Polylooks, a photo service launched in June 2009 by Deutsche Telekom, Germany’s leading provider of communications services, has announced that it will close operations on December 31, 2010.
All photographers working with iSyndica must contact them before October
17, 2010 to get a refund. According to iSyndica this is required,
“because we do not have your billing details and cannot refund orders
after a certain point. Without your information, we cannot refund you.
Do fill in the form before October 17, 2010 at the latest.”
In his biography,
The Age of Turbulence, Alan Greenspan said, “The presumption of individual property ownership and the
legality of its transfer must be
deeply embedded in the culture of a society
(emphasis mine) for free market economies to function effectively. In
the West, the moral validity of property rights is accepted, or at least
acquiesced in, by virtually the whole of the population.” I was
struck by how this relates to the photography business today. The concept of individual property ownership is no
longer deeply embedded in the culture of our society. A large segment of
the population believes that certain property should be free to all and
that the creators have no rights once the property is shown to anyone.
Using the creative works of others without permission or compensation is
becoming the morally accepted standard.
ASPP has published a very informative guide for picture editors and
researchers on locating copyright holders of imagery when the name and
contact information is not readily attached to an image. The guide, and a
link to a downloadable PDF, are available free or charge.
PhotoAlto has announced that it has just completed a year long project
in which the company re-designed and rebuilt is website incorporating
only the latest search and web technology. Visitors will immediately
note streamlined stylistic and design changes, and will be presented
with an enhanced choice of search features, quicker browsing speeds, a
simplified thumbnail display, and an all around increased ease of use
and intuitiveness to the website.
Photographers marketing their images through online web sites should be
alert to common art scams that seem to be growing in frequency. This is
particularly true for those trying to sell physical works of art (fine
art prints).
Many professional photographers are disturbed by the changes taking place in their careers. Photographers who dream of earning their living taking pictures will, at the very least, find that goal much harder to achieve than it was for their predecessors. Amateurs have taken over an increasing share of the business. And their share will continue to grow. The shift from professional control of the market to significant amateur involvement is irreversible and will accelerate. That doesn’t mean that no one will be able to earn a living as a still photographer. But many fewer will do it successfully than was the case in the past. There is no way to predict the amount of the market amateurs will finally control, but it will be significant.
iSyndica, the automation service that allows photo and video producers
to batch-upload content to multiple stock-selling and photo-sharing Web
sites, has announced that it will be closing its doors as of October 10,
2010. Effective immediately, contributors will no longer be able to
place orders for credits or storage, or change their subscriptions.
As we move forward in the digital publication age, a group of
celebrity photo agencies has untied into the Editorial Photo Agency
Guild, which is leading the way in attempting to establish some pricing
principles for the use of photos in iPad applications. The need for a
unified approach in bargaining became apparent when People magazine announced its plans to launch an iPad application and provide it free to print subscribers.
In theory, there should be major growth in demand for video in the near
future. However, people have been making that prediction for more than a
decade, and it still doesn’t seem to be happening. In fact,
videographers who were among leading sellers of video clips a decade ago
are now reporting that their sales are down 50% from what they were
just three or four years ago. It is unclear whether this decline only applies to a select few or if revenues are down across the board. At the same time, it is apparent that video as an industry is growing, offering still photographers an opportunity to transition or at least diversify.