You're listening to the B&H Photography Podcast. For over 40 years, B&H has been the

professional source for photography, video, audio, and more. For your favorite gear, news,

and reviews, visit us at bnh.com or download the B&H app to your iPhone or Android device.

Now here's your host, Alan White's.

Greetings and welcome to the B&H Photography Podcast. Today's topic is the state of the

stock photography industry. Like all aspects of photography, the landscape has changed greatly

in a relatively short period of time. Mid-size and larger agencies have been gobbled up by even

larger agencies, which in turn are being challenged by smaller micro agencies. And then we have Flickr

and Royalty Free Photo Outlets, in a word or two, stock photography ain't what it used to be.

In this episode, we're going to talk about what it takes to be a stock photographer if you're in it,

fine, if you're not what you have to do to get into it, and hopefully how to succeed in it.

Joining me today is my producer and co-pilot, John Harris. Our guests are Paul Melcher, who is the

owner of Melcher's system, a strategic consultant firm for visual tech startups and the founder of

Capture Magazine. Paul was named one of the 100 most influential individuals in American

photography by American photo. Also joining is a photographer, Rana For, who is the former director

of photography for Getty Images, and is currently the owner and principal photographer for Mother

Image, a boutique photo agency specializing in women's lifestyle. Welcome all.

Stock has changed, and it's still a big part of the business, but it's changed dramatically.

When did stock actually start? When did it become an actual industry?

You know there's a big debate about who started stock? The usual acceptance is a company like

Image Bank, which is probably the first. It started, you know, I don't have the year, maybe you

know that, when it's... Yeah, just from the older days, it started out with people with a,

...