Billboards that we did a photo shoot for a few months back are popping up all over town. They are for the new VW Routan. They are directed at the Latino market and we have seen them throughout Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside counties. Here is one of them:

Here is a second billboard for the Routan that we shot a few months back. Keep an eye out for them, but drive safely!

Well it has happened again. Getty Images (a stock photography agency) has swallowed up another competitor. A while back Jupiter Images merged with Workbook Stock. And today it was announced that Getty has purchased Jupiter for $96 million. I have been with Masterfile for about 9 years. I think they are the only significant “non-corporate” player still in the game. Corbis is probably still considered #2 behind Getty.

I have also been with Jupiter for about 2 or 3 years. But now I guess I am with Getty….
It will be interesting to see how this affects the stock photography market, which has certainly been suffering as of late. I must admit I have not been fond of Getty’s practices in the past. They have been decidedly not photographer friendly!
But earlier this year Getty was acquired by Hellman & Friedman – a private equity firm, so who knows, maybe their attitude towards those who actually create the work that keeps them alive might be a bit kinder than in the past.

But a colleague of mine mentioned that she had heard commission splits might get changed to a 70/30 (guess who gets the 30!) so things might get even uglier.

At any rate, I am just hoping that the advertising industry overall has learned it’s lessons and gotten over the fad and will come back to commissioning original work like they should!