Tapping Citizen Photographers Around the World
The inner workings of Shutterstock
Nancy Feraldi interviews Jon Oringer, founder & president of Shutterstock via telephone on May 22, 2007
"Shutterstock is the largest subscription-based stock photo agency in the world. Our outstanding collection of premium, royalty-free images grows every day, with photographs, illustrations, and vectors you won't find any where else." (Shutterstock, 2007). This is what subscribers see: "It's as easy as: choose your plan, pay one low fee ($199 for one month), download what you need when you need it." Jon Oringer is Founder & President of this growing business claiming, "1,874,626 royalty-free stock photos, 30,458 new stock photos added this week, and 60,380 photographers." In four short years, Jon has tapped into citizen photography from all over the world. When I asked if he was a photographer, he replied, "Oh yes, but never a professional, and never very good. I found there were much better photographers out there. I was just taking pictures all over the world and needed a library for my photographs." Jon went to Stonybrook as an undergraduate, and to Columbia for a Masters Degree in computer science.
Nancy Feraldi: Where are you located?
Jon Oringer: New York City
Q: What motivated you to start your project?
A: I started Shutterstock in 2003, as a library for my own 30,000 photos. I would be in Tokyo sending photos in to some microstock site, and I met a lot of other photographers. I became an entrepreneur in a business that uses stock photographs for brochures, art on the box, etc. I realized there were a lot of photographers out there better than me who needed outlets. Why not open up Shutterbox to the incredibly diverse talent in the world?
Q: How long were you thinking about the idea?
A: I put up the Web site and database in about six months time. Web 2.0 tools were just beginning then. In 2004, I opened up the site to the world, and it just took off and spread like wildfire. A huge group of people had been previously ignored and it was just a confluence of the technology, the times, and networking around the world. I received thousands of photographs every week. Shutterstock now has 60,000 members who are all amateur photographers. Now, anyone from anywhere can submit photos and support their hobby. We have 30 employees, including ten reviewers, and members are making money.
Q: Did you bring to the table existing relationships with media outlets?
A: No, not really. Although I was a customer of some outlets that became customers of Shutterstock, once I opened up subscription services to buyers on the site, it took off. Marketing was no problem.
Q: Were you already familiar with the "crowdsourcing" phrase?
A: Well, when we began, the Web 2.0 tools were new and no, not really.
Q: What kind of volume are you dealing with?
A: We accepted 25,000 photographs this week. We usually accept about 40% of photos submitted, so you can see how many are submitted.
Q: What commission do photographers make?
A: Our photographers are paid $.25 every time a buyer/subscriber downloads one of their photos. They are paid by the download. They are making money. The buyers subscribe to Shutterstock access for stock photos.
Q: What is the difference between you and competition?
A: The big difference is that we do not pay commissions to photographers. We pay by the download. And, the really big difference is that our buyers subscribe to our categorized photo-stock service.
Q: What is your marketing strategy?
A: We are in lots of design magazines; look at any design magazine, and we are there. We do have a section for editorial unreleased news photos, and we have been in popular magazines. I cannot really say which ones. I don't really have to do a lot of marketing because we are a subscription service.
Q: What motivates contributors?
A: Money. Well, it is a way to monetize their hobby. Members can finance equipment and expenses and make a little extra money on the side. Photography used to be for the wealthy; it was a luxury before the explosion of digital technology. Now, anyone, anywhere, can take photos and publish them.
Q: Can you think of any big milestones?
A: Well, we are about to hit 2,000,000 photographs.
Q: What do you think the major social impact of citizen journalism is? Specific to photo journalism and advertising, how do you see this playing out, and what kind of impact does it have on our culture?
A: Well, ten years ago there were about 2,000 stock photo sources. Now, there are sources all around the world in one hundred countries. The content is incredibly diverse. Now, we have content that never would have been seen before, never has been seen before.
Q: How much impact does this have on mainstream media sources?
A: Well, you do not need a press pass anymore to take photographs and be published. Where do the best editorial photographs come from? They come from people with a camera that is just out there when something happens. They can catch the shot very quickly. More and more people around the world are doing this. Press passes are no longer a way into a career anymore. It is much more competitive. The technology is in everyone's hands.
Q: Is fraud an issue with Shutterstock?
A: We have 60,000 watch dogs. They catch this very, very quickly. This person would never be allowed to contribute again. It is important to all the members that the site doesn't get tainted.
Q: Can you think of what might have been the most important shots?
A: This would be impossible. We have ten reviewers, and I look at thousands of photos every week. Take a look at the newest submissions to get an idea of what is important. Look at the editorial section. I am proud of this section. The most important shots might not necessarily be the most popular shots.
Q: What do you think next phase of crowdsourcing will look like?
A: Video. It will be video. We have 677 new clips this week, and the sales are going up.
Q: What are your next steps?
A: I want to bill footage out to larger companies and continue a large membership and subscriber base. We will be making a big editorial announcement soon. This is something new. Look for it on June 1st, about sourcing editorials.
Q: What do you see as the wisdom in crowds?
A: No doubt, it is the content that never would have been seen otherwise. It is a powerful force.
Q: What surprised you most about your project?
A: How quickly this took off. The incredible viral force created by crowds, how individuals motivate each other, and what they can produce, how the project spiraled from our logs and networking.
Q: I intend to become a member and submit some of my 30,000 photographs. I have a huge notebook full of floppy disk files and a huge library on my laptop.
A: Oh, please do. Give it a try. See what happens. You might be surprised.
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http://www.shutterstock.com/
http://www.surfsecret.com/
http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2003/march/59822-4.html
