Time for collective howling again.
Currently, in a chain of postings on a single subject, there is an ongoing discussion at the Stockphoto.net Yahoo Email Group.
Here´s the beginning in Digest Number 2437 (Message 9 by Quentin, August 4), "Shutterstock - 12k photogs...":
"I realise that the micropayment sites are regarded as the spawn of Satan by many stock photographers, but cruising by the Shutterstock site, I see thay claim to have 12,000 contributing photographers and about 8,000 new images posted in the last week alone, a pretty rapid rate of growth.
Many of the pics seem to be good to. We´re not talking just holiday snaps.
So I'm wondering...is there something in these micropayment sites like Shutterstock and iStock?
Are they, in short, the real future of stock photography?
Or are they just a temporary aberration?"
Later, the discussion continued in Digest Number 2438 (Message 4 by Brian Yarvin, August 5) under another subject, "The race to the bottom":
"However, when I talk to picture buyers these days, they tell a completely different story - for them, the future of stock is avoiding agencies completely and going directly to photographers. Dan Heller has talked about this in greater detail. [...] But the race to the bottom is always hotly contested and there is certainly no shortage of either supply or demand."
The discussions are continued in Digest Number 2439, 2440, 2441 and 2442 (the latter as of August, 8).
Compare this to what Jonathan Klein and Bahar Gidwani were more generally predicting:
Jonathan Klein, "Five Imagery Trends for the Future", Dec 08, 2004:
(1) the Image-Rich Web
(2) More Imagery Delivered on More Plattforms
(3) Photojournalism Enters a New Era
(4) Marketing Gets Personal
(5) Smart Digital Asset Management
Klein of course has a different and broader focus. The first three points of the press release are worth to read: film footage, mobile
phones, hand-held technology, re-invention of outdoor advertising.
More in detail
here.
With a slightly other focus than Jonathan Klein of course Bahar Gidwani writes in:
"Analysis #15--Six Trends That Will Change the Industry", May 10, 2005:
(1) Adobe Stock Photo Service
[Related: "Software Company Adobe To Chip In On Assignment Photography"]
(2) iStockPhoto
[Related: see the list at the end]
(3) PLUS
[Related: "PLUS Coalition - Bringing the Picture Industry into the 21st Century"]
(4) Subscription-based models
(5) Custom Stock: OnRequest Images
[Related: "OnRequest Images - A Threat To The Stock Photo Industry?"]
(6) Infringement tracking
Compare the arguments and you´ll have plenty to think about during your summer in the Hamptons, even if the real crackers like "snowball effect" companies as Digital Railroad or StockPhotoFinder* are not mentioned above.
Related earlier entries:
(1) "Free High Quality Stock Photography"
(2) ""Free" Stock Photography and Royalty "Free" Stock Photography Sites without Breaking the Bank"
(3) "istockphoto.com: "Bringing the price down to a level where everybody can afford to buy a stock photo""
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* Read this related topic suggestion of Jeff Greenberg:
"Can someone build a "universal" stock photography search engine that visits ALL online stock photography catalogues?
Can results be reported to potential buyer & then buyer proceeds to agency(ies) representing the desired image(s)?
Can this be done regardless of whether or not agencies give permission to engine operator?
This would make image shopping much simpler -- no need to go from "store" to "store" to find the right item?"
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