Finding the right stock agency
The German stock agency landscape, despite the market dominance of the global players Getty Images, Shutterstock and Adobe Stock, is still relatively diverse. Numerous agencies are organised in the German Federal Association of Professional Image Providers (BVPA), and a distinction should be drawn between press agencies (dpa picture alliance, SZ Photo etc.) and agencies that primarily offer commercial image material. Unlike the large microstock platforms that operate globally or belong to one of the global players (iStock, for example, to Getty Images), most German agencies serve the classic price bracket.
The high density of agencies easily conceals the problem of identical image material, though. Digital reproducibility has led to photographers hardly signing exclusive contracts anymore. Pros, but also ambitious amateurs, increasingly bet on making the larger cut via distribution across many agencies. A clear profile is thus shown only by few providers. Often these are specialist agencies that have committed to a specific topic or format. As examples: maground (backgrounds, CGI), OKAPIA (wildlife, science), docstock (medicine), dieKleinert (illustrations) and laif (reportage).
A further problem is the widespread internationalisation of image production. The global players, but also some German agencies, select their images to work for the world market. Such productions can then of course not be used for regional campaigns. Fortunately, there are agencies like F1online or Westend61 who have recognised this problem and deliberately focus on a European visual language. That means: people, places, products and everyday situations look the way you actually encounter them here. The visual language also includes a specific style – less gloss and a natural colour treatment are, for instance, more typically European.
A really good stock agency, however, doesn't just market – it also offers comprehensive customer service. Image research, licensing and rights clearance would be the first things to mention. In addition, the agency of your choice should provide a modern search engine. With innovative search functions such as similarity or colour search, you can locate your desired motif much better than with conventional technologies alone.
There are, incidentally, also cross-agency platforms. In Germany these are my-picturemaxx and Fotofinder. There, the image stock of numerous agencies can be queried at the same time. However, the number of hits displayed is often so high that you easily get lost in the flood of pictures. If you want the full service and additionally want to use the option of negotiating prices directly (e.g. package prices for RF or RM material), you should turn to a service provider like Strandperle, or to a provider whose business model goes beyond providing an online image database – in other words, an agency that employs experienced staff who know about licensing and legal questions and whom you can speak to personally.
