Archives: June, 2006
News
Alamy releases quarterly figures
Alamy has released detailed information about the numbers of images added to its collection, the percentage break-downs between RF and RM revenue and images sold, and the average pricing information for the two licensing models. The company made public figures from the first half of 2004 to the first quarter of 2006. In several cases the numbers reveal surprising trends, at least for Alamy, if not for the industry in general. Highlights of these numbers include the following:
News
Henri Nannen prize for Jim Gehrz
The American photographer Jim Gehrz has been awarded the Henri Nannen Prize for his reportage "Die Soldatin Jessica Clements" (American title: "Against All Odds"), published in the German magazine View. The series of images, which won the award in the Best Photographic Achievement section, documents the situation of Sergeant Jessica Clements, who returned seriously wounded from the Iraq war. Jim Gehrz photographs for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and is represented by ZUMA Press. Stefan Hartmann, VISUELL
Click here to view the images.
News
Stockxpert.com claiming strong growth
One of the leading micropayment stock photography sites Stockxpert.com has announced that it now has more than 120,000 images to offer and is growing at the rate of 10,000 new images per week. Stockxpert is owned by the Hungarian based HAAP media Ltd which also owns the popular free stock photo site Stock.XCHNG with more than 40 million page views each month and 700,000+ registered users. In January 2006 Jupiter Media purchased a 49.7% equity investment in HAAP Media. Since the investment Jupiter has leveraged the relationship to promote its other stock photography brands while providing HAAP media with additional resources to refine and develop its products. In addition Stockxpert has also announced that it now accepts payments via PayPal.
Features
Off to Biarritz
Chris and Brent will be traveling from the new world to the old world this week in order to attend the CEPIC World Congress. The CEPIC conference will be taking place in Biarritz France from June 7th – June 11th. As a result of the travel plans and hectic conference schedules, news and information will be posted on abouttheimage.com as time permits. Please excuse any gaps in coverage and stay tuned for news and pics after the event. Click here for more info about the 2006 CEPIC World Congress.
Editorials
Microstock and the rise of the crowd
The June 2006 issue of Wired Magazine reports that outsourcing is "so 2003.” The latest trend is crowdsourcing, “the new pool of cheap labor provided by everyday people using their spare cycles to create content, solve problems and even do corporate R & D" and it has hit the stock industry in a big way.The Wired article mentions the buzz among the SAA membership about microstock, and profiles SAA member Mark Harmel who discusses its impact on his business. Can pro photographers compete with a “crowd” of photo enthusiasts? “I negotiate my rate all the time,” says Harmel, “But how can I compete with a dollar?”
News
MaXx Images to represent AGE in North America
MaXx Images of Vancouver, BC, has announced an agreement to represent the Rights Managed archive of Spanish stock photo agency, AGE Fotostock, in the North American market. Maxx Images owner, Dave Maquignaz, says this move is a logical extension of the close working relationship he has enjoyed with AGE for several years. MaXx has represented AGE's RF brand, Pixtal, since the fall of 2004 and uses AGE's image searching technology on its web-site. AGE's collection of 350,000 images adds a wide selection to MaXx Images' offerings covering a wide selection of general subjects including people, lifestyle, business, industry, technology, medical, nature and wildlife. The announcement also signals MaXx Images' growing sales penetration into the US market.
News
Jupiter has acquired Workbook Stock
In an effort to bolster its rights-managed offerings Jupiter Media has purchased all of the shares of Los Angeles based Workbook Inc. from Alexis Scott. Alexis Scott has purchased the Workbook print directories, Workbook.com, and all other assignment products from Workbook, Inc while Jupiter now owns the stock photo business, Workbook Stock, a division of Workbook, Inc. "With the addition of Workbook Stock and its high-end rights managed images, Jupiterimages has strengthened and solidified its position in the rights managed marketplace," stated Alan M. Meckler, CEO of Jupitermedia Corporation. "We anticipate significant marketing and business synergies between Workbook Stock and our previously purchased PictureArts collections," added Meckler. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed. Click here to view the original press release.
Editorials
The three giants: stock photography consolidation
As the largest houses absorb the smaller ones, consider the effects on quality, cost and choice of images.
By Patricia Widyn, VP, Art Buying Manager at Wunderman
Getty Images, Corbis and Jupiterimages are the top three "giants" in the stock world. In 2005, the stock industry revenue was $2 billion: Getty's revenue was $735 million, Corbis's was $228 million and Jupiterimages's was $124 million. During the 1990s there were about 50 main stock houses, but now there are 10. What happened to all the other smaller stock houses? The big companies are absorbing the smaller companies. Sound familiar?
News
NBC Universal enters the stock photo business
NBC Universal has announced plans to launch a new Digital Media Distribution Group, which will actively develop, digitize, manage and distribute its archival photo assets. According to a press release from the company dated June 2nd, 2006, the new department "will maximize efforts to digitize the valuable and exclusive NBC Universal photo archive dating back to the 1940s and the era of NBC Radio, and will initiate a new company-controlled online digital image distribution and licensing strategy beginning in July 2006." The release goes on to say that the company currently makes images from its archive "available to be licensed by bona fide business clients for editorial or approved commercial uses..."
News
Variety Images: Coming to a distributor near you!
The Variety Group, one of the most prominent sources for entertainment and show business news, has announced the launch of a new division called Variety Images. Variety Images will provide images of celebrities from various entertainment events including premieres, award shows, concerts, Broadway openings, and more. Variety is building the new image library by capitalizing on industry contacts and Variety's access to industry events. "As we seek to grow our business and extend the Variety brand, creating a photo division is a logical next step," said Charlie Koones, president and publisher of the Variety Group.
News
Getty Images begins joint distribution with Amana
In an effort to build up its offering of local contact for the Japanese market Getty Images has a made a deal with Amana to offer 50,0000 images from the Neovision, Sebun Photo and Amana brands to its customers in Japan and worldwide. In exchange Getty has agreed to provide Amana with the same amount of images from the Taxi, Photodisc and Digital Vision collections. "We are delighted to partner with Amana to bring our customers in Japan and worldwide a greater range of Japanese imagery," said Sean Mooney, Representative Director, Getty Images Japan. "We have listened to our customers' requests for imagery, and know that our partnership with Amana will help us better meet their needs."
News
Ewastock launches new site featuring architecture and interiors
The London based specialist stock photo company, Elizabeth Whiting & Associates, has announced the launch its new website featuring its collection of more than 50,000 images. The new site located at www.ewastock.com offers both rights managed and royalty-free images including interiors, home interest, architectural, craft, DIY, garden, scenic and travel photography. Ewastock has also arranged a selection of feature stories, with text and images, for publishers looking for a more complete product. "We are very excited that part of our unique collection can now be accessed directly by researchers online," says managing director Liz Whiting. "We are also showcasing feature stories available for publication, our new royalty-free collection, as well as interiors from the 1960s, 70s & 80s." Click here to visit the new site.
News
Haim Ariav departs Superstock
Haim Ariav, Chief Creative Officer of a21 and the President and Chief Creative Officer of SuperStock, has left the organization. According to an agreement between Ariav and the company included in an 8-K form filed by A21 on June 12, 2006, Mr. Ariav's employment with the Company terminated as of May 25, 2006. He also resigned from its Board of Directors. Pursuant to the Agreement, Mr. Ariav will receive severance package including continuation of his salary for one year and accelerated vesting of shares and stock options. Referring to Ariav's resignation from the company and the board, the 8-K form states, "The foregoing did not result from a disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to the Company's operations, policies or practices."
News
PDN releases salary survey results
Results of PDN’s first photo industry salary survey have been published in the magazine’s June issue, as well as online at www.pdnonline.com. A total of 2,114 individuals from nearly every sector of the industry responded to the survey, which PDN conducted online during the month of April. The results are presented in graphical form, showing average and median salaries by occupations and specialties. For certain categories, average income is broken down by factors such as population density, geographic region, gender, and years of experience.
Features
What’s for dinner? Sucre Sale can help!
When discussing the quality of stock imagery, one will often hear and use the word "fresh." The word conveys all of the positive attributes a stock image should have; new, clean, exciting. In the category of food photography, the adjective carries even more significance as one can see in the new food photography catalogue cum cooking magazine recently published by the Paris-based stock agency, Sucre Sale/Photocuisine. Issue #1 of Sucre Sale food photography magazine, titled “Photocuisine,” features beautifully executed imagery of a wide selection of food, from clear and simple images of raw fruits and vegetables to more complex still-lifes of salads, pasta dishes, main courses and desserts. Throughout the magazine, Sucre Sale/Photocuisine's talented photographers maintain a consistent level of freshness in their artistic style, matching the apparent freshness of the subjects.
News
ASMP announces Image06 photo contest winners
The New York chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), has announced the winners for its annual photo contest. The Image06 contest has two main categories, one for pro photographers and one for students. In the Professional category, top honours went to Charlotte Oestervang who was also last year's winner in the student category. The winner in the Student category went to Amy Stein. A New York City resident and MFA from the School of Visual Arts, Stein is currently working on a photo series called "Stranded," portraits of people stranded on the side of the road.
News
Dreamstime offering extended licenses
Dreamstime, the Tennesee based royalty free (RF) micro-payment site, has recently introduced four new license types to extend the use of the RF license currently offered. This appears to be in response to customer demand to utilize images offered from the micropayment site for uses not included in the standard RF agreement. The new license types are offered at relative premium pricing compared to what is typically offered by a micropayment site varying from $74 for the I-EL license, to $350 for the SR-EL license (see definitions below). Contributors have the option to offer these extended license types and are permitted to set their own pricing if they value their work above the minimum price suggested by Dreamstime. Currently it is not possible for customers to search for images that allow the extended license and it remains to be seen how popular the new license types will be to customers.
News
Can Stock Photo celebrates 2nd birthday
The micropayment site Can Stock Photo, first launched in June of 2004 when many of us had not heard much about micro-payment stock photography, now celebrates its 2nd anniversary. The 2-year old Can Stock Photo is boasting many noteworthy accomplishments in its short history including more than 215,000 images online, over 15,700 active members, 3,000 contributing photographers, and millions of page views each month.
News
Historic picture documents first English balloon race in 1906
Mirrorpix, the photographic archives of The Daily Mirror, has announced that it has established the provenance of a very old picture documenting the first competitive balloon race ever held in England (and you thought the World Cup is exciting). The image from the Mirrorpix photographic archive, was created on 7th July 1906 in the grounds of The Ranelagh Club in Chelmsford Essex, the historic race was contested by five balloons for a cup offered by the Evening News (newspaper) valued at fifty guineas*.
Features
Interview with Dittmar Frohmann of Fotolia
Recently Chris Ferrone caught up with Dittmar Frohmann the managing director of Fotolia in Berlin and the only delegate from the world of Micro-stock photography to attend the 2006 CEPIC Congress in Biarritz France. Prior to his engagement with Fotolia, Mr. Frohmann studied Business & Management in Bournemouth and spent several years working in the music industry representing US and UK record labels in Germany such as Strictly Rhythm or React and running his own label blaou since 1995. In addition to his career in music Frohmann ran a small gallery in Berlin-Mitte exhibiting contemporary talents from the exciting art and design scene in that happening city. In an effort to gain insight from the perspective of a microstock company manager, Chris asked Dittmar if he would consent to an interview and Dittmar kindly obliged.
News
a21, Inc has terminated the employment of Thomas V. Butta
According to a Form 8-K filed by a21, Inc. the owner of SuperStock and ArtSelect, the employment of Tom Butta, the President of a21 and the Chief Executive Officer of SuperStock, was terminated on June 19th. a21 board member Philip N. Garfinkle has been appointed interim President and Chief Operating Officer at A21 and interim President and Chief Operating Officer of SuperStock. The report states "The Company and Mr. Butta are negotiating the terms of a termination agreement." This news follows the recent departure of Haim Ariav the former President and Chief Creative Officer of SuperStock.
News
PhotoShelter to handle Major League Baseball
Last month, we reported that PhotoShelter had won an impressive client by signing the prestigious Contact Press Images photojournalist agency. Today, PhotoShelter’s owner, BitShelter LLC’s, announced another high-profile deal having won the business of Major League Baseball. MLB Photos first used PhotoShelter’s digital archive management and distribution system during the World Baseball Classic earlier this year. PhotoShelter enabled MLB to receive images uploaded by photographers at the various international competition sites and edit and distribute them to clients around the globe.
News
Corbis launches Media Management Service in Europe
Last March, Corbis CEO announced, among several initiatives, the company’s plans to delve deeper into the digital asset management business. Corbis had acquired eMotion in 2005, a provider of hosted business applications for managing digital media assets and marketing content. Today, Corbis took another step in that direction announcing the European launch of Corbis Media Management Services at the Henry Stuart DAM (Digital Asset Management) Symposium which took place in London on June 20th and 21st.
News
Digital Railroad partners with Advertising Photographers of America
Digital Railroad has announced a new partnership with the national organization of the Advertising Photographers of America (APA), a leading photographer trade organization, to provide Digital Railroad’s programs and services to APA members. Digital Railroad offers technology services that enable professional photographers and small agencies to manage, market, and sell their photography online as an alternative to working with one of the major stock photo companies. Digital Railroad is currently working with such notable stock photo companies as Grazia Neri, NCAA Photos, VII, Redux Pictures, eyevine, Aïna, and more than 550 photographers including Frank Micelotta, Manoocher Deghati, Randy Olson, and Jack Reznicki.
News
Adobe acquires digital photography raw file workflow technology from Pixmantec
The San Jose, California based software giant, Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE), best known for its Creative Suite product and PhotoShop, has announced that it has acquired the technology assets of Pixmantec ApS. Pixmantec is a privately held company headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark and is the maker of the RawShooter line of digital photography software products. Adobe plans to integrate Pixmantec raw processing technologies into its new digital photography workflow product Lightroom.
News
Microsoft Acquires iView
Microsoft has acquired the UK-based iView, makers of iView MediaPro a software that photographers and other creative professionals can use to manage and catalogue digital assets through a searchable database. The software, which works on both Mac and PC systems, supports more than 100 file formats for a variety of digital content including images, audio and video. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. iView has taken pains to assure its customers that this change in ownership will not disrupt its operations in any way but that it will enhance the company’s customer support and new product development to the benefit of customers. Company founder Yan Calotychos stressed this point in an open letter to iView customers posted on the company’s web-site on Tuesday, June 27, 2006.
