Photopreneur
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A photopreneur is a person engaged in the process of buying, displaying or selling digital imagery primarily online and receives social and or economic incentives for their participation. Unlike photographers, a photopreneur is not solely motivated by making a living from digital images but rather being part of a social system with shared attitudes and beliefs around the broader connections between photography and forms of social participation that are linked to the display, distribution and dialogs around images and imagery.
[edit] History
Historically, the stock photography industry appeared in the United States and Europe in the early 1970s. Stock agencies such as The Image Bank, Black Star, and Comstock were some of the first stock photography firms to introduce stock images. These organizations as well as corporate photography agencies, photo libraries and private collections of artistic images were used to transform advertisers and marketers perceptions of stock photography as “unremarkable” images by introducing quality practices, talented pools of photographers and a dynamic archival system that supported advertisers and marketers that sought to control image licenses. (Froth)
It was the creation of a dynamic archival system and the move to digitize the entire photography industry in 2004 that led to the introduction of new business models and organizations that sought to balance the economic and emotional interests of participants engaged in buying, displaying, and selling digital imagery. In part the photopreneur trend surfaced as a way to avoid stock photo website completely and establish direct contacts to photographers. Furthermore, the proliferation of camera cell phones particulary via moblie devices such as cell phones made photo distribution a common communication used for maintaining a presence in the lives of friends and family. (Counts and Fellheimer)
[edit] References
Frosh, Paul (2003) The Image Factory: Consumer Culture, Photography and the Visual Content Industry, BERG, USA, pg 27 and 117
Counts, Scott and Fellheimer, Eric (2004) Supporting Social Presence through Lightweight Photo Sharing On and Off the Desktop, a paper delivered in Vienna, Austria, CHI, Volume 6, Number 1, pg 599
