Stock photography

{{Short description|Photographs with a specific use}} {{redirect|Stock image|the securities valuation tool|stock valuation}} [[File:Frog on palm frond.jpg|thumb|A public domain stock photo titled "frog on palm frond"]] '''Stock photography''' is the supply of photographs that are often licensed for specific uses.<ref name="fbookonstockphotography"/> The stock photo industry, which began to gain hold in the 1920s,<ref name="fbookonstockphotography"/> has established models including traditional macrostock photography,<ref name="imacrostock"/> midstock photography,<ref name="hgrunbaum"/> and microstock photography.<ref name="NYT-06-05-07"/> Conventional stock agencies charge from several hundred to several thousand US dollars per image, while microstock photography may sell for around US$0.25.<ref name="NYT-06-05-07"/> Professional stock photographers traditionally place their images with one or more stock agencies on a contractual basis,<ref name="fbookonstockphotography"/> while stock agencies may accept the high-quality photos of amateur photographers through online submission.<ref name="lstockphoto"/>

Themes for stock photos are diverse, although Megan Garber of ''The Atlantic'' wrote in 2012 that "one of the more wacky/wondrous elements of stock photos is the manner in which, as a genre, they've developed a unifying editorial sensibility. To see a stock image is... to ''know'' you're seeing a stock image."<ref name="lstockphoto"/> Historically notable traditional stock photo agencies have included RobertStock, the Bettman Archive in New York,<ref name="fbookonstockphotography"/> and the Hulton Archive in the United Kingdom,<ref name="getty"/> among many others.<ref name="dalamaybrief"/> In the 1990s companies such as Photodisc in Seattle, Washington, began selling CD ROMs with packs of images, pioneering the royalty-free licensing system at a time when Rights Managed licensing was the norm in the stock industry.<ref name="dalamaybrief"/> There was a great amount of consolidation among stock photo agencies<ref name = Howto16/><ref name="page8MichaelHeron"/> between 1990 and the mid-2000s, particularly through Corbis and Getty Images.<ref name="fbookonstockphotography"/> The early microstock company iStockphoto was founded in May 2000,<ref name="ST-05-28-07"/> followed by companies such as Dreamstime,<ref name="Microstock Insider"/> 123RF, Shutterstock, DepositPhotos and Adobe Stock.<ref name="CNN Money"/>

==History==

===First stock photo companies (1920–1930s)=== [[File:1911 Solvay conference.jpg|thumb|A stock photograph, now in the archive of Getty Images, showing the 1911 Solvay Conference in Belgium. Many stock photos document historical events.]]

Newspapers and magazines were first able to reproduce photographs instead of line art in the mid-1880s with the invention of the half-tone and its use on a printing press.<ref name = Howto13/> Initially starting with staff photographers, independent free-lance photographers eventually took over.<ref name = Howto13/> One of the first examples of a stock photo was circa 1920 when American photographer H. Armstrong Roberts ensured that the people photographed in "Group in Front of Tri-Motor Airplane" all signed model releases. This allowed the photograph and others like it to be commercially viable.<ref name="fbookonstockphotography"/> In an effort to save the cost of hiring photographers for commission-based photo shoots, publishers and advertisers began to consider stock photos as a less risky alternative.<ref name="dalamaybrief"/> One of the first major stock photography libraries<ref name="dalamaybrief"/> was founded in 1920 by H. Armstrong Roberts.

The Bettmann Archive in New York is an example of an early traditional stock agency,<ref name="fbookonstockphotography"/> with the company delivering photos upon 24-hour request to magazines such as ''Look'' and ''Life''.<ref name="fbookonstockphotography"/> Founded in 1936 by Otto Bettmann, a German curator who emigrated to the United States in 1935,<ref name="journalfilmquarl"/> the Bettman Archive began with Bettmann's personal collection of 15,000 images which he brought with him in suitcases when he escaped from Nazi Germany.<ref name="ah-goodbye"/> He actively expanded his collection by placing ads in magazines for stills and photos.<ref name="journalfilmquarl"/> A different early pioneer with the stock industry was photographer Tony Stone, whose portfolio of mountain scenes proved popular with chocolate advertisers. Stone's stock library eventually reached 20,000 images, each selected for its likelihood to sell multiple copies.<ref name="dalamaybrief"/>

===New indexing systems and growth (1940s–1980s)=== Known as a stock resource for newspapers and magazines, the Hulton Archive started as the photographic archive of ''Picture Post''. As the archive expanded through World War II, it became clear that its vast collection of photographs and negatives were becoming an important historical documentary resource. In 1945, Sir Edward Hulton set up the Hulton Press Library as a semi-independent operation and commissioned Charles Gibbs-Smith of the Victoria and Albert Museum to catalogue the entire archive using a system of keywords and classifications. The Gibbs-Smith system claims to be the world's first indexing system for pictures, and it was eventually adopted by the British Museum collections.<ref name="getty"/>

===Expansion and transition online (1980s–1990s)===

By the 1980s, stock photography had become a specialty in its own right, with the stock industry advancing quickly.<ref name="dalamaybrief"/> As photo libraries transitioned from physical archives to servers in the mid-1990s, "stock libraries" were increasingly called "stock agencies".<ref name="dalamaybrief"/> The archives also began to rely increasingly on keywords for sorting and retrieving photographs.<ref name="dalamaybrief"/> In 1991, Photodisc in Seattle, Washington, began selling CD ROMs with packs of images. Unlike their competitors, Photodisc licensed the image packs as Royalty Free. In contrast to the Rights Managed system, royalty free allowed the purchaser of a CD ROM to use the images as many times as they liked without paying further fees.<ref name="dalamaybrief"/>

There was a great amount of consolidation among stock photo agencies<ref name = Howto16/><ref name="page8MichaelHeron"/> between 1990 and the mid-2000s, with Corbis notably acquiring the massive Bettmann Archive in 1995.<ref name="fbookonstockphotography"/> After Photodisc went online in 1995,<ref name="photodisconline"/> in September 1997, PhotoDisc agreed to combine with London-based Getty Communications to form the Seattle-based Getty Images.<ref name="imagiseverything"/> In 1996, the Hulton Picture Collection was bought by Getty Images for £8.6 million.<ref name="image-ethics"/>

Alamy (registered as Alamy Limited) is a privately owned stock photography agency launched in 1999. Alamy maintains an online archive of over one hundred million still images, illustrations and hundreds of thousands of videos contributed by agencies and independent photographers or collected from news archives, museums and national collections. Its suppliers include both professional and amateur photographers, stock agencies, news archives, museums and national collections. Its clients are from the photography, publishing and advertising industries and the general public.

===Recent developments (2000–present)=== {{Update|section|date=March 2024}} The early microstock company iStockphoto was founded in May 2000. Originally a free stock imagery website, it transitioned into its current micropayment model in 2001.<ref name="ST-05-28-07"/> iStockphoto co-founders Bruce Livingstone and Brianna Wettlaufer then went on to start Stocksy United in 2013. Helping pioneer the subscription-based model of stock photography,<ref name="Smart Money 02-04-2009"/> Shutterstock was founded in 2003 with a monthly subscription fee.<ref name="Forbes-10-28-2013"/> Online since 2000 as a royalty-free stock photography website, in 2004 Dreamstime<ref name="Microstock Insider"/> was founded as new microstock agency.<ref name="CNN Money"/> Other stock agencies with new business models around this time included fotoLibra, which opened to the public in 2005,<ref name="news:picture_perfect"/><ref name="news:new_approach"/> and Can Stock Photo, which debuted in 2004.<ref name="about"/> By 2007 Dreamstime was competing with iStockphoto, Fotolia and Shutterstock, all expanded into major microstock companies.<ref name="CNN Money"/> In March 2013 microstock company Depositphotos launched Clashot,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.selling-stock.com/Article/depositphotos-launches-clashot-mobile-applica|title=Depositphotos Launches Clashot: Mobile Application|date=15 March 2016|website=Selling Stock|access-date=25 October 2016|archive-date=25 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025192040/http://www.selling-stock.com/Article/depositphotos-launches-clashot-mobile-applica|url-status=live}}</ref> a service that allows smartphone users to instantly upload photos to the photobank from their devices, followed by Fotolia, that launched the very similar Fotolia Instant <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2013/10/07/stock-photos-site-fotolia-launches-fotolia-instant-an-app-for-selling-your-smartphone-photos/|title=Stock Photos Site Fotolia Launches Fotolia Instant, An App For Selling Your Smartphone Photos|date=7 October 2013|website=Techcrunch|access-date=25 October 2016|archive-date=25 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025175042/https://techcrunch.com/2013/10/07/stock-photos-site-fotolia-launches-fotolia-instant-an-app-for-selling-your-smartphone-photos/|url-status=live}}</ref> later that year.

Between the 1990s and the mid-2000s, Bill Gates' Corbis Images and Getty Images combined purchased more than 40 stock photo agencies.<ref name="fbookonstockphotography"/> iStockphoto, or iStock.com, was acquired by Getty in 2006.<ref name="dalamaybrief"/> In February 2009,<ref name="getty-feb"/> Jupitermedia Corporation sold their online stock images division, Jupiterimages, to Getty Images for $96 million in cash,<ref name="reuters-jupiter"/> including the sites stock.xchng and StockXpert.<ref name="getty-feb"/> In 2005, Scoopt started a photo news agency for citizen journalism enabling the public to upload and sell breaking news images taken with cameraphones. In 2007 Scoopt was purchased by Getty Images, which closed it in 2009.<ref name="shuttingscoopt"/> In 2012 Shutterstock became the first microstock agency to complete an initial public offering,<ref name="shutterstock-ipo"/> with the company's shares reaching a $2.5 billion market value by late 2013.<ref name="Forbes-10-28-2013"/>

====Artificial intelligence==== The rapid commercialization of generative artificial intelligence beginning in 2022 and 2023 has had a significant impact on the stock photography industry. Critics in the photography press argued early on that image synthesis was particularly suited to replacing the generic, broadly-keyworded imagery that dominates stock catalogs, with photographer Grant Scott writing in 2023 that stock photography had been in decline since the late 1990s and that AI could "ring the final toll" for generic stock work, while authorial and commissioned photography requiring "a living breathing photographer" would remain commercially viable.<ref name="UNP">{{cite web |last=Scott |first=Grant |title=Is AI the End of Stock Photography? |url=https://unitednationsofphotography.com/2023/05/15/is-ai-the-end-of-stock-photography/ |website=The United Nations of Photography |date=May 15, 2023 |access-date=April 30, 2026}}</ref> ''The Wall Street Journal'' subsequently characterized the period as an existential moment for veteran contributors, as agencies including Getty Images and Shutterstock integrated AI-generated imagery alongside their traditional libraries.<ref name="WSJ">{{cite news |title=The Last Stock Photographers Await Their Fate Under Generative AI |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-last-stock-photographers-await-their-fate-under-generative-ai-822d1e6a |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=April 30, 2026}}</ref>

Adobe Stock, which began accepting AI-generated submissions in December 2022, saw the share of AI imagery in its catalog rise from approximately 2.5% in May 2023 to 48% by April 8, 2025—roughly 313 million AI images compared with 342 million conventional photographs—with more than 29 million new AI images uploaded each month during the first quarter of 2025, a pace that prompted Adobe to begin enforcing per-contributor upload limits in May 2025.<ref name="CineD">{{cite web |title=AI Flood on Adobe Stock: Nearly Half of All Images Now AI-Generated |url=https://www.cined.com/ai-flood-on-adobe-stock-nearly-half-of-all-images-now-ai-generated/ |website=CineD |date=May 2025 |access-date=April 30, 2026}}</ref><ref name="PetaPixel">{{cite web |last=|first= |title=Almost Half of the Images on Adobe Stock Are AI-Generated |url=https://petapixel.com/2025/05/22/almost-half-of-the-images-on-adobe-stock-are-ai-generated/ |website=PetaPixel |date=May 22, 2025 |access-date=April 30, 2026}}</ref> In November 2024 Adobe rolled out generative editing features such as Generative Edits and Generate Variations, allowing customers to modify licensed assets in real time using Adobe Firefly.<ref name="Yahoo">{{cite news |title=Adobe Adds AI Tools to Stock |url=https://tech.yahoo.com/ai/articles/adobe-adds-ai-tools-stock-140400554.html |work=Yahoo Tech |access-date=April 30, 2026}}</ref> Under Adobe's contributor model, photographers are compensated only when a generated output derived from their image is downloaded, or through periodic Firefly training bonuses for content used to train the model—policies that ''The Phoblographer'' and other outlets criticized for shifting risk onto human contributors and increasing rejection rates for traditional submissions citing duplicate content.<ref name="Phoblo">{{cite web |title=Adobe Stock Finds New Ways To Hurt Photographers |url=https://www.thephoblographer.com/2024/11/17/adobe-stock-finds-new-ways-to-hurt-photographers/ |website=The Phoblographer |date=November 17, 2024 |access-date=April 30, 2026}}</ref>

By 2025, ''Axios'' reported that AI tools were also displacing entry-level work such as professional headshots and food imagery—citing claims by services like Profile Bakery that 92% of viewers could not distinguish AI headshots from photographs—while major brands continued to commission established photographers for higher-end campaigns.<ref name="Axios">{{cite news |title=AI Disrupts Photography: Why Photoshoots Are Forever Changed |url=https://www.axios.com/2025/09/13/ai-photography-headshots-stock-images |work=Axios |date=September 13, 2025 |access-date=April 30, 2026}}</ref>

==Description== Stock photography refers to the supply of photographs, which are often licensed for specific uses such as magazine publishing or pamphlet-making.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.stockphotosecrets.com/news/stock-photographers/what-does-stock-photography-mean.html |title=What Does Stock Photography Mean? |last=Struck |first=Amos |date=April 20, 2021 |website=Stock Photo |access-date=May 31, 2022 |archive-date=May 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523080957/https://www.stockphotosecrets.com/news/stock-photographers/what-does-stock-photography-mean.html |url-status=live }}</ref> According to ''The New York Times'', as of 2005 "most" book cover designers prefer stock photography agencies over photographers in efforts to save costs. Publishers can then purchase photographs on an exclusive or non-exclusive basis.<ref name="gmorethanapage"/>

Established models of stock photography include: # Macrostock: High-priced and exclusive stock photography, also known as traditional stock photography<ref name="imacrostock"/> # Midstock: Stock photography priced between micro stock and macro stock, which is often used online<ref name="hgrunbaum"/> # Microstock: Low-priced and inclusive stock photography. In competition to traditional agencies, microstock photography is a relatively new model of stock photography which is available through agencies that sell images for lower prices but in greater volume.<ref name="NYT-06-05-07"/>

According to ''The New York Times'', conventional stock agencies charge from several hundred to several thousand American dollars per image, and "base fees on the published size of an image, circulation and other factors." Microstock photos may sell for as little as US$0.25.<ref name="NYT-06-05-07"/> Professional stock photographers traditionally place their images with one or more stock agencies on a contractual basis, with a defined commission basis and specified contract term. The industry standard is purportedly 30 to 50 percent to the photographer, although at the start of the stock photography industry, fees were typically cut half and half between the agency and artist.<ref name="fbookonstockphotography"/> Other stock agencies may accept the high-quality photos of amateur photographers through online submission.<ref name="lstockphoto"/>

Some online photo websites have created unique software to search for fitting stock photos, for example searching for complicated keyword combinations, color, shapes, and "moods".<ref name="bestentrej"/><ref name="kpopsi"/> Other search engines may seek to quantify the best photos by looking for elements as diverse as "bright lights", "evidence of emotional connections between people", and the tilt of faces.<ref name="aforhtemost"/> <!--

Some stock photography sites{{who|date=September 2015}} offer low-resolution photography free for the purpose of preparing advertising comps to demonstrate a design. If the advertiser decides to use the image, the rights to use the high-resolution image then can be negotiated or purchased directly from the website. Most comps are watermarked with the name of the photo agency in question (usually either across the image, covering the image in a grid, or in the top left or bottom right of the image). The point is that the watermark cannot be removed with traditional photo-editing programs and removing it would cost more than buying the image. However, the photo agency Thinkstock uses 'image packs' - groups of high-resolution, watermark-free, low-priced (all the images - an unlimited number - cost as much as one image conventionally costs) images chosen by one user for use by them. As Thinkstock mostly consists of images from Getty Images, iStock, Comstock, PhotoDisc, Photos.com and other Thinkstock sister agencies, these images are easily available for image packs.{{OR|date=October 2015}}

Professional stock photographers place their images with one or more stock agencies on a contractual basis, with a defined commission basis, and for a specified contract term. Some photographers{{who|date=September 2015}} fund their own photo shoots or develop imagery in cooperation with an agency, while others{{who|date=September 2015}} submit photographs originally produced as part of editorial (magazine) or commercial assignments.{{cn|date=July 2016}} -->

===Styles and trends===

Traditional stock photo agencies have large catalogues that may include press archives and works by notable photographers such as Bert Hardy, Bill Brandt, Weegee and Ernst Haas.<ref name="hulton_archive"/> More recent trends in microstock photography include "lifestyle" photographs of people "at work and play",<ref name="NYT-06-05-07"/> food, sports, and fashion.<ref name="NYT-06-05-07"/> Other stock photo themes may include stereotypes, expressing common emotions and gesticulations, pets,{{citation needed|date=July 2016}} and images related to travel and tourism.{{citation needed|date=July 2016}}

In the early 1990s, the stock industry focused on "conceptual images", which could encapsulate themes such as "global communication, success, and teamwork".<ref name="dalamaybrief"/> After the consolidation of many stock photo agencies in the 1990s and early 2000s, new companies began focusing on "niche collections" including "medical, science, minorities, gay and lesbian lifestyles, aviation, maps, panoramas, historical, sports, and celebrity homes".<ref name="fbookonstockphotography"/> Opined Megan Garber of ''The Atlantic'' in 2012, "one of the more wacky/wondrous elements of stock photos is the manner in which, as a genre, they've developed a unifying editorial sensibility. To see a stock image is, Potter Stewart-style, to ''know'' you're seeing a stock image. And while stock images' stockiness may be in part due to the common visual tropes that give them their easy, cheesy impact - prettiness, preciousness, pose-iness - there's part of it that's more ephemeral, too. Though they have little in common, shots of a German Shepherd typing on a laptop and a man contemplating the sunset can both be, in their special way, stocky."<ref name="lstockphoto">{{cite news |title = The Tao of Shutterstock: What Makes a Stock Photo a Stock Photo? |first = Megan |last = Garber |url = https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/05/the-tao-of-shutterstock-what-makes-a-stock-photo-a-stock-photo/257280/ |newspaper = The Atlantic |date = May 18, 2012 |access-date = 2016-07-16 |archive-date = 2021-12-30 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211230165429/https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/05/the-tao-of-shutterstock-what-makes-a-stock-photo-a-stock-photo/257280/ |url-status = live }}</ref>

==Types of stock photo licenses==

===Public domain (PD)=== {{main|Public domain image resources}} [[File:Downtown Chicago Marina City CornCob Sky Scrapers.jpg|thumb|Example of a public domain stock photo, showing the Marina City building complex in Chicago]] In relation to photography and graphics, public domain (PD) means the image is free to use without purchasing a license, and can be used for commercial or personal purposes. Works in the public domain are those whose exclusive intellectual property rights have expired,<ref name="Boyle 2008 38"/> have been forfeited,<ref name="Graber 2008 173"/> or are inapplicable.<ref>[http://www.bitlaw.com/copyright/unprotected.html unprotected] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160302173206/http://www.bitlaw.com/copyright/unprotected.html |date=2016-03-02 }} on bitlaw.com</ref>

===Royalty-free (RF)=== {{main|Royalty-free}} In photography and the illustration industry, royalty-free (RF) refers to a copyright license where the user has the right to use the picture without many restrictions based on one-time payment to the licensor. The user can, therefore, use the image in several projects without having to purchase any additional licenses. RF licenses cannot be given on an exclusive basis. In stock photography, RF is one of the common licenses sometimes contrasted with Rights Managed licenses and often employed in subscription-based or microstock photography business models.<ref name="focalgoogle353"/>

===Rights-managed (RM)=== {{main|Rights Managed}} Rights Managed (RM) in the stock photo industry (sometimes called "licensed images") refers to a copyright license that, if purchased by a user, allows the one-time use of the photo as specified by the license. If the user wants to use the photo for other uses an additional license needs to be purchased. RM licenses can be given on a nonexclusive or exclusive basis. In stock photography RM is one of the two common license types together with royalty-free, subscription, and microstock photography being business models often confused as separate license types (both use the royalty-free license type).<ref name="microstockfocalenc"/><ref>{{cite news |title = See Vince Vaughn's Stock Photos With 'Unfinished Business' Cast |first = Taylor |last = Umlauf |url = https://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015/03/04/see-vince-vaughns-stock-photos-with-unfinished-business-cast/ |newspaper = The Wall Street Journal |date = March 4, 2015 |access-date = 2016-03-14 |archive-date = 2015-09-09 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150909101031/http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015/03/04/see-vince-vaughns-stock-photos-with-unfinished-business-cast/ |url-status = live }}</ref>

==References== <references>

<ref name="shutterstock-ipo">{{Cite web|url=http://www.shutterstock.com/blog/2012/10/shutterstock-celebrates-at-the-new-york-stock-exchange/|title=Shutterstock Announces Closing of Initial Public Offering and Exercise of Underwriters' Option to Purchase Additional Shares|publisher=Shutterstock|date=2012-10-16|access-date=2013-01-18|archive-date=2013-03-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130312024210/http://www.shutterstock.com/blog/2012/10/shutterstock-celebrates-at-the-new-york-stock-exchange/|url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="about">{{cite web|url=http://www.canstockphoto.com/about.php|title=About Can Stock Photo|publisher=Can Stock Photo|access-date=2015-08-28|archive-date=2015-08-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150831050551/http://www.canstockphoto.com/about.php|url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="news:new_approach">{{cite news |title=New Approach Brings Down Picture Buying Costs |url=http://www.creativematch.com/news/new-approach-brings-down-picture/91181/ |newspaper=creativematch |date=16 June 2005 |access-date=21 March 2012 |archive-date=27 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827192759/http://www.creativematch.com/news/new-approach-brings-down-picture/91181/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="news:picture_perfect">{{cite news |title=fotoLibra gets it picture perfect |first=Khan |last=Basheera |url=http://www.itwales.com/998726.htm |newspaper=i.t.wales |date=9 June 2004 |access-date=21 March 2012 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206003255/http://www.itwales.com/998726.htm |archive-date=6 February 2012 }}</ref> <ref name="Smart Money 02-04-2009">[http://www.smartmoney.com/Spending/Technology/Small-Business-How-to-Beat-a-Goliath/ "Small Business: How to Beat a Goliath"] SmartMoney, February 2, 2009 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100702051634/http://www.smartmoney.com/Spending/Technology/Small-Business-How-to-Beat-a-Goliath/ |date=July 2, 2010 }}</ref> <ref name="Forbes-10-28-2013">Steven Bertoni, [https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2013/10/09/silicon-alleys-first-billionaire-aims-to-dominate-images-on-web/ "Silicon Alley's First Billionaire Aims To Dominate Images On Web"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230140205/https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2013/10/09/silicon-alleys-first-billionaire-aims-to-dominate-images-on-web/ |date=2021-12-30 }}, ''Forbes'', October 28, 2013</ref> <ref name="ah-goodbye">{{cite news | url = http://www.americanheritage.com/content/goodbye-all | title = Goodbye to All That | first = Richard F. | last = Snow | page = 5 | work = American Heritage | date = May 2001 | volume = 52 | issue = 3 | publisher = American Heritage Publishing Company | location = New York City | access-date = 2016-07-18 | archive-date = 2012-04-13 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120413202900/http://www.americanheritage.com/content/goodbye-all | url-status = live }}</ref>

<ref name="journalfilmquarl">{{cite journal |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/1210017 |title=Editor's Notebook |date=Winter 1959 |journal=Film Quarterly |volume=13 |issue=2 |page=8 |publisher=University of California Press|doi=10.2307/1210017 |jstor=1210017 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

<ref name="photodisconline">{{cite news |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-17959266.html |title=Image is everything.(West Stock and PhotoDisc introduce Web sites) (Internet Watch) (Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)|last=Crotty|first=Cameron|date=February 1, 1996 |magazine=Macworld |access-date=2008-10-06}}{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

<ref name="image-ethics">{{cite book|last=Gross|first=Larry P.|author2=Katz, John Stuart |author3=Ruby, Jay |title=Image ethics in the digital age|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|year=2003|isbn=978-0-8166-3824-6}}</ref> <ref name="imagiseverything">{{Cite web|url=http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/september/nf70917b.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991008124722/http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/september/nf70917b.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 8, 1999|title=''The Getty-PhotoDisc Deal: Image is Everything'' - Business Week}}</ref> <ref name="page8MichaelHeron">{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=BJwM-7b0FVIC&pg=PA5 | page = 8 | title = Digital Stock Photography: How to Shoot and Sell | first = Michal | last = Heron | publisher = Allworth Communications | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-58115-484-9 }}</ref>

<ref name = Howto16>{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ihjxHk9kLbgC&pg=PA13 | page = 16 | title = How to Shoot Stock Photos That Sell | first = Michal | last = Heron | edition = 3 | publisher = Allworth Communications | year = 2001 | isbn = 978-1-58115-087-2 }}</ref>

<ref name="CNN Money">{{cite news|last=Levine|first=Robert|title=Photo wars: A $2 billion business gets rough|url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2007/04/01/8403372/index.htm?postversion=2007040409|access-date=July 19, 2012|newspaper=CNN Money|date=April 4, 2007|archive-date=October 5, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005063628/http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2007/04/01/8403372/index.htm?postversion=2007040409|url-status=dead}}</ref> <ref name="Microstock Insider">{{cite news|last=Gibson|first=Steve|title=Dreamstime Site Review|url=http://microstockinsider.com/site_reviews/dreamstime|access-date=July 19, 2012|newspaper=Microstock Insider|date=April 13, 2008|archive-date=August 2, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120802041941/http://microstockinsider.com/site_reviews/dreamstime|url-status=live}}</ref> <ref name="shuttingscoopt">{{cite news |title=Getty shutting Scoopt citizen journalism photo site to focus on core business |date=February 4, 2009 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/pda/2009/feb/04/citizenmedia-photography |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=December 16, 2016 |archive-date=February 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214224626/https://www.theguardian.com/media/pda/2009/feb/04/citizenmedia-photography |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="hulton_archive">{{cite web |url=http://hultongetty.com/ixbin/hixclient.exe?_IXDB_=hulton&_IXSESSION_=&search-form=about.html&submit-button=search |title=About Hulton Archive |year=2001 |publisher=Hulton Archive |access-date=2009-08-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011021133300/http://hultongetty.com/ixbin/hixclient.exe?_IXDB_=hulton&_IXSESSION_=&search-form=about.html&submit-button=search |archive-date=2001-10-21 }} (archived on the Web Archive)</ref> <ref name="aforhtemost">{{cite news |title = New Software Sifts Photos for the Most Clickable |first = Elizabeth |last = Dwoskin |url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-software-sifts-the-tide-of-online-images-1443722371 |newspaper = Wall Street Journal |date = October 1, 2015 |access-date = 2016-07-15 |archive-date = 2016-06-28 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160628050253/http://www.wsj.com/articles/new-software-sifts-the-tide-of-online-images-1443722371 |url-status = live }}</ref> <ref name="kpopsi">{{cite news |title = Shutterstock Has Trained A Computer To Find You The Perfect Photos |first = Alexandra |last = Ossola |url = http://www.popsci.com/shutterstock-is-visualizing-images-in-whole-new-way |newspaper = Popular Science |date = March 10, 2016 |access-date = 2016-06-15 |archive-date = 2016-06-13 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160613091856/http://www.popsci.com/shutterstock-is-visualizing-images-in-whole-new-way |url-status = live }}</ref> <ref name="bestentrej">{{cite news |title = How Shutterstock Is Training Its System to Help You Find Better Photos |first = Nina |last = Zipkin |url = https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/272281 |newspaper = Entrepreneur |date = March 10, 2016 |access-date = 2016-06-15 |archive-date = 2021-10-26 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211026233057/https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/272281 |url-status = live }}</ref> <ref name="ST-05-28-07">Kim Peterson, [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003724590_istockphoto28.html "Microstock photography represents a new business model"], ''Seattle Times'', May 28, 2007</ref>

<ref name="getty-feb">{{cite web |url=http://company.gettyimages.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=192&isource=corporate_website_ind_press_release |title=Jupitermedia Announces Completion Of Sale Of Jupiterimages To Getty Images and Change Of Jupitermedia Name to WebMediaBrands |publisher=Getty Images |date=2009-02-23 |access-date=2009-08-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228031805/http://company.gettyimages.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=192&isource=corporate_website_ind_press_release |archive-date=2009-02-28 }}</ref>

<ref name="reuters-jupiter">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSTRE49M50420081023|title=Jupitermedia to sell online image unit to Getty|date=2008-10-23|work=Reuters|access-date=2009-08-14|first=Savio|last=D'Souza|archive-date=2008-10-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081026050342/http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSTRE49M50420081023|url-status=live}}</ref> <ref name="gmorethanapage">{{cite news |title = With Covers, Publishers Take More Than Page From Rivals |first = Andrew Adam |last = Newman |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/07/books/with-covers-publishers-take-more-than-page-from-rivals.html?_r=0 |newspaper = The New York Times |date = July 7, 2005 |access-date = 2016-07-15 |archive-date = 2019-12-23 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191223042345/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/07/books/with-covers-publishers-take-more-than-page-from-rivals.html?_r=0 |url-status = live }}</ref> <ref name="imacrostock">{{cite news | title = Traditional Stock Agencies | url = http://budgetstockphoto.com/full_price_agencies.html | publisher = budgetstockphoto.com | access-date = 2016-03-14 | archive-date = 2016-03-17 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160317063042/http://budgetstockphoto.com/full_price_agencies.html | url-status = live }}</ref> <ref name="NYT-06-05-07">Eric A. Taub, [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/05/technology/circuits/05syndicate.html?em&ex=1181188800&en=687225a44f80273c&ei=5087%0A "When Are Photos Like Penny Stocks? When They Sell"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225211735/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/05/technology/circuits/05syndicate.html?em&ex=1181188800&en=687225a44f80273c&ei=5087%0A |date=2021-02-25 }}, ''New York Times'', June 5, 2007</ref>

<ref name="hgrunbaum">{{cite news |title = Co-founder of Getty Images steps down as CEO |first = Rami |last = Grunbaum |url = http://www.seattletimes.com/business/technology/co-founder-of-getty-images-steps-down-as-ceo-amid-heated-competition/ |newspaper = The Seattle Times |date = March 13, 2015 |access-date = 2016-07-15 |archive-date = 2016-08-15 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160815162825/http://www.seattletimes.com/business/technology/co-founder-of-getty-images-steps-down-as-ceo-amid-heated-competition/ |url-status = live }}</ref>

<ref name="getty">[http://corporate.gettyimages.com/masters2/conservation/articles/HAHistory.pdf Hulton|Archive – History in Pictures] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527044717/http://corporate.gettyimages.com/masters2/conservation/articles/HAHistory.pdf |date=2013-05-27 }} History of ''Picture Post'' by the Archive Curator Sarah McDonald, 15/10/04. Accessed March 2008</ref> <ref name = Howto13>{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ihjxHk9kLbgC&pg=PA13 | page = 13 | title = How to Shoot Stock Photos That Sell | first = Michal | last = Heron | edition = 3 | publisher = Allworth Communications | year = 2001 | isbn = 978-1-58115-087-2 }}</ref> <ref name="Boyle 2008 38">{{Cite book|last=Boyle|first=James|title=The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind|publisher=CSPD|year=2008|page=38|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fn1Pl9Gv_EMC&q=public+domain|isbn=978-0-300-13740-8|access-date=2023-03-23|archive-date=2023-04-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412150547/https://books.google.com/books?id=Fn1Pl9Gv_EMC&q=public+domain|url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="Graber 2008 173">{{Cite book |last1=Graber |first1=Christoph B. |last2=Nenova |first2=Mira B. |title=Intellectual Property and Traditional Cultural Expressions in a Digital Environment |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |year=2008 |page=173 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gK6OI0hrANsC&q=%22public+domain%22+intellectual+property |isbn=978-1-84720-921-4 |access-date=2023-03-23 |archive-date=2023-05-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230515045419/https://books.google.com/books?id=gK6OI0hrANsC&q=%22public+domain%22+intellectual+property |url-status=live }}</ref> <ref name="dalamaybrief">{{cite news |title = A Brief History of Stock Photography |url = http://www.alamy.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-stock-photography |publisher = alamy.com |date = June 16, 2015 |access-date = 2016-03-14 |archive-date = 2016-08-07 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160807192110/http://www.alamy.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-stock-photography |url-status = live }}</ref>

<ref name="microstockfocalenc">{{Cite book| last = Peres| first = Michael R| title = The Focal encyclopaedia of photography: digital imaging, theory and applications, history, and science| publisher = Focal Press| date = 2007| pages = 352| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VYyldcYfq3MC&q=%22rights+managed%22+license| isbn = 978-0-240-80740-9}}</ref> <ref name="fbookonstockphotography"> {{cite news | title =The Focal Encyclopedia of Photography: Digital Imaging, Theory and Applications, History, and Science | first =Michael | last =R. Peres | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=VYyldcYfq3MC&q=history+of+stock+photo+agencies&pg=PA351 | publisher =Taylor & Francis | date =2007 | isbn =9780240807409 | access-date = 2016-03-14 }} page 351</ref>

<ref name="focalgoogle353">{{Cite book| last = Peres| first = Michael R| title = The Focal encyclopaedia of photography: digital imaging, theory and applications, history, and science| publisher = Focal Press| year = 2007| pages = 352–353| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VYyldcYfq3MC&q=%22rights+managed%22+license| isbn = 978-0-240-80740-9}}</ref> </references>

== Further reading ==

{{refbegin}} * {{Cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Claire Cain |title=From Sex Object to Gritty Woman: The Evolution of Women in Stock Photos |work=The New York Times |date=2017-09-07 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/upshot/from-sex-object-to-gritty-woman-the-evolution-of-women-in-stock-photos.html |issn=0362-4331 |df=mdy-all |access-date=2017-09-25 |archive-date=2017-09-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926042411/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/upshot/from-sex-object-to-gritty-woman-the-evolution-of-women-in-stock-photos.html |url-status=live }} {{refend}}

==External links== *{{commons category-inline|Stock photographs}}

Category:Stock photography Photography