10-14-26

GETTY IMAGES GOES TO THE DARK SIDE

The NY Stock Exchange has removed Getty Images from public trading after the once lucrative photo agency declared bankruptcy this week.

I feel fortunate to have traveled the world photographing during the upward rise of stock photography the ’80s and ’90s. I joined the AllStock photo agency in 1984, which merged with Tony Stone, and then became part of Getty in the mid-’90s. I also joined Sharpshooters, a boutique commercial photo rep out of Florida, around the same time.

Sharpshooters was the best partner I ever had, at least until they sold to Corbis in 1999. Unfortunately, what followed was the influx of easy-to-use digital cameras and royalty free images. I stopped contributing to stock photo agencies soon after because the industry was becoming a shadow of the income generating source I once knew.

This is the final chapter in what I saw coming in the ’90s, when I added and eventually switched to freelance automotive stills, writing and filmmaking. Today I feel lucky to have clients who value the work I do and compensate me accordingly. Many other stock photographers I know were not so fortunate in finding an income stream to replace stock photo royalties. Now they have to wait for Getty to restructure and then hopefully be paid the royalties they are owed.