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iStockphoto

Posted by Lee Torrens This is the first in my State of the Microstock Nation series of reviews of microstock agencies, resources and identities in the industry. I’m starting with iStockphoto.

iStockphoto Background

iStockphoto are widely credited with starting the microstock industry. They were the first microstock agency to launch with a head start of around three years. The website started off providing free photos of the founder, Bruce Livingstone, before he started accepting photos from other contributors and charging a small download fee to cover hosting costs.
The website has an intense community, dominated by the industry’s largest base of exclusive contributors. The site is structured to nurture this community and it works. Their user forums are the most active of all microstock agencies, and their user-to-user communication facilities are by far the most advanced. See the website feature listings below for more details.
Bruce sold the company to stock photography industry giant Getty Images for US$50million on February 10th, 2006.