A method for dispersing an oil-soluble photographic additive which comprises dissolving the additive in an organic solvent and dispersing the resulting solution of the photographic additive in water or a hydrophilic colloid composition in the presence of a surface active polymer comprising (a) a homopolymer of units represented by the formula (I): ##STR1## wherein R is an aliphatic hydrocarbon group having 4 to 22 carbon atoms; m.sub.1 and m.sub.2 each is 0 or 1; B is --O-- or --NH--; A is a divalent aliphatic group having 1 to 50 carbon atoms; and M is a hydrogen atom or a cation group capable of forming a salt with a sulfonic acid group, or (b) a copolymer containing at least 5 mol% of units represented by the formula (I) above and the balance of divalent units copolymerizable therewith and comprising at least one of a benzene ring having a methylene group attached thereto and a naphthalene ring having a methylene group attached thereto.