The Use of Stock Photography in the New Decade.

The use of stock photography in today’s world can not be overemphasised. It has continued to be of immense help for professionals & non-professionals across the world. Since its popularity in the 1920s, it has been embraced by photographers, creatives, journalists and various organisations. It is no surprise that many stock photo agencies have begun to emerge. The importance of stock photography can be compared to that of the connection between the brain and heart. It can be compared to what Micheal Jackson is to Pop. Believe it or not, stock photography is worth every rave it has gotten in this present day. It has been the saving grace of so many creatives and professionals. 

Stock photography is the accumulation of existing and new photographs taken by either professional photographers or amateur ones. It’s usually made available to people in different ways. Stock photographs could cut across various topics and categories; from medical images to fashion photography, business, nature and the likes. Although, as the popular saying goes, there is nothing with advantages that don’t have disadvantages. However, for the sake of this article, we are going to be looking at the use of stock photography in the new decade. 

1.    Easy accessibility and affordability 

Stock photography has helped make many people’s lives easy. With it, one can be sure to have high-quality pictures at a click of a button. For professionals like Writers, Editors, graphic designers, it is like an answer to prayers. Let’s take, for example, graphic designers who are in constant need of images that will portray their design concept, the easy accessibility of stock photos gives them one less thing to worry about. Startups too can make use of stock platforms to help with their popularity. More interestingly, one can also get access to free, yet quality stock photos and pay to have exclusive access to desired stock photos. 

In an interview with Writer Susan, she said, “ As a writer, before I knew about stock photography, I was always having issues with my Editor because I couldn’t quite get right the pictures that would reflect the big picture I was painting, and when I found one that did, they had very low quality and It made my deliverables very unprofessional. The rest was history when I found stock photography platforms”

2.    A good tool for marketing and running campaigns.

Stock photographs are great assets for marketing and running campaigns. Companies that don’t have the resources to put into making editorials of hiring professional photographers can make use of stock photography to run ads, target their audience and increase brand recognition. One could get access to various genres of stock photography by entering keywords. Boom! A catalogue of photos will be available. Instead of waiting  a few weeks for them to be ready 

3.    Trends

In the last decade, we have had trends that have transformed photography. People have now begun to understand what photographs can do. A perfect example is its use in the digital space, the use of pictures in capturing the good, bad and ugly in society. Stock photographs have been instrumental in contributing to highlighting the happenings in the world. Stocks photos have also helped contribute to social issues such as political activism, environmental statements, social reforms, political protests and many other issues in the world. Now people can make use of stock photographs that illustrate issues they want to talk about.

4.    Redefining the photographic industry

Stock photography has helped redefine the photography industry. Although, this has been highly debated by many who are of the opinion that the saturation of so many stock photos reduces the value of the profession. In contemporary times, almost everyone with a great smartphone thinks they are amazing photographers. Unfortunately, this trend of belief isn’t going anywhere soon as stock photography in some ways helps fuel this movement. Is this a completely bad thing? Of course not! Stock photography has provided a home for the work of many amateur and professional photographers, giving a bunch of them another means of income.

5. Lucrative means of income.

Stock photography has provided many with a source of income. Whether as a main gig or a part-time gig, people have the luxury of getting paid for their work. A perfect example of popular stock photographers that have earned through stock photography includes Christian Cody, Neek Mason, Denerio Watkins and many more. 

The Future of stock photography.

The future of stock photography is a bright one with few clumps of clouds as rambles and concerns regarding the earnings of stock photographers have continued to make headlines. Stock photo agencies have been accused of taking a high percentage of the income of the photographers making it largely difficult to earn enough. This is unfortunately why many stock photographers in our present-day are actually amateur photographers who see photography as a part-time thing or a way to express their art. 

Here is a list of outstanding stock photos platforms

In conclusion, stock photographs have been of immense help to me as a Writer and Content Creator as I do not need to worry too much about getting exciting pictures for my articles.