The rise of social networking has transformed the way people interact and share information. Twitter is quickly establishing itself as the world's favourite newsfeed, and Facebook is on the verge of reaching the 700 million user milestone. This revolution has coincided with major advances in the world of photography, with digital imaging becoming the norm and high-performance equipment moving within the budget of the average Joe.
One website unites the world of social media with the world of digital photography - Flickr. Now the world's most popular website for sharing photos, Flickr provides users with an intuitive, great looking platform for uploading and displaying photos online. Despite being produced by amateurs, many of the images are very high quality, and billions have been uploaded. What commercial photographers want to know is how this will affect their business.
Recent natural disasters such as the Australian floods have been extensively documented by users on Flickr, with amateur photographers uploading images from the scene as the situation was happening. News outlets were then able to source images quickly and at very low cost without ever having to despatch a professional photographer.
Flickr's mounting importance is exemplified by the fact that it is now affiliated with world-leading stock photo agency Getty Images. Getty has an agreement allowing it to request to add any photo from Flickr to its own library. This is beneficial for them, but also gives amateurs more chance of exposure.
The reasons for Flickr's success are obvious. We live in a world where cameras are ubiquitous - everyone has a phone that can take pictures, most people have a compact digital camera, and DSLRs are an increasingly common site. Nonetheless, commercial photography remains important in its own right. Many professionals showcase their unpublished images on Flickr. Indeed, the site can be used as a free promotional tool and a means of generating business for commercial photographers who are willing to embrace it.
One website unites the world of social media with the world of digital photography - Flickr. Now the world's most popular website for sharing photos, Flickr provides users with an intuitive, great looking platform for uploading and displaying photos online. Despite being produced by amateurs, many of the images are very high quality, and billions have been uploaded. What commercial photographers want to know is how this will affect their business.
Recent natural disasters such as the Australian floods have been extensively documented by users on Flickr, with amateur photographers uploading images from the scene as the situation was happening. News outlets were then able to source images quickly and at very low cost without ever having to despatch a professional photographer.
Flickr's mounting importance is exemplified by the fact that it is now affiliated with world-leading stock photo agency Getty Images. Getty has an agreement allowing it to request to add any photo from Flickr to its own library. This is beneficial for them, but also gives amateurs more chance of exposure.
The reasons for Flickr's success are obvious. We live in a world where cameras are ubiquitous - everyone has a phone that can take pictures, most people have a compact digital camera, and DSLRs are an increasingly common site. Nonetheless, commercial photography remains important in its own right. Many professionals showcase their unpublished images on Flickr. Indeed, the site can be used as a free promotional tool and a means of generating business for commercial photographers who are willing to embrace it.
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