Archives: July, 2008
News
OnAsia releases keyword suggestion feature for Image Keyworder software
OnAsia, a Singapore based stock photography and assignment agency, has announced that it has released a new ‘suggest’ function as part of its Windows-based Image Keyworder software. The suggest feature now allows the community to participate in refining and growing Image Keyworder’s controlled vocabulary of more than 40,000 terms. The new version is offered as a free upgrade for existing users or costs approx US$ 79.99 for a new license allowing installation on two computers.
News
ACAP to adopt PLUS image licensing standards
ACAP (Automated Content Access Protocol), a new global non-proprietary machine-readable protocol that enables publishers to control how their online content is re-used, has announced that it has adopted the PLUS (Picture Licensing Universal System) image licensing protocols. In a recent press release ACAP stated plans to use the PLUS License Data Format and PLUS Media Matrix standards to supplement the existing ACAP vocabulary for communicating license-related information in a machine-readable form to web crawlers and other automated devices that use web content. ACAP has previously concentrated on text-based web resources, and its adoption of PLUS semantics is part of a planned extension of ACAP to meet publisher requirements to communicate more precise terms for use of photographic and other media resources by web crawlers.
News
From the Editors: New design and job board on abouttheimage.com
As many of you will have noticed by now, we have re-launched our web-site with a new, cleaner design, a better logo and a few added features. We hope you continue to find our site a useful destination for keeping up to date on the latest news about the ever-changing and evolving stock photo business.
News
Red Cover picture library unable to pay contributors
The Press Gazette, a UK publication for Journalists, is reporting that Red Cover, of south London, has racked up nearly £500,000 (approx $1 million USD) in debt and has told its contributing photographers and writers that it may not be able to pay them for up to two years. Red Cover specializes in home interior imagery and currently supplies content to Getty Images.
News
Photo News Round-Up
• Getty Images Announces Completion of Acquisition by Hellman & Friedman (originally announced in Feb 2008).
• Chinese government officials fired after publishing fake tiger photo.
News
Photoshelter selects 20 photographers to participate in Shoot! event
Photoshelter recently announced plans to host a photographer event on July 20th 2008 called Shoot! the Day, where a select group of photographers will get thew chance to work on-location with industry experts to create new and unique images. PhotoShelter has received more than 750 applications which the company has narrowed down to a list of 20 photographers who will engage in a photo shoot based on five key image categories noted by image buyers as most depleted: active seniors, youth culture, family and kids, business settings and still life.
News
PicScout signs Splash News to provide free celebrity photos on picapp
Image details: Mya spotted on the beach in Barbados served by picapp.com
PicScout, a technology company best known for helping stock licensing companies monitor distribution of their content, has announced that it has signed a distribution deal with the Splash News and Picture Agency to offer celebrity news images at no cost to bloggers on picapp.com. The company launched the beta version of picapp.com in March 2008 as an ad-supported model where bloggers can embed free images accompanied by an advertisement that generates royalties for the content contributor. The company also offers content from a variety of sources including Getty Images, Corbis, Image Source, and many others.
News
Getty Images partners with Yahoo to monetize Flickr images
Getty Images, the worlds largest image licensing company, has announced that it has partnered with Yahoo-owned Flickr, one of the world’s largest photo sharing communities, allowing Getty to reach out to Flickr’s more than 27 million members to monetize their Flickr images. Getty plans to offer the images as part of a new Flickr branded collection of royalty free, rights ready and rights managed photographs. “This partnership is testimony to the Flickr community of photographers who have influenced the aesthetics of photography with authentic, creative and cutting-edge images which will now be available to Getty Images’ customers around the world,” said Kakul Srivastava, General Manager, Flickr.
News
BBC Motion gallery representing footage from The Prince’s Trust
BBC Motion Gallery, the stock footage licensing division of BBC Worldwide, has announced a deal to represent the video content from The Princes Trust, The Prince of Wales’s youth charity. BBC Motion Gallery will now represent footage The Prince’s Trust events including recent content from such popular events as the Party in the Park and Fashion Rocks incorporating performances by Robbie Williams, Beyonce and Sting. Looking back over the previous 25 years clips can be found of Elton John, Mariah Carey and Jay-Z - as well as an appearance by Nelson Mandela. “Our previous events have featured performances and appearances that you’ll never see anywhere else and that’s a unique commercial opportunity. By working with an organisation with the experience and global contacts that Motion Gallery can offer we can raise vital funds to change young lives” explains Paul Brown, Director of Marketing and Communications, Princes Trust.
News
Getty launches JAMD Mobile application showcasing celebrity pics on Apple iPhone
Getty Images has announced that it has taken another step towards serving celebrity images direct to consumers with the release of a new mobile application for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch. The new application is an extension of the company’s JAMD.com consumer site and claims to provide a fresh new celebrity image experience “Whether you follow the cast of Gossip Girl or want the latest pics of Coldplay, JAMD Mobile encourages engagement with the images that mean the most to you,” said Bruce Livingstone, iStockphoto founder and current SVP, Consumer Division, Getty Images. “We’re delighted to use the global reach of the Apple App Store to offer our JAMD Mobile application to iPhone and iPod touch users.”
News
Photo News Round-Up
• Idée’s Multicolr Search Lab allows users to search for images by color from either Flickr or Alamy.
• Leslie Camhi of the Village Voice covers ”Framing a Century” exhibit at The Met.
News
Open Text’s Artesia Digital Media Group acquires eMotion from Corbis for $5 million
Waterloo, Ontario based Open Text Corporation, has agreed to acquire eMotion LLC from the Corbis Corporation for approximately $5 million in cash and assets. Open Text has stated plans to merge eMotion with its Artesia Digital Media Group in order to expand its enterprise marketing asset management solution, Artesia DAM. Corbis first acquired eMotion in 2005 in an apparent attempt to compete with to Getty’s Media Management Services. “eMotion is the right fit at the right time to expand our Artesia Digital Media Group, our portfolio of solutions for marketing departments, and our team of content experts who can innovate with customers and leverage their growing libraries of video, images and other rich media content in a Web 2.0 world,” said Scott Bowen, President of Open Text’s Artesia Digital Media Group.
News
Red Cover Picture Library issues statement about contributor payments
Last week The Press Gazette reported that Red Cover was unable to pay contributors due to looming debt woes in excess of £500,000 (approx $1 million USD). In response, the agency held a meeting with certain contributors and issued the following statement.
News
Against the grain: ableimages launches into RM production
Amidst a steady pace of new RF production companies launching over the last few years and, more recently, a growing trend of would-be RF producers dedicating their efforts to producing for micro-stock, the founders of ableimages follow a different and, now, rarer, course; producing images strictly for Rights Managed distribution. The company recently launched a new web-site to coincide with its second release of imagery consisting of 1,000 new images bringing their numbers to almost 3000.
News
AudioMicro now representing AE Music Publishing Archive and Ric Viers
Los Angeles based micro stock music licensing platform, Audio Micro, announces deal to represent the AE Music Publishing Archive (a division of Asylum Entertainment) and clips from world renowned sound designer Ric Viers. Having launched in May 2008 the fledgling site has now added a significant amount of content with over 1000 clips from the AE Music Publishing Archive, including work from multiple Grammy nominated composer, David Arkenstone, and over over 15,000 new sound effects from Ric Viers.
News
Pond5 launches micro-payment stock footage site with more than 50,000 clips
New York based Pond5.com, a micro-payment stock footage community site, has announced that it has emerged from beta testing with the launch of version 1.0 of its website. The new site, located at pond5.com, offers more than 50,000 broadcast-quality SD and HD clips available for instant download, starting at $5 per clip. Prices on Pond5 are controlled by the contributors and start at just $5, with an average price of around $40 for HD footage, and $20 for SD footage.
News
Photographer Associations express concerns with Orphan Works bills S2913 and HR5889
For several years now the US Congress has been debating orphan works legislation which would allow publishers to use copyrighted works without a license in the event that it is difficult or impossible to identify and contact the copyright holder. As in recent years, organizations representing artists and copyright holders have made it clear that they cannot support this legislation in its current form. The Advertising Photographers of America (APA), the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), the Stock Artists Alliance (SAA) and Editorial Photographers (EP) on behalf of their members are urging congress to change Orphan Works bills S2913 and HR5889 as they bad for copyright holders and inconsistent with international trade agreements.
News
Photo News Round-Up
• Flowerphotos owner Carol Sharp puts out call for nature photographers to give back by contributing to new Greener Image charitable fund.
• Map Resources releases world vector maps with country names translated into French, Spanish, German, Italian & Dutch.
Features
Mr. Stock Smarty Pants tells what to do with all your travel and landscape imagery
You’ve undoubtedly been wandering around for weeks now, muttering to yourself: I wonder how the heck Mr. Stock Smarty Pants has been weathering this nasty economic downturn that I’ve heard so much about? Your concern is greatly appreciated, and MSSP wants to assure all of his loyal readers that he’s doing just fine, thank you. Oh, sure, the recession has caused him to tighten his belt just a bit: he’s had to temporarily discontinue stocking his cabinet with single-malt Scotches and switch to Dewar’s, and instead of three weeks on the Riviera in August, he’s prudently decided to cut back to just fourteen days on the French coast. But, MSSP remains generally optimistic about the state of the economy, and why shouldn’t he? He was wise enough to unload his Getty Images stock near its high of ninety five bucks a share back in the fall of 2005 instead of the puny $34 each sucker…uh, shareholder received when the company’s sale to Hellman & Friedman closed a few days ago! Hey, they don’t call him Mr. Stock SMARTY Pants for nuthin’!
News
Dubai Photographers Agency launches Celeb Arabia
The Dubai based, Dubai Photographers Agency, has announced the launch of a new source for celebrity images from the middle east called Celeb Arabia. The company claims that the new site located at CelebArabia.com will be updated daily with entertainment photography including red carpet images, portraiture and assignments featuring A-list celebrities from around the world.
Features
Book Review: Animalia by Henry Horenstein
Animalia by Henry Horenstein
Pond Press (June 30, 2008)
80 pages/hardcover/64 duotone photographs/$40.00
Professor Henry Horenstein remixes his acclaimed photographs of land and sea creatures, adding 35 unpublished images, into his latest book, Animalia. His parade of subjects in sepia marches with pride and precision through the lens and into the mind’s eye. As an artist, Horenstein connects humans to animals though emotional macro studies. As a scientist, he patiently waits to press the shutter on an unsuspecting world.
News
PACA back in NYC for 13th annual international conference in October
The Picture Archive Council of America (PACA), a trade organization for stock licensing companies, has announced that it will be hosting its popular annual international conference in New York City’s world-famous Financial District from October 24 - 26, 2008. The timing of the event has been coordinated in order to coincide with the photo industry’s biggest events including PhotoPlus (October 23-25) and Picturehouse (October 29) bringing photographers, stock agency personell, and photo buyers, to NYC from all over the world for an action packed week of networking and industry activity.
News
Photo News Round-Up
• Rob Haggart, the former Director of Photography for Men’s Journal and Outside Magazine discusses panel on stock photography.
• According to Angela Natividad of AdRants, PhotoShelter’s Shoot! the Day Brings Stock Photo Angst to the Fore.
News
a21 signs letter of intent giving Applejack Art Partners majority stake in business
a21, Inc. (OTCBB: ATWO) one of the largest stock licensing companies in the world has announced that it has entered into a non-binding Letter of Intent (LOI) with Applejack Art Partners, Inc. of Vermont. Under the terms of the LOI, Applejack would purchase all of a21’s outstanding notes (a principal amount of $18,000,000) and all of the shares of a21 common stock (approximately 41 million shares). a21 would then exchange approximately 110 million newly issued shares of its common stock with Applejack in satisfaction of approximately $13,000,000 of such notes. “We are pleased to make an investment in a21 and believe that our complementary product offerings should result in greater sales opportunities and efficiency for both companies” stated Jack Appelman, Chief Executive Officer of Applejack.
Editorials
Microstocks: the Latest Fossils
Recently, attracted by an internet link to photos of “Living Fossils,” I clicked into a slideshow in Popular Science’s online magazine. The usual suspects were there- platypus, opossum, tuatara- but the usual credit lines weren’t. None of the small niche specialist agencies were represented, nor were any of the giants. Not even a microstock! Instead, the credits included nine photos gotten through Creative Commons (CC) licensing, and one through GNU General Public Licensing. Of the two remaining, one was in the public domain, and one was from NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (presumably acquired free).
News
Idée signs key editorial customers for PixID Image Monitoring Service
Toronto Canada based Idée Inc., a software company focused on image identification and visual search software, has announced that several new key customers have adopted its PixID Image Monitoring Service. The new customers include, The European Pressphoto Agency (EPA), Matrix Photos, Capital Pictures and Feature Flash. Idée launched its PixID image monitoring service I n 2007 and the company states that it monitors thousands of publications for over 25 million of its clients images and performs up to 55 trillion image comparisons each month.
News
Adobe Lightroom 2 is here!
I’m delighted to report that the 64-bit native Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 is now shipping for Mac and Windows. LR2 sells for $299 ($99 upgrade), and the 30-day tryout version is available for immediate download.
Tom Hogarty has posted a wealth of info on the Lightroom Journal blog, so I won’t attempt to duplicate everything here. Instead let me note some highlights:
News
Corbis taps photographer Jason Joyce to create stylized women in sports images
Corbis, one of the world’s largest stock licensing companies, has released a new set of imagery featuring futuristic women in sports just in time for the Summer Olympic games in Beijing. To create these images Corbis Art Director Martin Yates worked with acclaimed photographer Jason Joyce to produce imagery of women fencers, swimmers, archers, weight-lifters, soccer players and others in high concept futuristic settings. The images have been carefully retouched to give the photos a clean, vibrant and surreal look.
News
Encyclopedia Britannica image archives now available for distribution
The Encyclopedia Britannica have made their visual content archives, including photos, maps, illustrations, natural science drawings, slides and animations, available for distribution and stock licensing. The collection holds approximately 55,000 images of which the company has digitized nearly two thirds.
News
Mark Seliger shoots celebrity series to commemorate Macy’s 150th birthday
Macy’s, one of the world’s largest and most respected retailers, is gearing up to celebrate its 150th anniversary. As part of the celebration the company has is working with JWT New York and famed Rolling Stone photographer Mark Seliger to capture images of such celebrities as Christina Aguilera, Martha Stewart, Tommy Hilfiger, Donald Trump and Calvin Klein in an apparent effort to emphasize the brand’s fashion and lifestyle significance. “This is an incredible milestone for Macy’s,” said Peter Sachse, president of Macy’s Corporate Marketing. “There will be big celebrations and moments throughout the remainder of 2008, but what better way to kick off our 150th birthday festivities than with some of today’s most popular stars and designers paying tribute to Macy’s most revered and long-standing icons – all shot through the extraordinary lens of one of America’s most talented photographers.”
Features
Book Review: The Eternal Light of Egypt by Sarite Sanders
The Eternal Light of Egypt by Sarite Sanders
Thames & Hudson (September 30, 2008)
220 pages/hardcover/126 duotone photographs/$50.00
Sarite Sanders issues the results of a thirty-year reconnaissance mission in her book, The Eternal Light of Egypt: A Photographic Journey. Conquering the sensitivity of infrared, Sanders’ impressions of Nile treasures are most welcoming. As the full gray spectrum is no longer hidden, gods and goddesses, mummies, rulers, colossi, temples and portals reveal a new likeness with prideful charm. Along with her timeless subjects, Sanders can rejoice with this mammoth personal and professional achievement.
News
Forrester buys JupiterResearch for $23 million
Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR) has announced that it has acquired Jupiter Research, LLC, and its parent company, JUPR Holdings, Inc., for $23 million in cash plus assumed liabilities from MCG Capital Corporation (Nasdaq: MCGC) who bought the business in Mar 06 for $10.1 million and merged it with its own Kagan Research LLC. Prior to the acquisition by MCG Capital JupiterResearch was a significant part of Alan Meckler’s Jupiter Media (NASDAQ:JUPM) who sold the research division in order to focus on its burgeoning image licensing business. Currently JupiterResearch has 82 employees and 2007 revenues of approximately $14 million compared to Forrester’s 2007 revenues of $212 million, and now more than 1,000 employees.
