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.
  

Snippets From Getty`s Conference Call: More On The New Creative Workflow Model Called "Open", Photographers Contracted To Individual Brands, and Wholly-Owned Imagery

Jonathan Klein quoted after Getty´s webcast and "Getty Images Q3 2006 Earnings Call Transcript" (Seeking Alpha), accentuation by me:

• Our key initiatives for 2007 have been set, and they are as follows:

  1. Exceed customer expectations with the new gettyimages.com;
  2. Drive extensions and enhancements to current products and services;
  3. Drive our film product;
  4. Monetize our significant assets and traffic beyond the pure image licensing business; and in no particular order, but finally
  5. Evolve and grow iStockphoto aggressively.

Wall Street And Media On Getty´s Third Quarter Earnings

• Seeking Alpha has already posted the complete "Getty Images Q3 2006 Earnings Call Transcript" online.
• Getty´s stock is currently (09:56 AM) at $41.34 (-$4.62 or -10.05%), a new 52-week-low (previously $41.53).
• Analysts at Robert W Baird maintain their "neutral" rating on Getty Images Inc. The target price has been reduced from $60 to $50. In a research note published this morning, the analysts mention that the company has reported its 3Q06 EPS in-line with and revenues short of the estimates. Getty Images issued its revenue and EPS guidance for 4Q06 at $196 million and $0.56, short of the consensus. The company has announced a significant reorganisation targeted at dealing with evolving stock photo business, the analysts add. (Newratings.com)
• The restructuring would involve sales staff cuts in New York, London and Los Angeles, Klein told the Seattle P-I after the conference call. He refused to provide specific figures ... but he said the number of people laid off is "relatively small" and that the cut employees were given "generous financial packages" ... The problem Getty Images faces is not that it is in dire financial straits, but rather that it set expectations that it did not meet". (Seattle Post Intelligencer)

So What? Where´s The Story?

• Jay DeFoore had been the first one to write in Getty Tightens Its Belt in September that "employees have been told to watch their expense accounts, and rumors abound that layoffs are coming, with 10 percent cuts being bandied about." This number has been widely reported on the internet, expecially from those heroes who infrequently or never link back to their source of information.
  Then, as to no surprise and besides the official email of Jonathan Klein last week, shortly before the recent PACA conference non-anonymous and also unsolicited anonymous "insider" emails flew around the world with the hilarious message that "major layoffs in all departments" are coming.
  

Sigmund Freud, Alan Meckler, David Walker

David Walker: You brought up your ego, so here we go: Your blog is confrontational at times, and gives the impression that you take satisfaction in setting old scores and saying "I told you so." Is that a fair assessment?
Alan Meckler: Absolutely.
David Walker: Why? Do you feel that you have anything to prove?
Alan Meckler: Oh, I think it´s probably from growing up in a family where I got the short end of the stick ... My sister was always favored. There´s a lot of Freudian stuff going on here, probably. I´m sure that´s part of my striving to achive - I never could satisfy my father ... I didn´t make any money. I always had great ideas, but my problem was I went into too many fields. I t took me 23 years to understand focus.

[PDN´s David Walker interviews Alan Meckler in the Oct. print issue, p. 24]

QuickLinks For 2006-10-25

• AP Photographer kidnapped in Gaza:
  A Spanish photographer working for Associated Press has been kidnapped by Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip. A witness said Emilio Morenatti, 37, was apprehended this morning as he walked out of his apartment, and was taken away in the gunmen's vehicle. No group has yet claimed responsibility. Mr Morenatti has been working for AP in Jerusalem since April 2005, and as part of his job periodically went to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. He had previously covered the war in Afghanistan for AP. He also worked for the Spanish news agency EFE. The AP president, Tom Curley, said the company was also doing all it could to find Mr Morenatti.
  Guardian Unlimited.
  Tags: Emilio Morenatti Associated Press
  [Update: Update: Gunmen Release AP Photographer in Gaza (American PHOTO)]

• RF Producers Form International Stock Producers Alliance ISPA:
  RF stock production companies have become concerned with the accounting practices of an increasing number of distributors not meeting their contract obligations in terms of reporting and paying commissions and have formed the International Stock Producers Alliance in an effort to deal with the issues.
  Pickphoto, requires subscription.
  Tags: International Stock Producers Alliance ISPA

Alamy Releases Q3/2006 Numbers

945,050 new images submitted in Q2/2006, including 606,655 new RM and 338,395 new RF images: all numbers, all details here (PDF-download).

Related:

• Alamy Adds RF Collections Stockbyte, Medio Images, Image100, Imageshop, InsideOutPix, Bananastock, Brand X Pictures, And Image Source (Sept. 07, 2006)
• Alamy´s New Upload Tool Previewed By EPUK, Editorial Photograpers UK And Ireland (Sept. 06, 2006)
• Alamy Releases Q2/2006 Numbers (July 25, 2006)
• Alamy Releases Quarterly Statement 2004/2006 (May 31, 2006)
• A paradigm shift : Alamy prepares for online submission (May 24, 2006; Topic 4)
• Alamy has released the Quarterly Statement 2004/2005 (Apr. 11, 2006; Topic 2)
• Alamy: More than a Million of Pix and Worldwide Expansion (Apr. 27, 2004)

Veer: Director of Photography, North America

Veer provides visual elements for use in professional creative work, such as graphic design, motion design, advertising, and filmmaking. The image industry is a driving passion for the management and employees of Veer. With thousands of satisfied customers, years of industry experience, and an unparalleled set of skills, the people at Veer have what it takes to deliver exciting, innovative products to enhance creativity. Want to join us?

Veer is currently looking for

• Director of Photography, North America

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

PACA Pix

Some recent over- and underexposed pictures from the

2006 PACA International Conference Key West, Florida.

The photos were quickly taken with the Samsung Pro 815 with the Schneider Kreuznach 28 mm - 420 mm lens. The Samsung is a superb camera for travelling, but I´m not used to work with non DSLR´s.

Datacraft´s Imagenavi Launches New RF Brand HANA

Japanese RF stockphoto provider Datacraft has launched a new RF brand called HANA.

The new stock photo collection from the Imagenavi subsidiary started on October 16th.

HANA focusses on the daily lifestyle of the young generation like chat with friends, date with lovers, and relaxed scenes. According to Datacraft, the HANA collection will be shooted quarterly to grow the collection and to meet the market needs for the emerging generation.

Related:

• Datacraft Japan Looking For International Distribution Partners (Apr. 19, 2006)
• Datacraft´s Imagenavi Launches BLOOMimage RF And Imagenavi RM Collection (March 23, 2006)
• Japanese stock photo provider imagenavi starts to enhance the new english sister site imagenavi.com (March 01, 2006; first topic in the QuickLinks blog post)

QuickLinks For 2006-10-19

• Interview with Pixsy:
  Question: Time magazine recently named Pixsy one of their "Top 50 Coolest Websites of 2006". What is it about Pixsy that makes it stand out from its competitors, and how do you plan on expanding Pixsy?
  Answer: Pixsy first started in July, 2005 and is now a team of 11 people, most of whom are former ex-Microsoft engineers. We are differentiated from our competitors in that we're focused entirely on distribution, enabling any website to run a photo and video search engine with our technology. Our business goal is to be the largest photo and video search index on the web, and, to have a strong distribution platform.
  Folksonomy.org (thx to Christoph of Luckypix).
  Related:
  •Pixsy Introduces "Visual Search" Engine Based On RSS (Apr. 08, 2006)
  •Pixsy: "Next Generation Photo Search Engine" (July 30, 2005)
  Tag: Pixsy

PACA 2006: Leading Hotels Of The World, Unite In Key West

So someone pays close to 250 bucks for a hotel room with sea view because "this spacious Florida Keys luxury resort inspires unrivaled creativity".

When you get up the next morning and want to meet someone in the breakfast room ("Relax poolside, and enjoy a hearty breakfast from your comfortable chaise lounge"), the hotel employees tell you that they don´t have a breakfast room and that they don´t serve breakfast.

JBG Photo: New Job Position

JBG Photo is a Los Angeles based Celebrity Syndication and stock photo agency that is always looking for talented, motivated and creative individuals to be a part of the team. JBG Photo represents the work of photographers with images gracing the pages of magazines across the globe as well as being used commercially for advertising and promotion.

JBG Photo is currently seeking a:

• Photo Editor

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

The Pleasure Not To Write

I have to apologize to those few people out there which like this blog for being offline three working days in this blog section (not in the Press Release Cemetery where the music always plays), but firstly I needed a break and we are experiencing some phantastic indian summer days here, secondly I found nothing really newsworthy happening which drove me to tears and could not be covered through the perfect tool Press Release Cemetery, and thirdly I´m busy with preparing the PACA attendance of a company I´m currently affiliated with.

Additionally, Getty Images had been so kind to postpone the Q3/2006 results and Conference Call from the initially intended Oct. 19 to Oct. 24, so it looks currently to be a calm week. The best tool in Bloglines is always "Mark All Read". I´m back with images and maybe news from Key West the day after tomorrow.

"Just fly in a different direction"

What a great comment. Michele Vitucci/Bilderlounge on

"The Bill Gates Mystery: An Open Letter From Pino Granata To The Founder Of Corbis".

Back To The Dark Ages: Photographer Coop Foto-Shop Accused Of Blasphemy

Monty Python meets Allahu Akbar, Santa Claus and his hat, Pope Callixtus III and finally "In God we trust". Unfortunately, this is not a MadPixBiz blog post.

Foto-Shop is a Berlin-based photo cooperation of eight photographers, together with a small gallery which serves mainly as a hub for inhouse and external photographers to showcase their work.

So far, so good, nothing unusual. With some young photogs and two small gallery rooms with 23 square meters in a sexy area of an european metropolis, it´s just that classical -- not subcultural -- innovative photography scene thing going on.

But, on the other side of the street, daily dozens of policemen walk into one of Berlin´s biggest district police departments in rowdyish South Central Los Angeles peaceful Central Berlin. As to no surprise, while all these stubborn officers can´t sit all day in their pretty neat offices drinking cheap cold coffee until retirement, they sometimes have to leave their gilded cages to fight the omnipresent mafia crime, unconvincible parking offenders and obviously that suspicious local innovative photography scene thing.