To understand the role of photography today, we have to understand why we take pictures. We automatically tend to associate picture-taking as an addition to our memory function since a lot of our natural visual activity is geared towards storing information for later use. However, with the advent of digital and especially mobile photography, we have Read More →

Earlier this week, Mediapost published an article on the rising demand for original content by brands. Citing recent research, the article states that “estimated budgets for producing content have grown steadily from 12.6% two years ago to 23.3%, today — and are on track to surpass 33% by 2017 — according to new research from Read More →

In an industry that practically defines itself by its conservative progress, it is nice to see bursts of innovation. As we have written many times, it is almost exclusively outsiders who introduce new concepts as they are unshackled from legacy culture. Our first refreshing innovator is a company called Placeit. Taking the concept of commercial Read More →

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Bloomberg started spewing articles after articles on the sorry state of Getty Images. Three in a row, which is more than they did in the last 3 years combined. Fresh from insider knowledge, it reported Getty Images having  poor ratings on a debt secured when purchased by the Carlyle Group as Read More →

The recent news of Adobe’s acquisition of microstock company Fotolia has sent ripples throughout the photo licensing world. The software company purchased the 11 year company operating in 23 countries in 14 different language for $800 million in cash,  in return for 34 million images. While the public announcement clearly aimed at integrating it into its Read More →

North America woke up with the news that golden boy photo agency Shutterstock acquired no less than 2 companies in what seems as one swoop. One, in the music category, the other, in the photo licensing world. Obviously it is the latter that interests us here. Shutterstock’s announcement that it has acquired 60 years old Read More →

Ever so often, the topic of the value of a photograph emerges from the bowels of online conversations. Very quickly, the conversation ends with the undisputed point that a photo should at least cover its cost. In other words, the more it costs to take a picture, the higher its value. Photographers, like any small Read More →

The difference is what’s missing. In fact, it is only when a photograph does not show it all that it begins to become powerful and potent. Why ? because it forcefully demands viewer participation by understanding the concept. See, the big difference between a powerful photojournalist image and commercial stock is that one misses a Read More →

Popular saying declares that a photo is worth a thousand words. But how is it useful if those words are meaningless? How many times have we’ve read articles or books who bring us little to no information? Words, even a thousand of them, can be deceptively useless. So sure, photos can most of the time describe faster and better than text. But that Read More →