StockPhotoTalk | Special Interest Blog

A New Photographic Renaissance, by Pino Granata

Pino Granata recently sparked off a global discussion in the small stock photo community when he sent his declaration or manifesto "Is there any future for photographers and agents?" to the PACA.

Two weeks later Pino published here "The Bill Gates Mystery: An Open Letter From Pino Granata To The Founder Of Corbis".

Both posts were followed by a very vivid discussion, either online here and here as well as separated in a frequent email exchange of various members of the stock photo community.

Pino has written an update on his thoughts, entitled A New Photographic Renaissance:

The Stock Artists Alliance Releases First Issue "Stock Essentials" Of The New Keywords Magazine

"We created Keywords™ to share with other photographers the breadth of knowledge the Stock Artists Alliance can provide", wrote the Stock Artists Alliance last week when the "only worldwide photography trade organization dedicated to the business of stock" introduced the first issue "Stock Essentials" of the magazine Keywords, the new "Guide to the Business of Stock Photography", completely free of charge and with "over 50 pages of definitions, insights, resources and visual inspiration from SAA members who share their expertise about all aspects of the industry".

The first issue covers topics such as:

QuickLinks For 2006-10-27

• University to build new home for famed Black Star photo collection:
  Ryerson University, home to Canada's largest photography school, announced plans Thursday to build a new gallery and research facility to house its world-renowned Black Star photo collection.
  Jeff Rankin-Lowe/Stockphoto.net, quoting the CBC News article on the "$8-million project".
  Tag: Black Star

Thomas Hawk Throwing Questions At Jonathan Klein: "We´re Interested In The User Generated Photography From A Consumer Perspective"

The secret revolution is called "OPEN" ("the new system will be easy and efficient. We will open our system to all professional photographers who meet the criteria. This will give us access to masses of content"), and for some outside it´s a sleeping beauty or beast coming through the backdoor.

It´s a shame for Getty Images that the transcript of the recent conference call with all details is currently only available through the website Seeking Alpha ("Getty Images Q3 2006 Earnings Call Transcript").

But while the stock photo world is discussing the impact of Getty´s new creative workflow model "OPEN" (will it distract photogs away from other portals, agencies and service providers? What will happen to Photographers Choice and the revenues of Getty photographers?), my distant pal Thomas Hawk had the opportunity to meet Jonathan Klein and Bruce Livingston in person a day after the conference call for some questions ("Spending the Day With Getty Images", photos by Thomas and Kristopher).

Image Source: Direct Sales Account Managers

Image Source is the world's leading independent producer and brand for creative and commercial royalty free stock photography. Founded in 1999 by Christina Vaughan, Image Source now supplies images to creative professionals based around the world 24/7 through imagesource.com. Image Source is headquartered in London, UK with sales offices in Cologne, Germany, and New York, USA. The company also supplies imagery through over 250 distribution partners worldwide. This strong international sales network enabled the company to win the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the International Trade Category in 2005.

Image Source is currently looking for

• Direct Sales Account Managers to join the direct sales operations in Cologne, London, Los Angeles or New York.

All details and contact information here at Worldwide Stock Photo Industry Jobs.

Jonathan Klein: "The Continuous Re-invention of Getty Images"

Here´s the full text of the memo Jonathan Klein sent out last week, as mentioned earlier:

Getty Images is entering an important phase of our development. We remain the clear leader in our industry, and we extend that lead on a daily basis. Yet, business is changing as a result of the digital information revolution and our industry is, once again, in a state of transition much as it was when we created Getty Images in 1995.

Eleven years ago we anticipated change at a time when few saw it coming. The broader changes in the environment then provided enormous opportunity and the actions that we took allowed us to seize the opportunity and create a truly great business. We intend to do that again now.

Do Not Steal Images of Brad Pitt: Celebrity Photo Agency Picture Perfect Creates Public Access Options

Will has the report that "Celeb photo agency Picture Perfect Agency based in Los Angeles, CA, are offering the public download accounts", for images and prints. The Platinum Package for 80 bucks grants unlimited access to the comlete archive. Here´s an overview of the "subscription" plan:

For Public Access Options Select A Package Below: Access is immediate upon credit card approval. Download images now!

$5 - One time downloads for $5 each   Download any image for $5 each

$10 - Buy 8X10 Prints for $10 each   Prints will be shipped within 10 working days.

$20 - Standard Package (Monthly)   View Watermarked Images from the COMPLETE Archive.

$30 - Silver Package (Monthly)   Download access to full size images all archived pictures of the past 30 days up to date of purchase.

$60 - Gold Package (Monthly)   Download access to full size images all archived pictures of the past SIX months.

$80 - Platinum Package (Monthly)   Unlimited download access to the COMPLETE Archive.

QuickLinks For 2006-10-26

• Great choices in motion from Stock Options and OSF:
  Stock Options recently signed OSF (Oxford Scientific Films) as one of the premier motion collections it offers. The company is OSF's exclusive Southern African representative, offering footage that is widely acclaimed as being the finest collection of exquisite time-lapse, macro and slow motion cinematography around. The OSF collection joins Corbis Motion, Framepool, and many other top-rated international collections in Stock Options' extensive footage offering, The company is also well known for its own sumptuous African and South African footage collection, mostly captured on 35mm film.
  Bizcommunity.
  Tags: Stock Options Oxford Scientific Films Photolibrary Group

Getty Images Q3/2006 Numbers Revisited

Like in the past, here are the numbers in detail:

Revenue with Sequential change (S) and Year-over-year-change (Y):

YEAR	Q4/04	2004	Q1/05	Q2/05	Q3/05	Q4/05	2005	Q1/06	Q2/06	Q3/06
Total	$162.1	$622.4	$178.1	$185.3	$184.5	$185.8	$733.7	$200.9	$204.8	$198.1
S	5.6%	-	9.9%	4.1%	-0.4%	0.7%	-	8.1%	1.9%	-3%
Y	20.6%	19.0%	13.8%	23.3%	20.2%	14.6%	17.9%	12.8%	10.5%	7%

Wall Street And Media On Getty´s Third Quarter Earnings, Part II

• Analysts at Kaufman Bros reiterate their "hold" rating on Getty Images (GYI.NYS). The target price has been reduced from $55 to $40.
  Newsratings.com, Getty Images "hold," target price reduced.
• Shares of Getty Images Inc., which provides images to advertisers and media outlets, slumped to a fresh 52-week low Wednesday, after analysts downgraded the company for missing third-quarter revenue estimates and issuing lower-than-expected fourth-quarter guidance.
  Getty's shares dropped $4.01, or 8.7 percent, to $41.95 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock, which had previously traded in a 52-week range between $43.70 and $95.43, slid as low as $41.21 earlier in the session.
  William Blair & Co. analyst Troy Mastin cut Getty's rating to "Market Perform" from "Outperform" as management tries to come up with changes to lift the business.