تويت
ما هي وكالة الصورة؟ ..
كيف تعمل وكالات التصوير؟ ..
التصوير الفوتوغرافي الحديث
What is a picture agency ?
Globe Photos , then , is a picture agency . And , what is a picture agency ?
In its purest form , the picture agency is a com mercial enterprise specializing in selling photo graphs to various markets on behalf of photog raphers whom the agency represents . In actuality , most picture agencies are engaged in much more than selling pictures .
In the first instance , " selling pictures " is a mis nomer . The agency sells the " rights " to pictures and the knowledge of how to define rights as well as how to price them is an integral part of the agency's function . Further , some agencies may not act as agencies in various aspects of their business .
There are agencies which have photographers on salary or contract . Others are the actual owners of the rights to many of the pictures in their files . And , some agencies have tended to develop in different ways so that within an overall similar ity , there are many intrinsic differences in selling methods , the markets reached and the kind of photographs sold .
Most agencies started before World War II , at the time when Life , Look and their many com petitors ( such as Pic , Click , Eye and Foto ) be gan publication . It was a time when photo journal ism came into its own in the United States and agencies like Globe were primarily organized to supply the needs of the picture magazines and the Sunday newspapers .
Today , while still active in these markets , the decline of the general interest picture magazines has motivated Globe to broaden the scope of its operations to cover both the commercial and advertising fields and to encompass stock photos and illustration as well . Other agencies have taken different paths .
Black Star is most similar to Globe in being a general agency which covers the entire spectrum of photography and markets . However , where Globe became a semi - specialist in entertainment and leisure activities , Black Star has become known for its excellent in - depth coverage of international news events .
Magnum , once strictly photo - journalistic , is be coming more involved in commercial photography and film - making . Freelance Photographers Guild and Shostal are known as stock picture houses with Shostal specializing in color only while FPG handles both b / w and color . Then there are a number of agencies which handle only historical photos . Others specialize in glamour photography .
It is important , therefore , for the freelance photographer to know as much about an agency as possible before contacting one to represent him . It is equally important for him to evaluate himself and his work before seeking agency representation .
Most markets are in New York
One very important factor in the marketing of pictures is that more than 75 % of the buyers of photographs for national use are in New York City . For this reason , all of the major picture agencies have their home offices in New York . Submitting unsolicited photographs can be a risky business . So , if the freelance photographer resides outside of New York City , it is practically im perative that he have some form of agency repre sentation .
The average agency commission runs between 40-50 % . At first , this may seem high , especially when compared to the 10-15 % usually charged by literary and talent agents . But , the cost of running a picture agency is much higher than in the other agency fields , particularly in relation ship to the unit sale price and the picture agency's gross profit which will normally run considerably less than 10 % of its gross sales .
Overhead costs in the picture agency business includes items such as coding and cross - indexing all ture in file ; keeping a complete record of submissions and sales of various rights ; mailing and shipping costs and , a continual check on the condition of photographs returned from clients . In addition , the picture agency must pay its sales staff commissions and these commissions are al ways paid on the gross sales .
There is one more aspect of the picture agency business that needs definition as it relates to - a the freelance photographer . That is whether the agency is selling pictures or selling the photog rapher . In one sense , when a picture is sold photographer is sold . The acceptance of his pic tures can only enhance to some degree the reputa tion and acceptance of the photographer . But , which comes first the photographer or his photos ?
Work must meet standards of markets
In the beginning , certainly , it is his pictures which speak for the photographer and it is upon the success of his work produced by him as in dependent or speculative production that the photographer's future will be determined . It is necessary , therefore , that the freelance photog rapher be versed in his craft ; knowledgeable in the markets he wishes to reach and be able to prove his craftsmanship and knowledgeability to the agency he desires to represent him .
Agencies cannot afford to represent photog raphers whose work will not meet the standards of the marketplace or whose production is not sufficient to provide a continuing source of salable photographs . Most agencies are only interested in representing photographers whose flow of material is constant and salable ; whose efforts are devoted to producing photographs and leaving the respon sibility of selling them to the agency . The pho tographer who sends one photograph to an agency and then awaits the fate of that picture before sending in the next shipment is not going to have a happy or lasting agency relationship !
كيف تعمل وكالات التصوير؟ ..
التصوير الفوتوغرافي الحديث
What is a picture agency ?
Globe Photos , then , is a picture agency . And , what is a picture agency ?
In its purest form , the picture agency is a com mercial enterprise specializing in selling photo graphs to various markets on behalf of photog raphers whom the agency represents . In actuality , most picture agencies are engaged in much more than selling pictures .
In the first instance , " selling pictures " is a mis nomer . The agency sells the " rights " to pictures and the knowledge of how to define rights as well as how to price them is an integral part of the agency's function . Further , some agencies may not act as agencies in various aspects of their business .
There are agencies which have photographers on salary or contract . Others are the actual owners of the rights to many of the pictures in their files . And , some agencies have tended to develop in different ways so that within an overall similar ity , there are many intrinsic differences in selling methods , the markets reached and the kind of photographs sold .
Most agencies started before World War II , at the time when Life , Look and their many com petitors ( such as Pic , Click , Eye and Foto ) be gan publication . It was a time when photo journal ism came into its own in the United States and agencies like Globe were primarily organized to supply the needs of the picture magazines and the Sunday newspapers .
Today , while still active in these markets , the decline of the general interest picture magazines has motivated Globe to broaden the scope of its operations to cover both the commercial and advertising fields and to encompass stock photos and illustration as well . Other agencies have taken different paths .
Black Star is most similar to Globe in being a general agency which covers the entire spectrum of photography and markets . However , where Globe became a semi - specialist in entertainment and leisure activities , Black Star has become known for its excellent in - depth coverage of international news events .
Magnum , once strictly photo - journalistic , is be coming more involved in commercial photography and film - making . Freelance Photographers Guild and Shostal are known as stock picture houses with Shostal specializing in color only while FPG handles both b / w and color . Then there are a number of agencies which handle only historical photos . Others specialize in glamour photography .
It is important , therefore , for the freelance photographer to know as much about an agency as possible before contacting one to represent him . It is equally important for him to evaluate himself and his work before seeking agency representation .
Most markets are in New York
One very important factor in the marketing of pictures is that more than 75 % of the buyers of photographs for national use are in New York City . For this reason , all of the major picture agencies have their home offices in New York . Submitting unsolicited photographs can be a risky business . So , if the freelance photographer resides outside of New York City , it is practically im perative that he have some form of agency repre sentation .
The average agency commission runs between 40-50 % . At first , this may seem high , especially when compared to the 10-15 % usually charged by literary and talent agents . But , the cost of running a picture agency is much higher than in the other agency fields , particularly in relation ship to the unit sale price and the picture agency's gross profit which will normally run considerably less than 10 % of its gross sales .
Overhead costs in the picture agency business includes items such as coding and cross - indexing all ture in file ; keeping a complete record of submissions and sales of various rights ; mailing and shipping costs and , a continual check on the condition of photographs returned from clients . In addition , the picture agency must pay its sales staff commissions and these commissions are al ways paid on the gross sales .
There is one more aspect of the picture agency business that needs definition as it relates to - a the freelance photographer . That is whether the agency is selling pictures or selling the photog rapher . In one sense , when a picture is sold photographer is sold . The acceptance of his pic tures can only enhance to some degree the reputa tion and acceptance of the photographer . But , which comes first the photographer or his photos ?
Work must meet standards of markets
In the beginning , certainly , it is his pictures which speak for the photographer and it is upon the success of his work produced by him as in dependent or speculative production that the photographer's future will be determined . It is necessary , therefore , that the freelance photog rapher be versed in his craft ; knowledgeable in the markets he wishes to reach and be able to prove his craftsmanship and knowledgeability to the agency he desires to represent him .
Agencies cannot afford to represent photog raphers whose work will not meet the standards of the marketplace or whose production is not sufficient to provide a continuing source of salable photographs . Most agencies are only interested in representing photographers whose flow of material is constant and salable ; whose efforts are devoted to producing photographs and leaving the respon sibility of selling them to the agency . The pho tographer who sends one photograph to an agency and then awaits the fate of that picture before sending in the next shipment is not going to have a happy or lasting agency relationship !
تعليق