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Once you have started capturing images of sufficient quality and relevance,
the question always arises - how do you sell them?
Setting up a professional-looking website with an attractive gallery can draw attention to your work.
But there are hundreds of such sites on the internet and unless you have already made a name for yourself, the going can be tough.
Ng Swanti from Indonesia, who attended a World Press Photo workshop in 2002, wants
to know what the advantages are of joining a photo agency.
What is the relationship between photographer and agency, apart from business?
What is the position if a photographer wants to join more than one agency? And
what are both parties' rights and obligations?
Adrian Evans, Director of Panos Pictures offers his advice.
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Adrian Evans says:
The arrival of the internet promised a world in which every photographer could be their own agent, where everyone could market their own photography. Like so many technological advances the reality was very different. The photo agent remains as important today as before the onset of the digital age and in many ways it has strengthened the position of agencies.
Perhaps the greatest thing an agency can offer is distribution. The agency should be aiming to raise your profile by making your photographs available to the widest possible audience.
Buyers of photography are much more likely to use an agency than approach an individual photographer. They can access the work of many different photographers in one place.
Added to this you will see a significant rise in the revenue you make from single image sales.
Selling stock is very difficult for a photographer to manage on their own, whereas
a well managed online agency archive can deliver a regular income. Previously,
agencies represented photographers exclusively across the globe, but this model
is changing. Photographers questioned about why they should give their work to
an agency who then uses sub-agents in other countries to distribute the work.
Every time a photograph was sold by the sub agent the photographer only received 30 or 35% of the original sale. Both the agent and the subagent were taking a percentage of the sale. In order to overcome this many photographers now look for an agency in each country.
What this effectively means is that there is now no standard model. At Panos the arrangements with have with our photographers range from global exclusivity to representation only in the UK and USA. Your rights depend on the deal you make with the agent.
The bottom line is that you always retain copyright of your images.
Don’t sign up for a longer period of time than you feel happy with. A year is reasonable but five years would tie you into a relationship that you might well no longer want to be in. Look for the greatest flexibility in the relationship.
It is more than a business partnership. Your agency should support you in exhibiting your work and help you develop long term projects which benefit both the agency and the photographer.
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