Who Will Buy My Photos of Saudi Arabia?
March 1, 2019 11:32 AM Subscribe
I lived in Saudi Arabia for two years recently and traveled all over the country, often alone, taking photos. I think now I have close to 7000 photos, obviously not all great. But I do think I have a unique perspective on the country, I would go places, abandoned buildings, out in the country, weird places, that other expats were afraid to explore.
Do you think there's anyone who'd be interested in purchasing these photos? Are there companies that do that? Here are just a few examples.
Do you think there's anyone who'd be interested in purchasing these photos? Are there companies that do that? Here are just a few examples.
Response by poster: girlmightlive: Thanks for your straightforwardness and advice.
posted by PHINC at 12:11 PM on March 1, 2019
posted by PHINC at 12:11 PM on March 1, 2019
A photographer who sells stock photography just did a Reddit AMA last week.
Pertinent fact: The most she's ever made off a photo is $60 (lifetime earnings).
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 12:14 PM on March 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
Pertinent fact: The most she's ever made off a photo is $60 (lifetime earnings).
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 12:14 PM on March 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
The photo of the abandoned post-accident car on the street is something that brings back memories of my own visits to Saudi. I have not seen so much of this in any other country. My guess is that the tendency to just run away and leave a car where it is after an accident is something to do with a tradition of blood money demands , a general fear of getting entangled with the police and the fairly low price of cars. So I guess I'd be interested in seeing a bigger collection of these. But I am not sure that there is much commercial value to such pictures.
posted by rongorongo at 12:29 PM on March 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by rongorongo at 12:29 PM on March 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: rongorongo: On my commute to work there was a Dodge Charger that sat for 3 months completely blocking the right lane. It became a metaphor for everything I knew about the country.
posted by PHINC at 1:01 PM on March 1, 2019
posted by PHINC at 1:01 PM on March 1, 2019
If any of your photos are associated with an interesting story about a specific place ("the hidden and wondrous [...] stories that will surprise us and article ideas that would never have occurred to us but that we won’t be able to stop thinking and talking about"), you could try pitching a piece to Atlas Obscura. They welcome offers from freelance writers and photographers, and their current guidelines specifically request "articles reported from China, Africa, the Middle East, and Central and Southeast Asia." They also have a food/drink-focused site, Gastro Obscura, if you have any good photos and stories about interesting restaurants, markets, festivals, etc.
posted by Rhaomi at 1:07 PM on March 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by Rhaomi at 1:07 PM on March 1, 2019 [5 favorites]
For editorial use, which is what I see these being useful for, Alamy is probably the leading stock agency. They also pay better, they are not a microstock agency. However they do have fairly high technical standards so depends on what camera you used, how much time spent post processing etc.
Microstock agencies have lower standards and pay less. That would be places like shutterstock etc.
posted by fshgrl at 1:40 PM on March 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
Microstock agencies have lower standards and pay less. That would be places like shutterstock etc.
posted by fshgrl at 1:40 PM on March 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
Is your goal to make money or tell the story of what you saw and experienced? The photos themselves aren't notable enough to get much attention, but if you wrote articles about what was going on, what you experienced, and why you took the photos, they're a lot more interesting. There's not much money to be made with those kinds of stories these days but if you created a well tagged and curated Instagram feed where you posted one a day with a short story about each photo, you might be able to develop a following.
posted by Candleman at 2:01 PM on March 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Candleman at 2:01 PM on March 1, 2019 [3 favorites]
There are literary journals that publish photographs, but that’s for if you want to put a lot of time into it (researching journals, sending things out, frequent rejections) for possibly no money. There’s a book called Photographers Market that might help.
posted by FencingGal at 3:44 PM on March 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by FencingGal at 3:44 PM on March 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks everyone, I think this is enough to go on.
posted by PHINC at 4:24 PM on March 1, 2019
posted by PHINC at 4:24 PM on March 1, 2019
Pertinent fact: The most she's ever made off a photo is $60 (lifetime earnings).
I saw that and it's crazy to me. I'm mostly an assignment photographer, but I've sold plenty of pictures for hundreds or thousands for secondary licensing. The difference is that I keep the rights to everything I shoot and I use rights managed licensing. This is someone who makes a "living" as a microstock or maybe royalty free photographer. Go with rights managed licensing, and you can make much more per image. However, it's always hard to find buyers. I think that pursuing stock photography as a major income stream is mostly a fool's errand.
For editorial use, which is what I see these being useful for, Alamy is probably the leading stock agency.
They pay pennies on the dollar. Really not worth pursuing. Years ago I could depend on a few hundred per sale through Alamy, but starting around 2010 or 2012, they started chasing the lowest bidders like every other stock agency, getting a few bucks per license. I ceased my relationship with them as soon as that started happening.
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All of that said, the pictures in your example don't strike me as particularly sale-able. Look at pictures in magazines, ads, etc., of the subjects/locations that you have. Do any of the pictures look like what you have? If so, then you've got something you might be able to sell. If not, the pictures probably don't have much utility. Sad to say, but the photography industry, and especially the stock photo industry, is mostly based on stereotypes. If a picture doesn't scream whatever the non-expert's visual idea of that subject is, it probably won't sell.
posted by msbrauer at 5:39 PM on March 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
I saw that and it's crazy to me. I'm mostly an assignment photographer, but I've sold plenty of pictures for hundreds or thousands for secondary licensing. The difference is that I keep the rights to everything I shoot and I use rights managed licensing. This is someone who makes a "living" as a microstock or maybe royalty free photographer. Go with rights managed licensing, and you can make much more per image. However, it's always hard to find buyers. I think that pursuing stock photography as a major income stream is mostly a fool's errand.
For editorial use, which is what I see these being useful for, Alamy is probably the leading stock agency.
They pay pennies on the dollar. Really not worth pursuing. Years ago I could depend on a few hundred per sale through Alamy, but starting around 2010 or 2012, they started chasing the lowest bidders like every other stock agency, getting a few bucks per license. I ceased my relationship with them as soon as that started happening.
---
All of that said, the pictures in your example don't strike me as particularly sale-able. Look at pictures in magazines, ads, etc., of the subjects/locations that you have. Do any of the pictures look like what you have? If so, then you've got something you might be able to sell. If not, the pictures probably don't have much utility. Sad to say, but the photography industry, and especially the stock photo industry, is mostly based on stereotypes. If a picture doesn't scream whatever the non-expert's visual idea of that subject is, it probably won't sell.
posted by msbrauer at 5:39 PM on March 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
The ROI may not be worth the time spent trying to find someone to sell the photos too.
However, one idea is to partner with a gallery to host an exhibit and sell through that.
You may want to download the Selling Stock Photography PDF on Photo Shelter’s site. I’ve found them to be a good educational resource.
posted by girlmightlive at 11:54 AM on March 1, 2019 [1 favorite]