> And your view is... that technology had nothing to do with the web?
In the context of this discussion, yes. The "technology" that we
generally are referring to with stock photography came in two waves:
The "Velvia/Provia Era" and then the "Digital Era". I believe it's
pretty well understood in this discussion that "technology ruined
stock photography" is referring to digital cameras.
Here is why I justify my statement: Stock Photography is not use
specific. When I shoot an image, I have absolutely no idea how and
where it will be used or even how many times. I don't market the
image, or do anything with the image. I just shoot it, prep it,
keyword it and submit it to the library. Beyond that, it is completely
out of my control. In 1996, the bulk of the stock images used for
corporate use were used in glossies, annual reports, multimedia
presentations and other digital presentations. (I've built my fair
share of them). Between 1996 and 1998, we saw the almost total demise
of those uses as the marketing department abandoned the old methods
and went hell bent into building websites. But the guys building
websites were not the same people, and the aesthetic at that time was
for clean, fast loading websites with few, if any, pictures and a lot
of icons. When they did use an image, that would use whatever cruddy
image they came across because Photoshop allowed them to twist, turn,
change color and composite anything they wanted without spending
money. Instead of the "dressed in black turtlenecks" marketing types,
we started getting the long-hair, earring and sandal-wearing new-media
types. Now, it's the "Buddy Holly" wannabes that dominate the scene.
Although the "Web" itself is a form of technology and so on and so
forth, it is not what killed Stock Photography. It was the
corporations that used this new marketing tool differently than the
previous marketing tool.
--
Ken Norton
ken@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.zone-10.com
--
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