Archives: April, 2008
News
Imaging consultancy Electric Lane offers free resources on revamped website
Electric Lane, an imaging consultancy serving the stock photography industry, has announced plans to launch a revamped version of its website (the new interface will be up by April 15th) including information and downloadable free scripts and utilities on copyright, metadata, image standards and the stock industry. Founded by Sarah Saunders, the company has advised image libraries in both commercial and non-profit sectors on digital imaging, productive workflows, image asset management, copyright and image usage, and commercial image sales. “We have been helping companies improve their image handling for nearly ten years” said Sarah Saunders Electric Lane’s founder and director. “People enjoy visiting our site and now we are adding an html interface to make it easier to access the resources.”
News
News Brief: A21/Superstock releases ’07 results
A21 Group, which owns the stock image licensing business, Superstock and the consumer wall-art business, ArtSelect, released its results for the full year ended 2007 showing improved operating performance in the face of flat revenue. Gross revenue remained relatively flat on an annualized basis for 2007, but gross and operating margins improved, thanks to restructuring initiatives taken in 2007. Despite these efforts, however, the company remains in the red, though losses have declined.
News
Image Source to distribute World Portraits photo collection
Less than one year after the official launch of the World Portraits collection, the agency has signed a distribution agreement with Image Source for world-wide distribution. World Portraits, founded in the Netherlands by industry veteran Bas van Beek, will feature, as the name implies, images of people living their daily lives in all parts of the globe. In addition, the agency will use the growing micro-banking system to share revenue with the individuals appearing in the images, even those in remote parts of developing countries.
News
Cutcaster launches NASDAQ-like marketplace for stock photography and footage
Cutcaster, A new image marketplace has launched offering Royalty Free photos and video from a community of photographers and videographers. However, this new marketplace has a unique approach to pricing which makes it difficult to label as micro-stock, mid-stock or traditional stock pricing because the contributor sets the pricing based on supply and demand. In addition content providers can interact with potential buyers who are permitted to submit bids for content, which the contributor can accept, decline or meet with a return offer. “I came from a stock trading background on Wall St. where electronic trading platforms seamlessly helped buyers and sellers find one another, negotiate on pricing and cut out the expensive and inefficient middleman” states Cutcaster founder John Griffin.
News
iStockphoto introducing stock photography and footage subscription in May ‘08
Getty’s micropayment product, iStockphoto, the first and largest of the micro-payment sites with an image licensed every 1.4 seconds, has announced that it will be launching a subscription service to allow open access to photos, illustrations, and footage, for a period of 3, 6 or 12 months. The company is currently in private BETA testing of the new service and has declined to release information about the pricing and terms of the service except to say that Packages will start for as little as $96/month. Other companies offering similar subscription services include Shutterstock, SnapVillage and Stockxpert.
News
Dreamstime partners with ImageClick to gain footing in South Korea
The micro-stock company Dreamstime has established a partnership with a leading photo agency in South Korea to build its access to that market. The South Korean agency, ImageClick, has launched a separately branded, local-language web-site, i22.com, through which it will make Dreamstime’s entire image database available to South Korean customers.
Features
Book Review: Mr Classic by Jeremy Hackett and Garda Tang
Mr Classic by Jeremy Hackett, Photographs by Garda Tang
Thames & Hudson, May 2008
200 pages/hardcover/136 photographs/$40.00
Jeremy Hackett is Mr Classic. Having a clothing label for decades plus writing a column for the U.K.’s The Independent on Sunday are excellent platforms for influencing men’s fashion. But what decidedly earns Hackett this moniker is his talented facility for reviving the proper styles once worn by Britain’s aristocracy with modern practicality. For his book, Mr Classic, London-based photographer Garda Tang shoots Hackett’s models with fitting technique. Every bow tie, every just-so lifted chin neatly accentuates Hackett’s vision of gentlemanly chic. The looks are respectable and refreshing, not stuffy or stagnant.
News
Attributor Secures $12 Million in Series C Financing
Attributor Corp., of Redwood City, California, an internet content tracking platform that scans the internet for possible infringements of text, music, video, imagery, and other related content, has announced that it has secured $12 million in Series C financing from investors led by JAFCO Ventures and previous investor Sigma Partners. The company states that it will use the new influx of cash (Attributor’s third round of financing) to accelerate innovation of its web tracking service as well as expand sales operations. Attributor currently serves a few major publishers including The Associated Press, Reuters, and CondéNet.
News
SnapVillage running fake ad contest for designers
The marketing executives at the Corbis-owned micro-stock business, SnapVillage, have come up with a promotional scheme that is bound to attract interest among their target market and provide a few good laughs in the bargain. Encouraging designers to “forget that pesky ‘client approval’ thing for a change,” the company has announced a fake ad contest. Anyone who wants to participate can simply create their own ad for a fictional client using a free or watermarked image from SnapVillage.
News
ITN produces Margaret Thatcher documentary series for Telegraph Media Group
Telegraph Media Group has announced that it has tapped ITN On to produce a documentary series of eight original DVDs for Telegraph readers to be inserted in the Telegraph between April 14-19. The DVDs incorporate hours of original stock footage from ITN’s archive and are intended to provide a comprehensive account of Margaret Thatcher (the longest serving Prime Minister of the last century) starting with her life before entering politics, through her years as party leader then Prime Minister and her enduring legacy. Narrated by Anna Massey, this unique collaboration was an attempt to produce the definitive documentary series on Margaret Thatcher.
News
CreateAds.com now offering access to iStockphoto imagery for newspaper ads
iStockphoto, has announced a partnership with CreateAds.com, a self-service ad-creation tool used by Small businesses in the UK to create newspaper ads. Users of the service will now have direct access to more than 2.6 million images from iStockphoto to suit their specific advertising needs. CreateAds.com works with publishers who produce 1,800 weekly and daily publications. Combined, these publications publish approximately 1 million ads per month, one-third of which incorporate photography. According to John Reid, Chairman of The Newspaper Society, “It’s hard to create a bad looking ad using this system”.
News
RF Brands RedChopsticks and 40260 on the block
The veteran stock photographer and photo business entrepreneur Jack Hollingsworth is known for making his own rules and going his own way. He has been the force behind several stock photo production companies, both on his own and with partners. Now he has put two of the brands he created up for sale. Redchopstocks.com and 40260.com (forty to sixty) are now on the market. Hollingsworth says he’s a “motivated seller” and will consider all bids up until the deadline of the end of business on April 18.
News
The Kennel Club Picture Library launches new site featuring 60,000 dog images
Who let the Dogs out? The Kennel Club Picture Library has announced that it is re-launching its website making over 60,000 images of ‘Man’s best friend’ available online to picture buyers including images from 1865 to the present day. The library is an established resource of Canine images including all 209 Kennel Club recognized dog breeds as well as images related to care, nutrition, dog shows, training, royal dogs and celebrities with their dogs.
News
Thought Equity Motion to license stock music clips
Thought Equity Motion (TEM,) the motion content licensing and management business based in Denver, has added a music licensing component to its web-site. The new music offering includes exclusive Rights Managed music clips, Royalty Free music clips and a selection of RF sound effects and loops. Prices for the Royalty Free music range from $29 to $59 for tracks of varying duration from 12 seconds to approximately four minutes. Short sound effect loops go for $9.
Editorials
In his own words: Jack Hollingsworth on the future of the stock photo industry
Recently asked to give his opinion about the future of stock photography, Jack Hollingsworth offered the following thoughts which we gladly share with our readers. For those who don’t know him, Jack has a long history as a successful stock photographer, creative director and founding partner in several stock photo production companies. We encourage and welcome our readers’ comments on what Jack has to say. "the traditional stock photography model of doing business, as we know it, is on the verge of extinction..."
News
Alaska Stock Partners with Mauritius in Germany
The specialty library, Alaska Stock Images, has announced a new partnership with Mauritius Images to distribute Images in Germany. Hans-Joerg Zwez, owner and President of Mauritius Images states, “Alaska Stock is a wonderful and great collection of nature, animals and activities in an unspoiled part of our world.” The Alaska Stock collection will now be offered to Mauritius customers as part of its comprehensive collection including more than 2.8 million images from around the world.
News
LuckyOliver to close its doors
The San Francisco-based low-priced (micro) stock photo company, LuckyOliver (LO,) has announced it will close its doors. In a post on LO’s blog site on April 15, the company’s founder, Bryan Zmijewski, said the web-site will close as of May 15, 2008. He cited a lack of financial resources to fund growth as the principal reason for the decision to cease operating the business.
News
Collinstock launches with architecture photography from architects and designers
Hailing from the Twin Cities of Minneapolis / St. Paul, MN, a new stock photo company has launched to serve as a resource for architectural photos with a unique focus on images from building and construction professionals (architects, builders, remodelers and designers) who are looking to gain visibility for their work and generate licensing revenue. The new company has launched with a roster of 28 photographer from North America and the United Kingdom. Collinstock is headed by Steve Collins, former CEO of the Omnicom-owned Martin Williams ad agency.
News
a21 launches Media Magnet micro-payment stock photography site
Jacksonville Florida based, a21, the parent company of SuperStock, and ArtSelect, has announced the launch of a new micro-payment/mid-stock site called Media Magnet. The new site features a mix of royalty-free content from both commercial image collections and user-generated micro-stock photography. The company states that MediaMagnet’s concept is simple: relevant, fresh content and a simplified search at affordable pricing.
News
Corbis offering free DIY Pinhole Cameras
The stock photo agency Corbis has come up with a unique and fun promotion on their site offering colorful Do-It-Yourself (DIY) pinhole cameras decorated with the company’s photos and illustrations. Pinhole cameras are more fun than practical but they do allow the photographer to create gloriously lo-tech images with a nostalgic feel. The cameras were designed by the Fwis design firm in NYC exclusively for Corbis.
News
Free-Stock-Photos.co.uk offering web resolution images for free
A UK-based company has taken the micro-stock model to an extreme even beyond what many consider to be the extremely low prices of most micro-stock companies. Free-Stock-Photos.co.uk (FSP) offers use of its images free of charge. Well, not exactly. The web-resolution files can be used only in exchange for crediting and providing a link to FSP. Uses of larger files do cost a fee, comparable to micro-stock fees for equivalent sizes.
News
JupiterMedia launches Clipart Connection subscription site
JupiterMedia CEO, Alan Meckler has announced on his blog that the company has launched a new subscription site for clip art images called Clip Art Connection. The new site, (the 12th subscription site for JupiterImages), features a collection of more than 1 million unique images with subscriptions as low as $4.95 per week. For customers who crave more content the company also operates a more robust Clipart.com subscription site featuring over 10 million images with subscriptions starting at $15.95 per week.
Features
The Age celebrates 100 Years of photography
The Age, a daily newspaper from Melbourne Australia is celebrating 100 years of photojournalism (April 22nd 1908 to April 22nd 2008). To mark the occasion, the newspaper has created a series of online galleries featuring noteworthy shots from the past century including incredible images of war, peace, sports, and general life in Australia. The Age currently has a Monday to Friday readership average of 658,000 and has been a leading source of news in Australia since 1854.
Editorials
Another take on the business: Val Gelineau Co-Founder of Photospin
Jack Hollingsworth’s comments, posted in this space a couple of days ago, provoked a number of comments. Val Gelineau, co-founder of the stock image subscription site, Photospin, offered his take on the challenges photographers face in today’s market. We thought Val’s advice worthy of posting here, where more of our readers are likely to see them.
In response to one reader, Tim McGuire, who commented, "With all due respect, tell us something we don’t know," Val writes:
News
Everett expands with four international collections
The Everett Collection (EC) has announced the addition of images from four archives to its database, expanding its coverage of both historical and contemporary imagery. According to EC President, Ron Harvey, the new images lend even more depth to company’s well-known archives of historical and contemporary entertainment personalities for editorial uses. The company also hopes these collections, with many images available for advertising, will help it enter the commercial use market, as well.
News
Construction Photography launches improved website
The London based specialist stock agency Construction Photography has announced that it has once again revamped its website in an effort to better to serve customers. The company which last overhauled its website in January 2006 is proud to introduce many new features including a new ‘drag and drop’ lightbox, hover-over image previews, and improved search functionality. “I wish I had access to these features when I was working at Getty Images” explained Owen Jones, Library Manager.
News
Photo News Round-Up
• OnRequest Images, a Seattle-based company that builds custom stock photo libraries for corporations has raised $8MM from a European investment group to be used for expansion of the business in Europe.
• Corbis hires Barry Allen as the company’s new Chief Financial Officer.
• Corbis and Getty announce new footage initiatives. Corbis adds extensive High Definition (HD) footage from Serac Adventure Films, an award-winning production company specializing in high-quality expedition films. Getty becomes the exclusive distributor of high-definition footage from American Public Television series “Art Wolfe’s Travels to the Edge.”
News
Northfoto signs agreement to represent Jupiterimages subscription services
Northfoto, a stock photo agency based in Budapest, Hungary, has penned a deal with Jupiter Media to represent three of its paid subscription services (Clipart.com, Comstock Complete and Jupiter Images Unlimited) to editorial and creative clients in Hungary and Romania.
News
Majority World seeks to promote indigenous photographers from developing countries
Promoting a fair trade policy in photojournalism, an Oxfordshire, England agency called Majority World plans to expand its representation of photographers and agencies from developing and southern hemisphere countries. The managers of Majority World hope to expose the Western media audience to the work of local photographers who have a more intimate knowledge of their societies than do the staff and freelance photographers sent in by the Western Media.
News
123RF.com unveils EVO midstock collection
Inmagine’s micropayment site 123RF.com has announced the launch of a new mid-stock line called EVO images. The company has invited select contributors to submit up to 20 images a day for the new collection to be offered for download via the company’s credit system ranging from 5 - 160 credits per image (credits can be purchased at a cost of .70 - $1.00 each depending on volume). Images from the EVO line will be identified in search results with a small EVO logo underneath each thumbnail.
