{"id":16897,"date":"2023-07-03T16:12:47","date_gmt":"2023-07-03T16:12:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/?p=16897"},"modified":"2025-01-10T15:56:30","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T15:56:30","slug":"40-years-in-the-stock-photo-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/2023\/07\/03\/40-years-in-the-stock-photo-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"40 Years in the Stock Photo Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

40 Years in the Stock Photo Industry\u00a0 by Tim Harris<\/h1>\n

After 40 years in the industry, working with wonderful colleagues, inspiring photographers, and valued clients in the editorial and creative world, many of whom have become my friends, I thought it was time to share some reflections on the way the industry has evolved through my career, along with thoughts from industry colleagues. Enjoy!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>How I fell into the industry<\/h3>\n

My first working day in the picture library industry was 4th<\/sup> July 1983. After graduating from Cambridge with a degree in languages, I was looking for a job in publishing and saw an ad in The Bookseller as manager of a natural history picture library. As I grew up surrounded by pictures (my parents were both art teachers) and I had been fascinated by wildlife and nature since I was a small child, I plucked up my courage and applied. After a rather unconventional interview (which included playing the harpsichord and a nature walk identification test), I was delighted and amazed to be offered the job at NHPA by photographer Stephen Dalton, who had recently bought the agency from retiring founders Hugh and Moira Newman.<\/p>\n

The honeybee image left by Stephen Dalton was the first image I ever licensed, for the book cover of Honey by the Ton.<\/em><\/p>\n

Early days \u2013 a steep learning curve<\/h3>\n

Before I started officially, I went down to Hythe in Kent to meet Moira (Toni) Newman, who showed me the ropes of running the agency, including how to find each photographer\u2019s images (many of them filed in individual shoe boxes) and how to pack up slides to send to clients (often wrapped in old newspapers, I was horrified to find).<\/p>\n

So I drove down to Sussex in an ancient Vauxhall Viva, rented a room in a cold and mouse-infested former vicarage, and started work on Independence Day 1983 in a quaint cottage in Ardingly, which the agency shared with the owner\u2019s mother, the formidable Stephanie Dalton who was always known to all the staff as \u201cGrannie\u201d. To start with I was the only full-time employee, with part-time help from a lively American called Mari Zipes, thanks to whom I remember so well the \u00a0significant 4th<\/sup> July start date. But over the next few years, the collection grew, the sales built and the team expanded too, so I finally had a team to manage!<\/p>\n

My early tasks involved picture research, editing, writing delivery notes, posting packages, invoicing, running sales reports, paying photographers, keeping the books, and doing the VAT return each quarter \u2013 not to forget hoovering the office and making the tea.<\/p>\n

Myles Archibald, Associate Publisher at HarperCollins:<\/h5>\n

\u201cI started in 1987 at Natural History so not far behind you! There were amazing photos then but digital cameras now allow photos to be taken that were impossible then, always in focus, even in difficult light conditions. In the old days we handled one transparency or a small number. Now the photographer can easily take 100 if not 1000 of one subject, allowing variation and selection after the event.\u00a0And the picture buyer can easily narrow down pictures online with the use of keywords.\u00a0There are no transparencies to post, select, insure, return \u2013 and loads more people taking photos! So there are better photos and it\u2019s easier to select really good pictures quickly.\u00a0 Download speeds allow instant access and storage is not an issue. In 1987 it was 20mb hard drives. These days some pics are 50mb. But in all the turmoil you still have some of the best pictures around!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Transparencies, catalogues<\/h3>\n

Many hours were spent at the light-table in these pre-digital years and I learnt fast how to compare Kodachrome and Fuji 35mm transparencies, medium format originals (especially for landscape photography) and duplicates in different formats up to 70mm and 5 x 4 inches (of which Stephen Dalton was a master). In fact Stephen\u2019s technical knowledge and aesthetic sense have informed my working life in licensing nature photography ever since. I owe him a large debt for his patience in explaining the principles of exposure, shutter speed, sharpness and depth of field, use of flash, and especially the vital importance of lighting and composition in nature photography.<\/p>\n

The 1990s were a \u201cgolden age\u201d for stock photography as commercial agencies developed to supply stock images for creative projects, often selling rights for advertising campaigns in 4 figures. I remember being very proud to close a deal for a series of 6 pictures for car advertising for more than \u00a320,000 (those were the days!). Agency catalogues became big business and I co-ordinated a huge photo book called A-Z of Nature, which was successful in growing our commercial photo sales, both direct and through a big network of subagents around the world. Working with the design, printer, duping house and negotiating contracts with partner agents was a big lesson in project management. And I still remember a long series of Saturday \u201ccatalogue days\u201d as the 5 day working week was too short and too busy to fit in the extra hours needed to bring the project to fruition.<\/p>\n

and safaris!<\/h3>\n

In those days, working in a photo agency could also entail plenty of travel, as I visited photographers to edit their work and to accompany them on photographic trips. Visiting Africa for the first time was an amazing experience, seeing rhinos close-up in Kwazulu Natal, cheetahs hunting and weaverbirds nesting in the Kalahari, and hearing the mournful cry of the indri in the remnant rainforests of Madagascar. Sometimes these trips involved surprises \u2013 such as the morning when a spitting cobra decided to visit the photo library where I was editing images near Johannesburg, and had to be extracted from behind a filing cabinet with a cleft stick!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n