Archives: August, 2007
News
News Brief: More lay-offs at Getty Images
We have learned that Getty Images has effected another round of lay-offs. Sources tell us the company has let go about 100 employees altogether from its London, New York and Seattle offices. We expect to learn more details about the lay-offs when the company releases its 2nd quarter ’07 results, later today. In the meantime, a spokesperson for the company would only say, “There will be a small reduction in headcount, in keeping with Getty's ongoing business realignment.”
News
Getty 2Q07 – core creative stills business down
In a conference call with analysts yesterday to discuss Getty’s 2nd quarter 2007 results, CEO Jonathan Klein painted a picture of a company whose core business is contracting while it reaches for new businesses for long-term growth. Decreasing creative stills sales, which comprised 75% of the company’s total revenue of $218MM for the quarter, resulted in a currency neutral decrease in revenue of 2%, year-over-year. The company’s stock closed slightly down at the end of the day, at $44.84.
Features
Visual case study: McDonald’s
The quintessential fast food company McDonald's is a household name in nearly every country of the world. The 52 year old company describes its advertising strategy as “part of our lives and culture. McDonald's commercials have focused not only on product, but rather on the overall McDonald's experience, portraying warmth and a real slice of every day life”. Meg Asaro and Karen D’Silva from Spark Visual Research take a closer look at the images used by McDonald's to continue reaching new and old customer alike.
News
‘P-Pod’ a horticulture specialist library launches in the UK
P-Pod, a new horticulture specialty library, has launched featuring a collection of more than 47,000 images of plants and flowers, and environmental pictures. P-Pod.co.uk, Ltd which is run by horticultural professionals with a botanical background, has been building its collection for more than three years, collecting and cataloging the images from Spain to Scotland. The collection contains many rare plants photographed in their natural setting, e.g. orchids or toadstools.
News
Getty’s consumer-facing site: ViewImages.com
Last week, in his second-quarter ‘07 conference call with analysts, Getty CEO Jonathan Klein said the company would develop a new consumer-oriented site as one initiative to generate growth in the face of declining creative stills volumes. He did not provide details about this consumer business. On Saturday, however, our friends at StockPhotoTalk posted a transcript from a presentation Klein gave shortly after Getty’s purchase of the Pump Audio in which Klein discusses the new consumer web-site, View Images.com.
News
SAA and ASMP receive Preserving Creative America initiative award from Library of Congress
The Stock Artist Alliance and American Society of Media Photographers have been selected among eight partnerships awarded for preserving digital media by the U.S. Library of Congress. The partnerships are each awarded to address different aspects of preservation, to help ensure the survival of digital media. The SAA has been recognized previously for the publication of its "Metadata Manifesto" in 2006 and the award be used to develop online resources and professional seminars to promote the importance of metadata for the long-term usability of digital photographs. The ASMP will use its award to expand and promote the Universal Photographic Digital Imaging Guidelines, with recommendations for refined production workflows, archiving methods and best practices based on image use and capture methods.
News
Thought Equity expansion continues with acquisition of FilmWorld
On the heels of last month’s break-through deal to represent the NBC News Archives, Thought Equity Motion (TEM) has announced the acquisition of the Australian film and video content provider, FilmWorld. The arrangement adds a new collection of mostly commercial Asian and Pacific lifestyle footage to TEM’s fast-growing and already formidable list of news, sports, historical and art-directed lifestyle footage archives.
News
Jupiter’s 2Q: RM up, subscriptions up, online media down
Jupiter Images released their 2nd quarter results earlier this week. Surprisingly, given industry leader Getty Images’ recent difficulties in the single image RM revenue category, Jupiter reported steady growth in RM of 30% from the first half of 2006 to the same period in 2007. The company’s subscription business grew by an astounding 200% in the same period. In his conference call with analysts, CEO Alan Meckler stressed that JI is positioned to thrive in the changing image environment, unlike its major competitor (read Getty) who relies so heavily on single image RM sales.
News
Redux Pictures now representing images from art & photography book publisher powerHouse Books
Redux Pictures has announced a deal with powerHouse Books, a specialty publisher focused on conceptual art photography and illustrated books from the world’s top photographers, art directors, writers, and cultural icons. According to the press release Redux pictures will handle international serial rights to select powerHouse Book titles including upcoming releases from Jamel Shabazz, Janette Beckman, Julia Calfee, Seth Kushner & Anthony LaSala, Nathaniel Welch, Carolyn Russo, and David Yellen, as well as a memoir by Walker Evans’ former wife Isabelle Storey.
News
Corbis to remain quiet about future financial performance
Seattle based, Corbis corporation, is widely considered to be the worlds 2nd largest stock licensing company. In recent years the company has voluntarily made certain financial information public on a regular basis fueling speculation that the company had plans for an IPO. However, with its new CEO, Gary Shenk at the helm, the company has issued a statement that “it will no longer conduct semiannual teleconferences with financial analysts and media regarding its financial performance until further notice.”
News
Corbis rights services used by high-profile accounts in America and Europe
Corbis announced last year its intention to expand its rights and clearances service as part of its strategy to achieve profitability. Today, the company announced several high-profile accounts landed by its Rights and Music Clearance department. Corbis has provided various services to Publicis on behalf of the Bounty paper-towel brand in the UK, BBDO for GE in the US and DDB Canada for BC Hydro, the Canadian utility company.
News
Art Life reaches 2 Million Images in first six months of operation
Jacksonville, Florida based Art Life Images was launched in January 2007 by former Superstock executive Chris DeLellis. After only 6 months of operation the business claims to have over 2 million images. "We are exceptionally pleased with our progress and with the support and encouragement we receive from both the THP (Technology Hosting Platform) and from our suppliers, who are the best of the best. We are aware of the environmental challenges facing the industry and believe we now represent a combination of the highest quality product backed by best-of-breed, cost effective technologies positioning us as a fresh and hopefully preferred alternative." Stated DeLellis.
News
PhotoShelter to host digital-era photography forums
On-line image archiving and photography web-site service provider, PhotoShelter, has teamed up with Hewlett-Packard and other companies to host town-hall style meetings for photographers and photo-buyers to discuss the impact of the Internet on their professions. Called “Photography 2.0: The Business of Photography in the Web Era,” the meetings will take place in several cities across the US during the month of September. Speakers will include professional freelance photographers and magazine photography directors. Photographers of any experience level are invited to attend and registration is free of charge.
News
Canon launches 21.1-Megapixel EOS-1Ds Mark III Digital SLR
After more than 2 years on the market Canon’s 16.7 megapixel EOS-1Ds Mark II has been the SLR of choice for many professional stock photographers due to ease of use and the large file output. Canon, has just announced that it has finally improved on its flagship camera with the release of the 21.1 megapixel EOS-1Ds Mark III. The Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III is scheduled to begin shipping in November with an estimated selling price of $7,999 matching the initial price point of its predecessor. Canon is hoping that the resolution offered in the 1Ds Mark III will make it an attractive choice for professional Fashion and Commercial studio photographers accustomed to using medium-format cameras.
News
iStockphoto exclusive photographers get a bonus
iStockphoto announced that all of its exclusive members – those who offer their work exclusively in iStock – will receive 100% of all revenue generated on their images during he entire day yesterday, August 20, 2007. According to the company, this represents over $100K distributed among the 2,300 excluisive members as a result of one day’s worth of downloads from the site.
Features
Masters of Photography video presentation
This presentation entitlted 'Masters of Photography' was posted to on youtube by ilayrock. The presentation does a nice job of comparing older photography from such legends as Ansel Adams, Walker Evans, Yousuf Karsh, Etc... with a new generation of photography featuring popular pieces from deviantart.
News
Mary Evans representing Reform Club cartoons
The Mary Evans Picture Library, a leading source of historical images, has announced that it now represents more than 150 caricatures and cartoons from the Reform Club. The Reform Club is one of London's great institutions, situated in Pall Mall, known as the "heart of clubland". Founded in 1836, the club was originally formed as a social club for Whigs and Radicals supportive of the Reform Act. Today, it has no specific political affiliations but its building, designed by Charles Barry and completed in 1841 remains a masterpiece of classical architecture, with the club's artistic treasures a natural reflection of its rich historic heritage. The original engraved pictures, with vivid, original hand-colouring, date from the mid-1790s to 1810 including pictures drawn by notable cartoonists such as Cruickshank and Rowlandson
News
PicScout now monitoring copyright in Australia
PicScout, a provider of internet tracking and monitoring solutions to the digital content industry, has announced that it will begin monitoring possible infringements in Australia. Until now the Israel based company has monitored North American and European markets for possible infringements on the internet reporting back to its content providers.
News
Nikon introduces 12.1 megapixel D3 with full-frame CMOS sensor
After years of producing digital SLR’s with a smaller APS-sized CMOS sensor (23.6 x 15.8 mm) Nikon has finally released a new Digital SLR with a full-frame (36.9 x 23.9 mm) chip roughly equivalent to the size of traditional 35mm SLR’s. The company has also introduced new terminology to make it easier for consumers to distinguish between the two digital formats by calling the smaller sensor ‘DX’ and the new larger sensor ‘FX’.
News
PACA releases free PowerPoint on copyright education
The Picture Archive Council of America (PACA) has placed on its web-site, a valuable resource to any creator or user of photography – a PowerPoint presentation that provides a thorough review of copyright law in the United States and how it applies to the use of imagery in advertising, the news media and fine art. The presentation includes real-world cases with images and detailed explanations of how the parties viewed the claimed infringements and how the courts assessed them.
News
Internet Archive selected to digitize NASA space imagery
Internet Archive of San Francisco has announced a partnership to scan, archive and manage the NASA's collection of photographs, film and video. Currently, NASA has more than 20 major imagery collections online. For the first time all of the NASA collections will be available through a single archive of NASA imagery. NASA appears to have selected Internet Archive, as a partner largely due to the fact that it is a nonprofit organization. The two organizations are teaming through a non-exclusive Space Act agreement to help NASA consolidate and digitize its imagery archives at no cost to the agency.
News
Modern Postcard makes deal with iStock, apologizes for slight to photographers
Last week, Modern Postcard (MP,) a printing and mailing house business specializing in direct-mail postcards, announced a deal “coming soon!” to offer images from Getty’s micro-stock business, iStockphoto. The announcement came in an email to MP customers sent at 5:00PM EST on Friday, August 24, 2007. Within five hours, the company sent a second email to the list with the subject heading: “Modern Postcard Apologizes.”
News
Getty Images launches new site with improved Search
Getty Images has launched the newest generation of gettyimages.com. The company has completely re-tooled its flagship site with a major focus on usability and Search. The much anticipated site began beta testing of the new site in Nov 2006 and has made numerous enhancements to make it easier to find a specific image, including Catalyst, a first-of-its-kind search tool that uses interactive tag clouds to produce related concepts.
News
Hi-Media Group acquiring Fotolog for $90 million
The French internet media company Hi-Media Group, has announced an agreement to acquire New York-based photosharing site Fotolog, Inc. for a combination of cash and stock valued at approximately $90 million. (Fox Interactive recently paid a reported $250 million to acquire Photobucket). Launched in May 2002, Fotolog is at its heart a social networking site with more than 10 million members and 15 million unique monthly visitors. Fotolog now ranks 20th on the Alexa list of the world’s most-trafficked websites. The site provides a platform for members to communicate via daily photo postings, or “photologs.” Fotolog is considered to have a truly global membership with strong market position in Latin America and Europe, accounting for nearly 1/3 of its monthly traffic.
News
PanoGraph launches RM panoramic collection at WorldPanoramaStock.com
PanoGraph, a Hungarian photo agency specializing in panoramic images has launched a new Rights Managed collection located at WorldPanoramaStock.com. The site offers access to panoramic stock photos and from a select group of professional photographers specializing in panoramic photography in five continents. The stock library features a growing number of high-quality 6x17's, Xpans and stunning 360 degree panoramas by many of the best panoramic photographers in the world.
News
Corbis opens photo gallery in Second Life
Corbis has entered the virtual world by creating a gallery for its photo collections in Second Life, an on-line “world” where visitors can engage in a variety of activities via their “avatars” or on-line alter egos. According to a company press release, the Second Life gallery “is focused on creating a community space where those interested in art and photography can view, share and discuss imagery.”
News
Glossy Finish to become national franchise covering amateur sporting events
In August of last year we posted an interview with stock industry veteran, Haim Ariav. The former Chief Creative Officer at A21/Superstock had left that post six months earlier and was working on a new venture, Glossy Finish, a business providing photographic services at amateur sporting events. At that time, the business was still in start-up mode and Ariav was naturally reluctant to go into too much detail about it. Twelve months later, Ariav has successfully executed the first phase of his plan, and he gladly reveals his plans to franchise the business.
