On Fri, 22 Dec 1995, George Robinson wrote to the STOCKPHOTO mail list:
>There are a few stock agencies that will take only a few photographs from
>photographers. Maybe PACA has a listing of these stock agencies (Picture
>Agency Council of America -PACA, P.O. Box 308, Northfield NM 55057).
>I can understand stock agencies not wanting to go through piles of
>submissions from photographers just to find a few good marketable
>photographs. It takes time and cost money. I wish there was a way to
>prequalify or being invited to submit. Maybe if photographers sent printed
>pieces such as a post card. I found some 8 1/2 x 11 stick on lables that I
>can type a message on, then stick a 4x6 image to it. Presto instant post
>card. If you print your own color the total cost is about $ .75 It is
>something that doesn't have to be opened and repackaged. No return or
>reply required. If you don't hear from them move on. Just an idea.
>I have all of two photographs with Tony Stone through one of my agents. Tony
>would never just take two photos from me, but by going through my agent he
>didn't have to go through mountains of submissions just to find a couple of
>good photos. One of the photographs, a simple scene of a dirt road with a
>school bus sells over and over. He would have never have got that photo if I
>had to have 300 photos excepted. Maybe agencies will have to start excepting
>just a few good photos if they are prequalified. Sorry I don't except the
>argument of the time it takes to log in just a couple of photographs. Its
>worth it if the photos fill a niche and they are kept out of the hands of the
>clip joints. --George Robinson


George touched a nerve when he wrote this, because at our agency, we've always wanted to represent any photographer that had even ONE great image, but found the logistics too difficult, until just recently. It hasn't been the "the argument of the time it takes to log in just a couple of photographs", but the time it takes to deal with photographers. Let me explain: All photographers call the agency at one time or another to get ideas about what to shoot and how to improve their sales. It's ironic, but the photographers that have the least number of images with an agency are often the ones who call the most; the more successful photographers are usually too busy shooting! We want to help those photographers with only a few images become successful too, but we only have so much time. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that it's much easier to rep 100 photographers with an average of 3,000 images on file each, than to represent 3,000 photographers with 100 images each. (The phone lines would probably be so jammed with calls from photographers, that the clients who wanted to buy their pictures wouldn't be able to get in!)



Another problem is the amount of time it takes to make an initial review of a photographer's work. We probably review 20 portfolios for every photographer we accept. George's idea of the photo post card is a good one, because it would help to get our attention and see if we wanted to venture further to the next step in the review process. Where an agency is digitally "wired" as we are, you may want to ask if the agency would accept a group of thumbnail JPEGs by e-mail attachment, or a non-returnable floppy disk that has 30 - 40 snapshot size JPEGs. (Please read our "submit" Web page if you'd like more info on our submission requirements and how to send a digital submission to us.)

At most agencies they have a minimum number of images that you must be able to place with the agency before you can sign with them. At some agencies this number is a couple of thousand; at our agency it is usually 300. This means that we have to see about 1200 or more good images in order to find 300 that we can place on file. There have been exceptions to this 300 minimum rule. Like George said, sometimes we break the rules in order to "fill a niche" in our files.* We've also had groups of low-producing photographers form a cooperative amongst themselves and submit to us as a group. One person acts as the spokesman and takes a small commission or accounting fee from the other photographers (sort of like a mini-sub-agency). True sub-agent arrangements is also another way we rep photographers with only a few images. A typical submission from a sub-agent may contain 100 to 200 pre-juried 70mm dupes, representing the work of about 30 different photographers. We receipt the images as a group, we pay on sales as a group, and we communicate with just one person.

*When we do take only a few images from an individual photographer (not through a cooperative or another agency), it is through a special contract. Instead of our regular 50/50 commission split contract, we do a 70/30 commission split. The photographer receives 30% on all catalog sales, 50% on all non-catalog sales, and 50% of the net sales received from sub-agents (10% less than in our regular 50/50 contracts). On a regular 50/50 contract, only a small percentage of the images usually make it into our catalogs, and are duplicated and distributed to our sub-agents. And when they are, the photographer shares duping and catalog advertising expenses. In our 70/30 contract, the agency pays all catalog advertising and duping expenses. This 70/30 slit on catalog sales is 5% more to the photographer than the industry average. And because we wanted these few select images to fill a niche, a higher percentage usually go into our catalogs and are duped for distribution to our sub-agents. All of our contracts are non-exclusive, but we do ask for exclusivity on images placed in our catalogs.


Some large agencies actually own their "sub-agencies", yet they still only give you 25% of the original sale when it originates from one of their branch offices. And if the image came from another agency, the photographer may only receive 50% or 60% of the 25%, giving him or her a net of only 12 1/2% to 15% of the original gross sale! This may sound terrible, but as George has pointed out, a big agency like Tony Stone with all its world-wide offices is capable of making multiple sales (and T.S. catalogs are one of the best I've seen).

When it comes to catalogs, stock agencies around the world have different contractual arrangements, and there are advantages and disadvantages to each. Sharpshooters out of Miami, is one of the best with a 50/50 commission, and no catalog co-op fees, but you cannot have your images with any other agency (thus prohibiting sales from everything they don't accept). Most of the other agencies in the world, either pay a 25% commission on catalog sales (with the agency covering all expenses), or pay a 50% commission (with the photographer sharing in catalog expenses or paying for all of it). Here's an example to show the advantages of each:

In this example, the photographer has one image in the agency's catalog with each sale averaging $400.

           50/50 with a $300 catalog expense    75/25 with no catalog expense
           Net to Photog. Less catalog expense  Net to photog.
          -----------------------------------  -----------------------------
 No Sale   $  0 - $300 =  $-300 "in the hole"   $  0 = $   0 total
 1st Sale  $200        =  $-100 "in the hole"   $100 = $ 200 total
 2nd Sale  $200        =  $ 100 total           $100 = $ 300 total
 3rd Sale  $200        =  $ 300 total           $100 = $ 400 total
 4th Sale  $200        =  $ 500 total           $100 = $ 500 total
 5th Sale  $200        =  $ 700 total           $100 = $ 600 total
 10th Sale $200        =  $1700 total           $100 = $1000 total
 20th Sale $200        =  $3700 total           $100 = $2000 total