Work on establishing the Scottish National Photography Centre started in 2001 with the creation of an advisory committee now the board under the chairmanship of Michael Shea. They registered as a company in February 2002 and today SNPC is a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee.

They are now at the feasibility stage and producing a business plan to submit for funding of the project which if successful will require a further development period of three years and more depending on capital required.

The City of Edinburgh Council have agreed in principle to make the whole of the former Royal High School site on Calton Hill available to the SNPC.

The intention is to maximise the use of the site to create a one-stop centre dedicated to advancement of Scottish photography and to bring the best exhibitions from abroad to Edinburgh and the UK. At the heart of SNPC will be the world-renowned Scottish National Photography Collection.

The centre will be gallery-led but will include education and courses at all age levels, training and tuition, and conservation.

The centre will be a modern, world-class, forward-looking institution at the forefront of digital photographic techniques whilst celebrating Scotland’s unique legacy and photographic heritage since the 1840s and the pioneering work of hill and Adamson.