Getty Finally Breaks from Flickr

Last night I got email from Getty Images saying that their agreement with Flickr is at an end, but that they are planning to maintain the collection and keep the contributors as contributors.

About…

Friggin’…

Time!!!

I don’t know the reasons behind the move, but for me it’s a really good thing. Over the last few years Flickr has moved away from the needs and wants of the photographers who provide their content, and toward a social media sharing model that caters more to the casual viewer than to a professional editor or art scout. Every upgrade they’ve rolled has made it harder and harder to use.

Over the last year I’ve been trying to move away from Flickr. I found some good alternatives, including some sites that cater to photographers in ways that Flickr never did, such as 1x.com. The one thing I couldn’t find a replacement for was the Getty/Flickr partnership. Now I have: Getty Images itself.

The email included the URL for a new contributor site, a new login, and a temporary password. The site features its own discussion forum, a collection of tools and forms, and (for me) the most important feature of all: a hit list of what the Getty curators are looking for at any given moment in time. I ran through the hit list, seeing if there was anything I could do without having to travel, invest in new gear, or set aside a huge chunk of time. I found no fewer than twelve projects I could do right now that would result in photos Getty would consider adding to the collection.

YEEEEEHAAAA!

I know I’ll never make my primary living as a stock photographer. But Getty has treated me well over the years, modest as my collection is. This just made it easier for me to continue to work with them. Count me in.

– Tom