Editorial

Olycom Files Bankruptcy: Acquired By LaPresse

By Jim Pickerell | 228 Words | Posted 6/26/2018 | Comments
Olycom, a major Italian photographic agency headquartered in Milan and founded in 1958 by Walfrido Chiarini as Olimpia Fotocronache has filed for bankruptcy. Everything regarding debts is in the hands of a judge. LaPresse, the Italian multimedia news agency led by Marco Durante, has acquired the analog and digital libraries of Olycom including the Publifoto brand, the historical archives Olimpia and Olycom and related brands covering the whole of the twentieth century, with a collection of over 15 million images.

Scope Feature Folds In UK

By Jim Pickerell | 185 Words | Posted 6/21/2018 | Comments
Scope Features in the UK has gone into voluntary liquidation with nearly £400,000 in unpaid debts and nearly £13,000 in royalties still owed photographers. According to its statement of affairs filed at Companies House on 17 May, individual photographers are owed sums ranging from £30 to more than £2,000.

SilverHub Going Into Administration

By Jim Pickerell | 181 Words | Posted 6/18/2018 | Comments
Sources tell me that in an all-staff conference call on Wednesday, June 13, 2018, Nick Evans-Lombe and Adrian Murrell informed the SilverHub.Media staff that the company would be going into administration, the UK version of bankruptcy protection.

Do News Organizations Respect Copyright?

By Jim Pickerell | 293 Words | Posted 5/29/2018 | Comments
In 2016 a massive flash flood raced down the main street of Ellicott City, Maryland. It was called a “thousand-year flood” given the unique characteristics that set it in motion. On May 27, 2018 the flow that supposed to only occur once every 1,000 years struck again. Photographer Max Robinson gets classic footage and Fox News uses it without permission.

Sandoval To Manage New & Press Business Development For agefotostock

By Jim Pickerell | 403 Words | Posted 5/25/2018 | Comments
agefotostock has appointed Yolanda Sandoval as Business Development Manager for the News & Press area of the company following the launch of their new website that simplifies their business into three primary business areas, Press, Creative and Economic imagery. Economic imagery was formerly referred to as Creative Stock photography. Sandoval will work out of the Madrid office.

Editorial Photography Future

By Jim Pickerell | 702 Words | Posted 4/25/2018 | Comments
A few months ago in an interview promoting his new book The Good Fight: America’s Ongoing Struggle for Justice, Rick Smolan was asked “How has technology disrupted photography.” Rick has been an editorial photographer since the 1980s, shot for Time, Life and National Geographic and may be best known for his “Day in the Life Of” series of books. The first six minutes of the interview is worth a listen.

Silverhub and Wonderhatch Combine Editorial Assignment Operations

By Jim Pickerell | 292 Words | Posted 4/16/2018 | Comments
SilverHub Media Group, which has become a vibrant new player in the editorial and assignments space since its launch in 2016, today announces that it has combined its editorial and assignment brand, SilverHub, with Wonderhatch, a freshly launched photographic and film assignment business.

Photography: The More Things Change...

By Jose Azel | 1488 Words | Posted 3/19/2018 | Comments
In Aurora Photos latest newsletter to contributors President and Founder José Azel offered insights on the current state of the stock photo industry that are worth every stock photographer considering

UK Football Association Selects SilverHub and Shutterstock As Photographer and Distribution Partners

By Jim Pickerell | 561 Words | Posted 3/16/2018 | Comments
The Football Association (FA), the governing body of English Football, has announced that it has awarded SilverHub Media UK Ltd. (SilverHub) and Shutterstock, Inc. an exclusive multi-year agreement to cover photography, distribution, and syndication services around key events and activities.

Embedding Photo Tweet Ruled Copyright Infringement

By Jim Pickerell | 238 Words | Posted 2/20/2018 | Comments
Judge Forrest of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Goldman v. Breitbart News, LLC has ruled in favor of photographer Justin Goldman that embedding a tweet that contains a copyright protected photo does, in fact, constitute a copyright violation. If the ruling is upheld, it could have a major impact on the way media and many other Internet users get some of their imagery.

Shutterstock Showcases Premier Editorial Content To All Customers

By Jim Pickerell | 894 Words | Posted 12/20/2017 | Comments
Last week Shutterstock notified its editorial shooters that they had begun showcasing all of their Premier Editorial content on Shutterstock.com. Previously this content has only been accessible through the Shutterstock Premier website. “The new editorial tab will include our historic Rex collection, images from strategic partners, including AP, BFA, epa, and live coverage of breaking news, entertainment and sports events,” they said. 

Entertainment Shooters Find They Don’t Need Stock Agencies

By Jim Pickerell | 636 Words | Posted 11/30/2017 | Comments
Given the low prices, royalty cuts and delayed payments, experienced entertainment shooter are finding they no longer need stock agencies – particularly microstock agencies. When a photographer shoots red carpet or other entertainment events all sales pretty much come the next morning, or not at all. Red carpet event photos have a VERY SHORT shelf life. The trick is getting your photos on the editor’s desk the next morning.

Is Shutterstock Benefiting Editorial Photographers?

By Jim Pickerell | 720 Words | Posted 11/20/2017 | Comments
The market for editorial stock photos is quite different from the commercial market. Shutterstock may be having a difficult time adapting. In January 2015 Shutterstock purchased Rex Features for $33 million. At the time it was believed that Rex’s gross 2014 revenue was about $7 million.

Is SilverHub Media Closing After Less Than Two Years? SEE CORRECTION

By Jim Pickerell | 236 Words | Posted 11/17/2017 | Comments
SilverHub Media is an editorial agency launched in 2016 by long time Getty senior executive Nick Evans-Lomb and Adrian Murrell. On 11/14/2017 Companies House in the UK announced that SilverHub Media will be dissolved within 2 months “unless cause is shown to the contrary.” Rumors have it that SilverHub is saying this was an administrative error.

Adobe Names Santiago Lyon Editorial Content Director

By Jim Pickerell | 221 Words | Posted 9/26/2017 | Comments
Adobe has announced that Santiago Lyon has joined Adobe Stock as the first director of editorial content. In this newly created role, Santiago will lead Adobe Stock’s editorial content strategy and collection, working with world-class photojournalists, documentary photographers, editorial providers and media.

Time Inc. Looks To Save $400 Million: Staff Could Be On The Chopping Block

By Jim Pickerell | 180 Words | Posted 8/9/2017 | Comments
Time Inc. unveiled plans for a “strategic transformation” that will yield more than $400 million in savings over the next few years. In the last quarterly earnings report total revenues fell 10% year to year while operating income fell from $50 million to a loss of $38 million.

What Happened To Photoshot?

By Jim Pickerell | 294 Words | Posted 6/22/2017 | Comments
Photographers represented by the Photoshot in the United Kingdom tell me that they are having trouble getting responses to their emails and there has been no payment for a long time.

MEGA Expands Staff in US, UK and Germany

By Jim Pickerell | 340 Words | Posted 6/21/2017 | Comments
The MEGA Agency has expanded its staff in the US, UK and Germany to cope with the companies rapid growth. CEO Tom Tramborg said, “Our growth since launch has been phenomenal, so we are hiring new staff to keep up with the ever-increasing demand for Mega images.”

Photography At The New York Times

By Jim Pickerell | 445 Words | Posted 6/19/2017 | Comments
The New York Times 2020 Group published a report in January 2017 that said its daily reporting needed to become more visual. In April it was reported the day rate for freelance assignments would jump from a previous $200 to $250 (according to some contributors) to $450, with shorter assignments “that don’t meet the full day-rate requirement” paying out at $300, still higher than the previous full day rate.

Adobe Stock Adds Reuters, USA Today, and Stocksy Content

By Jim Pickerell | 493 Words | Posted 6/16/2017 | Comments
Adobe Stock has announced new partnerships that will bolster its collection: news images from Reuters; sports photos from USA Today; 400,000 images from Stocksy.

The Mega Agency Partners With New York Post

By Jim Pickerell | 344 Words | Posted 5/3/2017 | Comments
The Mega Agency has signed an exclusive syndication partnership with the New York Post, one of the most famous names in the American publishing world.

NY Times Raises Day Rates

By Jim Pickerell | 198 Words | Posted 4/7/2017 | Comments
According to Around The Lens sources close to the New York Times have confirmed that the paper will begin paying freelance photographers a day rate of $450, more the double the $200 they’re currently paying. For shorter shoots, or those that don’t meet the full day-rate requirement, the rate will be $300, still more than the previous full day rate.

Shutterstock To Showcase The Glamour Of The Met Gala

By Jim Pickerell | 300 Words | Posted 4/6/2017 | Comments
Shutterstock, Inc. announced today that it will again offer comprehensive coverage at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Benefit, more commonly known as The Met Gala. This premier annual event of the fashion industry will be held on Monday, May 1st at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Among the attendees will be prominent and prestigious names in entertainment, fashion, sports, and business.

Fake News And Stock Photography

By Jim Pickerell | 1239 Words | Posted 3/27/2017 | Comments
A writer for the Boston Globe asked me to discuss the role, if any, that stock photos plays in fake news. “Can or should the stock photo industry do anything to curb the use of its photos on fake news sites.” Stock photography is not “Fake.” This is not to say that there aren’t some photos that are designed to be outright distortions of the truth, but the vast majority of stock photos are taken with the hope of showing an actual event or something that illustrates real life.

Shutterstock Signs Exclusive Deal With World Surf League

By Jim Pickerell | 273 Words | Posted 3/16/2017 | Comments
Shutterstock, Inc. has announced that it has signed an exclusive global distribution deal with World Surf League (WSL) to market and license imagery from WSL’s Championship Tour and Big Wave Tour Events. The deal also includes WSL’s extensive archive, showcasing thousands of pivotal moments from competitive surfing history.