Alamy

Alamy (registered as Alamy Limited) is a privately owned stock photography agency launched in 1999. Its headquarters are on Milton Park, near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, U.K. It has a development and operations centre at Techno park in Trivandrum, Kerala, India and a sales office in Brooklyn, New York, USA.

About

Alamy has 40 million images and 250,000 videos online. Imagery comes from a global network of contributors including 600 picture agencies and approximately 32,000 independent photographers. Alamy do not edit their collection based on what the image is of, but images are rejected if they don’t meet specified technical criteria.

Suppliers include professional photographers, amateurs, stock agencies, news archives, museums and national collections.

Alamy sell to anyone who needs imagery, including press and publishing groups, advertising and design agencies, corporate marketing departments to bloggers, internal communication departments and individual buyers. Their key markets are US, UK, Australia, Germany and India.

History

2002 - 2010

Alamy won an EMMA award for technical excellence in 2002^[1] and introduced a 24/7 hi-res download tool for customers.^[2] The technical innovation continued with virtual CD’s becoming a replacement for RF image CDs.^[3]

In 2003 Alamy introduced an international distribution network to increase sales worldwide. On the back of the increased sales, Alamy increased the royalty payments for its contributors in 2006.^[4] Since 2002 Alamy have paid out over $100million to its contributors. In March 2004 one million images were available on the site and by October 2007 there were 10 million images online.^[5]

2010 – 2012

In 2010 Alamy created an iPad app to showcase its images. Advanced Photoshop wrote: "…it’s simple and intuitive interface is to be applauded. This is certainly an essential port-of-call for designers in need of elite and current material for their creations".^[6]

Alamy launched its live news service in 2011.^[7] and in 2012 it started to accept live news images from mobile phones^[8] This helped Alamy get their collection to 25million images.^[9] 2011 also saw the expansion of its international sales unit with teams being introduced in Germany, Australia and The Middle East.

2012 saw the introduction of Alamy iQ, video, creative search results and a new look website at Alamy. Commenting on these changes, James West, CEO of Alamy, said: “2012 was a year of transition for Alamy. We expanded our News Service, released Alamy iQ and updated our creative searches. In 2013 and the longer term, our plan is to grow the business by offering our customers a better, bigger and more appropriate service and our contributors maximum opportunities to sell their images”.^[10]

Corporate ownership and management

James West - CEO

James is the CEO of Alamy and co-founded the company with Mike Fischer in 1999. His previous venture was an automated web design company which he started in 1997. James is a graduate of Edinburgh University.

Mike Fischer - Chairman

Mike is Chairman and co–founder of Alamy. He was also co-founder and CEO of RM plc, the UK Company that pioneered the use of technology in the classroom. He is founder of the Fischer Family Trust which runs projects in health and education. Mike is also an investor in Lab Merchant, the online lab equipment marketplace that offers a "green" alternative to disposing of surplus lab equipment. Mike is a graduate of University College, Oxford.

Tim Pearson - Non-Executive Director

Tim is a non–executive director of Alamy. He was CEO of RM plc from 2002 until September 2008, a company he joined as a graduate in 1981. He held a number of senior technical and service management positions at RM and is a past Chairman of the Internet Service Providers Association. Tim has attended the Harvard University Business School Advanced Management Program.

Philanthropy

Alamy run the Solar Light Program, where it donates solar powered lamps to poor communities around the world. It also supports and sponsors an eye camp for the students from a school local to its office in India.^[11]

Alamy runs a 100% student project. Where students get 100% of the money made from the sale of their images. Alamy to do not take any commission.^[12]

References