The 2025-2026 trend cycle has produced a curious consensus: blur is the new watermark. Grain is proof of life. Bad framing means a human was here. Stocksy‘s just-released Visual Insights 2026 report doubles down on this thesis harder than any competitor. Under the banner “Signs of Life,” they position photography as an “antidote to digital … Read More →
The stock photo industry has been devastated. From various newsletters and blogs, some very insightful, it is down to almost zero, if only for a few survivors. Even bulletin boards, populated mainly by microstock shooters, seem to have lost all steam. Is it that all has been said and written or that there is just … Read More →
So close to the first of April, it sounded like an April’s fool hoax: The gentle freedom-loving all sharing company is selling to the greedy capitalistic money-making titan. Or, in other words, Getty Images is acquiring Unsplash. The two unlikely partners will officially be one come the end of April, sending ripples through the stock … Read More →
With Adobe Stock now joining the club, all stock photo agencies now offer free photos. How does free work with selling content and who benefits? … Read More →
How the implementation of article 17 of the European Copyright directive is going to deepen the value gap rather than fix it for photographers. … Read More →
The news crackled and spread like a barrel full of fireworks set on fire by an innocent four years old carelessly playing with stolen matches. First, via an e-mail leak, then by an official press release. Getty Images, the last bastion and great defender of rights managed, was laying its swords down, defeated. It was … Read More →
One of the foundations of photo agencies is to provide its customers with safe, secure, properly vetted visual content. In exchange for a fee, clients of photo agencies are offered images they can use in full blissful confidence. Or so you thought. In the last month, a few stories have surfaced exposing that this might … Read More →
The European Directive on Copyright is passed, and along with it, the infamous “Article 13”, now Article 17 in the latest document. However, what will it mean for photo agencies and independent photographers? … Read More →
It’s not by lack of topics ( there are many). Nor is it by lack of interest. It’s just a lack of time. Sometimes there are not enough hours in the day and if something has to be sacrificed, unfortunately, it is this blog. However, the call is sometimes too strong to ignore so here is, … Read More →
Some acquisitions have far wider implications than others. While it made perfect sense for Shutterstock to acquire a company like Rex Features in order to grab a foothold in the editorial space, it was just that. A simple acquisition of content along with established corresponding sales channels. Shutterstock recent acquisition of FlashStock, however, is vastly different. When a … Read More →