CEO Joe Barrett describes GoGo Images’ mission as an effort to fill an unmet demand for images with ethnically diverse models. “65% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product is produced by people who are seen in 5% of the world’s existing commercial stock images.” He says, adding “40% of the world’s purchasing power is in the hands of people who are seen in 5% of the world’s commercial stock images.”  The impetus for launching the specialty web-site was to give designers and art-buyers seeking multi-cultural imagery, who, until now, had to sift through thousands of irrelevant images in huge stock image data-bases, a convenient one-stop resource for this kind of material.

To help manage the creation of their own niche database, the company hired Gretchen Schultz-Matisse, a former Photodisc creative director.  Schultz-Matisse and Hurshell have brought in imagery from a growing number of suppliers such as Radius, OJO Images, moodboard, DEX, bilderlounge and Latin Stock.  The web-site features image galleries covering latin, African, Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern and Gay and Lesbian cultures. Hurshell says the company is actively recruiting individual photographers with appropriate material.

With six employees, including Hurshell and Barrett, the company currently offers single images under a royalty free license.  “You will notice we set our prices at a premium,” Hurshell says.  “We have found that clients are willing to pay these higher prices both for the quality we offer as well as the convenience of having a deep collection all in one data-base.”  They plan to add rights managed licensing in the near future.

Web-site: GoGoImages.com