Photography

The Silent Collapse of Photo Licensing

Kaptur writes:

Particularly in marketing, where demand for fast, customized visuals is high, 39% of marketers use AI to create social media visuals, and 36% to generate website imagery. The accessibility and sophistication of these tools are rapidly eating into the traditional domain of stock photography.

The global stock photography market was valued at $4.65 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow to $6.97 billion by 2030. In parallel, the AI image generator market is on an exponential growth trajectory: from $300 million in 2023, it is projected to reach anywhere between $917 million and $60.8 billion by 2030, with compound annual growth rates ranging from 17.4% to 38.2%. While the stock image market grows steadily, AI image generation is accelerating at a vastly higher rate, signaling a disruptive force that could overtake significant portions of traditional licensing.

The stock photo industry is on a downward spiral, facing an

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Notes
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Who Shot This? An anonymous photographer who captured the 60s

From This is Colossal

Between 1966 and 1970, a San Francisco-area photographer captured thousands of images documenting civil rights demonstrations, protests against the Vietnam War, Grateful Dead concerts in Golden Gate Park, and so much more.  The problem, though, is that no one knows who the photographer is. In total, the collection contains 2,042 processed 35-millimeter color slides and 102 rolls of black-and-white film, meaning there are around 8,400 images in all.

The project, which is now called Who Shot Me—Stories Unprocessed, surpassed its goal on Kickstarter, although there are still opportunities to access some of the rewards. This funding will allow Delzell and the SpeakLocal team to develop the rest of the film and establish a broad platform for disseminating the images. Plans include a database, book, immersive exhibition in San Francisco, and a documentary.

More on the Colossal website

No filters, no followers, no bullshit. Just raw frames

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Notes
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Why Vision Pro Will Change Photography

Over the past few months, I have had the opportunity to spend time with Apple’s soon-to-be-released Vision Pro, a spatial computer that you wear on your face. It is the next step in the long evolution of mixed reality glasses that started with the awkward, and ahead-of-its-time, Google Glass.

I have already stated on multiple occasions that Vision Pro is going to be a device that redefines our relationship with visual media and content—from movies to live sports to our home videos and photography—the display is going to leave us wanting and asking for more from our devices.

Although my time with the device has been limited — and I have yet to play a single game on it or do any kind of work on it—it is hard not to be excited by the possibilities, especially for photographers (like myself) and filmmakers.

But first, spatial video!


My initial experience

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My Essays, Photo Features, Technology
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Your Weekend AI Reader

“Some of the smartest people in technology say they are worried that AI is worse than pandemics and nuclear weapons. What I worry about is not AI extinguishing humans, but our humanity. And that’s the real risk of this new wave of “AI” — we become more reliant on machines than ourselves. With machines taking more control over my life, I have taken a few steps to remind myself that I am a person. I have turned to things made by hand. Still, I know that despite my efforts, these new augmentation tools will only become an even larger part of my life, and that this digital Hotel California of convenience will be an unavoidable reality for everyone.” Continue reading.

In response to my short essay about AI eroding our humanness, my good friend Steve Crandall in a piece pointed out that many technologies that augment humans have been able

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My Reading Picks, Technology
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The Best of 2022

At the very end of 2022, I wrote about my photographic journey and how it has allowed me to look at both the world and life in new ways. It has allowed me to embrace imperfections, my own and in others. Of course, it could just be that my inner monologue influenced my photography.

Regardless, many of you wrote wanting to see more of my photos from 2022. There are quite a few favorites, so instead of creating a long string of photos, I roped in my friend Felix and had him create a video presentation of the best of my 2022 photos! Sit back, relax, and enjoy!

February 4, 2023, San Francisco.

On the road to imperfection
Musings, On Photography
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“Flow”

Catalina Islands. Made with iPhone. (c) Om Malik

“When people become engrossed in what they are doing, they enter a state that is called ‘flow. Flow can be achieved by engaging in mental or physical activities that we value and that require us to concentrate fully to use our skills.

When we enter a state of flow, we become absorbed and focused, and we experience momentary enjoyment. When we leave a state of flow, we are often surprised by how much time has passed.

Learning which activities might enable someone to enter a state of flow requires asking questions and listening. People tend to thrive on healthy engagement and challenge. “

John Dattilo, Penn State.

A handful of things get me in the “flow.”

I find myself in the flow when observing, thinking, and writing — primarily for private consumption. For a while in my life, my public writing brought me into a

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Musings
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PhoToday

It has been over 18 months since I got off Instagram. And by doing so, I have managed to eliminate the popular influences on my work. It has been an excellent way to overcome the meaningless metrics that assign value to a personal creative effort.

I have been able to experiment more and create with relative freedom. This exploration has allowed me to narrow down my focus and find a visual language. Photography, nevertheless, is a journey in exploration, and it is an eternal exploration, and the search continues.

That said, I do miss sharing my efforts with others. I love the feedback, including constructive criticism. How else will I become a professional amateur? And despite having my homestead on the Internet, I find myself not sharing photos. It is because of some of the shortcomings of blogging as a format.

As an experiment, I will try and share photos

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On Photography
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Walking Among The Giants

A visual journey through Northern California’s Coastal Redwoods and its wild coastline.

The world, we are told, was made especially for man — a presumption not supported by all the facts. — John Muir

No matter how much you try, the mind and circumstances tend to conspire in ways to unsettle your soul. And when that happens, you need to find a way to reset, recalibrate and replenish. And for me, that usually means a few days of landscape photography.

Let’s go back and begin at this past Sunday…

Along with two photographer friends, I drove up the 101, so far north, that the highway typically seen carrying the venous blood of urban blight eventually gives way to a beautiful, two-lane road, sinewy and taut, slipping through mountains, valleys, tall trees, vineyards, and orchards. It is as if the world ends and life begins. Seven hours later, I find myself

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On Photography, Photo Features
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Why iPhone is today’s Kodak Brownie Camera

Standing on the edge of a cliff, I took my time setting up my tripod and camera in anticipation of a sunset. The light would soon be bathing the mountains in front of me, illuminating the confluence of the Indus and Zanskar rivers. One of the most beautiful sights my eyes had ever seen, the two tributaries have very distinct colors at the place where they join. The Indus is jade green, while the Zanskar has cyan blue hues. I had big plans for capturing the magic of this place in a photograph. After futzing around with my gear for a while, I had my composition and focus set. All I had to do was press the shutter when the time was right. 

As I waited, I peered over the edge and saw a group of off-duty paramilitary servicemen taking selfies with their backs to the scene. They were capturing

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My Essays, On Photography, Photo Features, Technology
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