PAN covered the imminent arrival of this new photo library back in May – It’s called Stills and they say ..”move over Getty, Shutterstock, Adobe Stock – there’s a new player that has its sights set on being the new standard in photo licensing”.
• Stills is the newest addition to the FM family of brands which include Musicbed and Filmsupply.
They say: It’s an invite-only photo licensing platform made with designers in mind. Created as an alternative to the stale, lackluster imagery that currently oversaturates the market and defines traditional stock photo libraries, Stills offers a curated selection of authentic, design-centered, on-trend photos.
“Designers are tired of spending their valuable time sifting through lackluster photos. Stills is the answer,” says FM CEO Daniel McCarthy. “Great, authentic photography is central to great design. But typical stock imagery often doesn’t hit the mark when your work needs to represent you as a creative, and compromising your vision is not an option. As a society, we’re inundated with imagery, but there’s still a huge gap in the market. Stills is here to close that gap— now, designers don’t have to settle for inauthentic and generic photos for their projects.”
Rolling out as invite-only for this initial phase, Stills is partnering with professional, in-demand commercial photographers, paying them above-average rates, and curating their work with care and finesse. With a collective reach of over 19 million, the photographers signed to the Stills roster are some of the most in-demand names in the industry. These photographers have a keen understanding of the medium’s crucial role in storytelling. As a result, the quality of images available is unparalleled; unique, emotionally-driven, and artfully shot; directly challenging what’s available through competitors. Photographers that Stills has partnered with include Nirav Patel, Jake Wangner, Lindsey Swedick, Omar Salah, Samuel Elkins, and Charly Savely.
As a way to buck the trend of traditional stock images being uninspiring and bland, the photos available through Stills will be expertly curated by the Still’s team who currently are accepting less than one percent of the photos submitted to them, adding to the exclusivity element. Additionally, because Stills is an invite-only platform, those who sign up will be getting exclusive access to its content. Some additional features include:
• Memberships that come with access to “The Vault”, a unique feature that adds an additional layer of exclusivity. Based on “demand and uniqueness,” these exclusive images will have limited licensing availability.
• Market freezes will also be available for select images; members can tap into this capability to maintain competitive advantage and reserve it completely for their project.
• To help communicate the vision and collaborate with ease and efficiency, the platform also allows users to search for specific colors, moods, composition, photographers, and more. Stills then offers intuitive “Boards” to build and organize projects/pitches.
• PAN asked if the invite-only thing was about double security for the contributors content: ‘It’s for added exclusivity. With their focus on exclusivity and limiting the use of photos (i.e. the Vault) the invite-only is another way they do that.’