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Garry Black Photography

Question:

I am new to Photography. I love taking pictures. One of my dreams is to get some of my work published one day. I always stop for a while, then get back into photography. What stops me is this little voice that says what would a stock photo agency want with my photo, after all they must have billions of them by now...why pay for new pictures when they can archive? What is the drive behind photo's? or why high demands? Here I sit at home with a stack of 35mm color slides wondering what to do with them... :) If you could shed some light on my thinking, I would highly appreciate it.

Answer:

The market for new pictures will never stop. As it will never stop for novels, music and all other forms of art. What you should be asking yourself is not, why would a stock agency be interested in your work, but rather, would an advertiser be interested in your work. After all they're the people that are going to buy your work.

Go to the web sites of the major stock agencies:
http://www.masterfile.com/
http://www.imagebank.com/
http://www.tonystone.com/

and compare your work to the images that are at those sites. If you feel that your work is as good or even better than the material on those sites, then by all means you should approach an agency with your portfolio.

What your portfolio will do is show the agency that you are proficient in technical ability and what your vision (artist ability) is like, and whether they think they can market your material. Most stock agencies are not that overly concerned with the material that you have in your files right now, they are more concerned with the material that you will be providing them in the years to come. Only Royalty Free agencies are really interested in existing material.

As to "What is the drive behind photo's? or why high demands?" People always want something newer and better, no matter what the product. As for the demand, how many pictures do you see in a day, now think about that on a global basis.

Hope this has given you an incentive to do something with your pictures.