[Leica] Stock Photography

[Douglas Herr]

Tina Manley wrote: 

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LUG -For those hoping to make money with stock photography, that train has leftthe station. AI will totally kill it off, but it ceased to be a way to make a living quite a few years ago.The Guardian bought this photo in 2019 for $55 with the right to use it in any way they want until 2029. They have used it several times before as a generic medical photo.https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/may/23/although-she-was-dead-i-felt-as-if-she-was-my-friend-what-its-like-to-perform-the-last-rites-for-an-organ-donorI was disappointed in the way it reproduced here - a Leica photo on Kodachrome.
Tina
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Totally agree, stock photo sales ain't what they used to be.  40 years ago $300 for one-time use was not uncommon, but it was in a steep decline long before AI-generated images.  The supply/demand equation has been wreaking havoc with photographer incomes as camera technology has made it much easier to make technically adequate photographs and buyers for print media have all but disappeared.  I weep as photos sell - through a stock agency - for literally pennies, and the percentages the agencies take has risen.

Doug Herr
Birdman of Sacramento
http://www.wildlightphoto.com