Features
PictureNature finds harmony in traditional stock photography businesss
Contrary to the doom and gloom often heard in the stock licensing industry lately, PictureNature is telling a different story about a small niche rights-managed (RM) library from Scotland that is growing the old fashioned way, one customer at a time. The specialty library was started by Fenneke Wolters-Sinke a former Financial Advisor who moved from the Netherlands to Scotland in 2005 and was inspired by the natural beauty of her new home country to launch a local stock photography business featuring images of nature and the environment. “Our goal is to develop relationships with creative professionals in the stock industry who prefer working with an independent and relatively small supplier” adds Fenneke.
PictureNature was launched in September 2006 after Wolters-Sinke had decided to market her own images rather than work with larger stock agencies who required exclusivity or did not have a focus on nature and landscape imagery. Along the way Fenneke says that she encountered many other good photographers with good quality work and the business now features a collection of approximately 4,500 images from 37 individual photographers. When asked about what makes the PictureNature collection unique Wolters-Sinke explains “Our collection is focused on general nature and human interaction with the environment. Apart from wildlife, flowers, plants, landscapes, seascapes, we also have the more contemporary/creative/abstract photographs that have been inspired by nature. Human interaction with the environment includes construction/architecture and (historic) buildings, (natural) resources, environmental awareness, people enjoying outdoor pursuits, performing environmental research and cultural activities outside”.
According to Fenneke the future looks bright for the business with great potential for growth. “PictureNature is still in it’s early stages, but judging from the offers from other distributors, the feedback we received during the PictureBuyers Fair in London from image buyers and the kind of inquiries we are receiving since this year, I believe nature images are in demand, especially with people and organizations who are environmentally aware” states Fenneke. “Organizations in the North East of Scotland are specifically interested in landscape images from the local area.”
Web www.picture-nature.com - Click here to view featured image.
Posted in: Features, Stock Photo Companies
Comments(1)
post a comment »Tom, September 18, 2008 [#]
Nice article and what a great site.. I think niche stock photographry sites are the way to go. They defiantly give the big guys are run for their money. We just recently launched a niche stock photography site which focuses on Southern California:
Cheers!