice, a particular photograph, rather than generalities.
- Welcome the unfamiliar. The photobook tradition is international, varied, and far larger than any of us can fully know.
- Give new members space to Ind their voice. Not everyone arrives with the same depth of knowledge.
We are not looking for consensus. We are looking for honest, generous, curious engagement with the subject.
No Promotion of Any Kind
This community has a firm and non-negotiable policy against promotional content. This applies to all members equally, regardless of their standing, reputation, or length of membership.
Prohibited promotional activities include:
- Announcing, advertising, or soliciting sales of your own books, zines, prints, or other work.
- Promoting your own workshops, courses, events, or services, paid or free.
- Promoting a third party’s commercial products or services, whether or not you have a commercial relationship with them.
- Posting affiliate links, discount codes, referral links, or any monetised URL.
- Using the community to build an audience, mailing list, or social following for external purposes.
- Repeated unsolicited references to your own work in contexts where it is not directly relevant to the discussion.
Sharing your work is not the same as promoting it. The distinction lies in intent and context.
You are entirely welcome to share your work when it is directly relevant to a discussion, in response to a question, as an example in a critique context, or within a designated work-sharing space. The difference between sharing and promoting is one of intent: sharing contributes to a conversation; promoting exploits one.
If you are uncertain whether something constitutes promotion, ask a moderator before posting.
Posts that breach this policy will be removed without prior notice. Repeated breaches will result in suspension of posting privileges.
Respect, Tone & Conduct
Members are expected to engage with one another with basic courtesy and respect. This does not mean avoiding difficult conversations; it means having them without contempt, condescension, or personal attack.
- Criticise ideas and work, not people.
- Do not make assumptions about another member’s background, ability, or intent.
- Do not use this community to continue or import disputes from elsewhere.
- If you find a post offensive or in breach of these terms, use the reporting function rather than responding in kind.
- Harassment, discrimination, or targeted hostility of any kind will result in immediate removal from the community.
We expect members to exercise good judgment. If something feels wrong to post, it probably is.
Copyright & Attribution
When sharing images, text, or other material created by others, members must credit the source clearly and accurately. Do not reproduce substantial portions of published texts. Do not share images without identifying the photographer and, where relevant, the publication.
By posting your own work to this community, you retain all copyright in that work. You grant other members the right to view and discuss it within this platform, but not to reproduce, redistribute, or use it elsewhere without your explicit permission.
Moderation
This community is moderated by volunteers from within the RPS Books & Zines Special Interest Group. Moderation decisions are made in good faith and with reference to these terms. If you believe a moderation decision has been made in error, you may contact the group administrator directly.
Moderators reserve the right to remove posts, edit profiles, restrict participation, or remove members whose conduct isn’t compatible with the community’s values, whether or not that conduct is explicitly addressed in these terms.
The moderation team will always seek to resolve issues through conversation before taking restrictive action, except in cases of serious or repeated breach.
Changes to These Terms
These terms may be updated as the community grows and evolves. Members will be notified of any significant changes via an announcement in the Getting Started space. Continued participation following notification of changes constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.
The current version of these terms is always accessible in the Terms of Service page.