{{Notability|Companies|date=June 2020}} {{Short description|Norwegian photography agency active from 1976-2011}} '''Samfoto''' Picture Agency was a photographer-run Norwegian photography agency established in 1976. In 2011, it was bought by NTB Scanpix. Samfoto was photographer-run and primarily sold stock photographs to Norwegian media.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Samfoto (Fotograffirma) |url=https://digitaltmuseum.org/0211611419025/samfoto-fotograffirma |access-date=2025-12-31 |website=digitaltmuseum.org |language=en}}</ref>
Samfoto represented a large number of Norwegian and Scandinavian freelance photographers, and its archive includes more than 300 000 images.<ref>{{Citation |last=Garvik |first=Olav |title=Samfoto AS |date=2025-03-19 |work=Store norske leksikon |url=https://snl.no/Samfoto_AS |access-date=2025-12-31 |language=no}}</ref>
== History == Samfoto was founded by six photographers in 1976, inspired by the photo cooperative Magnum Photos,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Geard |first=Kathrine |date=2006-09-11 |title=Samfoto er 30 år: – En prestasjon |url=https://www.journalisten.no/samfoto-er-30-ar--en-prestasjon/201092 |access-date=2025-12-31 |website=Journalisten |language=nb-NO}}</ref> and based on the philosophy of a picture agency run by photographers.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Løberg |first=Morten |url=http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2018050448079 |title=Fotografi mellom fiksjon og virkelighet |publisher=Fotografisk forlag |year=2013 |isbn=9788299916417 |location=Oslo |pages=8 |language=no-bm |trans-title=Photography Between Fiction and Reality}}</ref> Five of the photographers worked freelance, and the sixth was a permanently employed executive officer.<ref name="Usynlig">{{Cite book |year=2025 |last1=Sørlie |first1=Thale |last2=Langgåt |first2=Anja Hysvær |last3=Oulie |first3=Hege |last4=Lund |first4=Harald Østgaard |title=Usynlig til stede: om hvordan fotografi har endret Norge etter 1945 |trans-title=Invisibly Present: How Photography Has Changed Norway After 1945 |chapter=Til kamp med kamera |trans-chapter=To Battle With the Camera |publisher=Forlaget Press |isbn=978-82-328-0598-3 |location=Oslo |via=National Library of Norway |url=http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2025110348078}}</ref>{{rp|164}} Among the six were Per-Anders Rosenkvist, Sven Erik Dahl, Rune Lislerud and Geir Bølstand, who met in Studentenes fotoklubb (''The Students' Photo Club'') at the University of Oslo and founded Fotogruppe 72 together;<ref name=":2" /> this group was established in the wake of the 1972 referendum on Norwegian membership in the European Communities.<ref name="Usynlig"/>{{rp|164}} In Samfoto's early years, the company signed all of their photographs collectively.<ref name="Usynlig"/>{{rp|168}}
Several of the photographers were left-wing political activists, and they documented demonstrations, house occupations and society from a political point of view.<ref name=":2" /> According to Rosenkvist, this led to Samfoto's phone line and "all" the photographers being surveilled.<ref name=":2" /> Profit was not Samfoto's primary concern, and they aimed to provide "sociocritical and documentative" photography, especially on topics they had deemed to be poorly understood by the public.<ref name="Usynlig"/>{{rp|164}} Samfoto's politics were reflected in which work they chose to carry out; they did not do advertising work, nor did they provide erotic photography for men's magazines.<ref name="Usynlig"/>{{rp|164, 168}} In their early years, they did frequent work for the Marxist–Leninist newspaper Klassekampen. As the company became more professional, their politics started playing a smaller role in who they chose to work with; in 1982, Svein Erik Dahl stated "[e]arlier we thought politically. Now we think professionally".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Helgesen |first=Jan B. |date=15 February 1982 |work=Arbeiderbladet |issue=38/82 |title=Foto-amatører ble hel-proffe |trans-title=Photo Amateurs Became Professional |page=10 |url=http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digavis_arbeiderbladetoslo_null_null_19820215_99_38_1?page=9 |via=National Library of Norway}}</ref> In 1995, they stated that they had become more commercial so their photographers could make a living.<ref name="Løberg 1995">{{Cite magazine |year=1995 |last=Løberg |first=Morten |editor-last=Holter |editor-first=Tore |work=Fotografi |issn=0802-9628 |issue=2/95 |publisher=Nordisk Fagpresse |title=Samfoto bildebyrå tenker kreativ bildebruk: Mennesket viktigere enn datamaskinen |pages=56-59 |url=http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2024103080030_002?page=55 |via=National Library of Norway}}</ref>{{rp|56}} Approximately 100 Norwegian photographers joined Samfoto in the eighties and nineties.<ref name="Moen 2021">{{Cite journal |last=Moen |first=Sølvi Bennett |date=2021-03-23 |title=Kvinnelige pressefotografer i arbeiderpressen |url=https://www.scup.com/doi/10.18261/issn.2387-5879-2021-01-11 |journal=Arbeiderhistorie |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=179–198 |doi=10.18261/issn.2387-5879-2021-01-11 |issn=0801-7778 |quote="I Samfoto inngikk Møller i et helt miljø av ca. 100 fotografer som hadde flere samlinger i året hvor de viste hverandre bilder og diskuterte fotografi, og hun sier selv at hun muligens ikke hadde kommet inn i Samfoto uten å være en del av «Hera»" |trans-quote=In Samfoto Møller was one of a large environment of around 100 photographers who met several times a year, showing each other photos and discussing photography, and she says herself that she might not have been able to join Samfoto if she hadn't been part of Hera.|doi-access=free }}</ref> At its peak, around 200 freelance photographers were affiliated with Samfoto.<ref name="Usynlig"/>{{rp|168}} In 1988 the association Norwegian Nature Photographers began collaborating with the agency. In 1989 four of the photographers in the women's photography association Hera joined Samfoto to have better support in distributing and selling their photographs.<ref name="Moen 2021"/>
In 1997, Samfoto closed their darkroom as they transitioned to digital photography.<ref>{{Cite magazine |year=1997 |editor-last=Evensen |editor-first=Knut |work=Norsk fotografisk tidsskrift |volume=83 |issue=2/97 |issn=0332-8597 |publisher=Norges Fotografforbund |title=Egeninnsatsen er viktigst |pages=12-13 |url=http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025032780006_006?page=11 |via=National Library of Norway}}</ref> In 1995, they had one person working part-time in the darkroom.<ref name="Løberg 1995"/>{{rp|56}}
In the years 2000 – 2001 distribution of pictures from the archive was changed from physical to digital and the Samfoto archive was launched on the Internet. The transition from analogue to digital images was challenging, and for a period they had to produce digital files, slides and print copies of photos.<ref name=":0" /> By their 30th anniversary, in 2006, a hundred photographers were affiliated with the service.
== Legacy == In 2011 Samfoto was purchased by Scanpix, a company that is owned by the Norwegian News Agency (NTB).<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2011-07-01 |title=Scanpix overtar Samfoto |url=https://www.journalisten.no/samfoto-scanpix-ntb/scanpix-overtar-samfoto/150742 |access-date=2025-12-31 |website=Journalisten |language=nb-NO}}</ref> At the time, NTB said that Samfoto would continue to use its own name and had a separate archive,<ref name=":1" /> but as of 2025 it no longer exists as a separate entity.
The Norwegian media still frequently publishes stock photos that are copyrighted to Samfoto. As of 2025, Samfoto's archives are searchable at NTB Bilder by using the search term "Samfoto".<ref>{{Cite web |title=NTB Bilder og video |url=https://bilder.ntb.no/r/?mainGroup=creative&search=samfoto |access-date=2025-12-31 |website=bilder.ntb.no}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * [https://bilder.ntb.no/r/?mainGroup=creative&search=samfoto Searchable archive of stock photos from Samfoto at NTB Bilder]. * Archived website [https://web.archive.org/web/20110208053136/http://samfoto.com/ Samfoto.com] (Wayback Machine Feb 8 2011) * [https://digitaltmuseum.org/0211611419025/samfoto-fotograffirma Info page for Samfoto at DigitaltMuseum] * [http://www.norskenaturfotografer.com Norske Naturfotografer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100814144553/http://www.norskenaturfotografer.com/ |date=2010-08-14 }} (Norwegian Nature Photographers) {{Authority control}}
Category:Companies based in Oslo Category:Stock photography Category:Artist cooperatives Category:Photo agencies Category:1976 establishments in Norway