Shannon Fagan On Opportunities In China

Posted on 7/22/2011 by Jim Pickerell | Printable Version | Comments (2)

Shannon Fagan, a very successful former New York stock photographer, has set up shop in China as a consultant and content aggregater. He has spent a cumulative equivalent of 2 years in Shanghai and Beijing since 2006 working with, and doing business development for, China's commercial photo agency sector. He permanently moved to Beijing in December last year. He has interacted with nearly all the key players, support components, and service providers, and developed an “insider’s” knowledge of the opportunities and pitfalls of China’s stock photo industry. This interview provides some insights into the Chinese market.

Get the Full Article (2 Credits)

Have an Account?

Access to this site is an exclusive benefit for you. Enter your username and password in the form above. If you don't remember your password you can reset it at any time.

Keep me logged in

Forgot your password?

New to Selling Stock?

Selling Stock is an on-line newsletter that reports on developing trends in the stock photo industry. It is updated at least twice a month. On-line subscribers receive e-mail notification whenever new stories are posted. Archives containing stories going back to late 1995 are fully available to subscribers.

Buy Credits

Copyright © 2011 Jim Pickerell. The above article may not be copied, reproduced, excerpted or distributed in any manner without written permission from the author. All requests should be submitted to Selling Stock at 10319 Westlake Drive, Suite 162, Bethesda, MD 20817, phone 301-461-7627, e-mail: wvz@fpcubgbf.pbz

Jim Pickerell is founder of www.selling-stock.com, an online newsletter that publishes daily. He is also available for personal telephone consultations on pricing and other matters related to stock photography. He occasionally acts as an expert witness on matters related to stock photography. For his current curriculum vitae go to: http://www.jimpickerell.com/Curriculum-Vitae.aspx.

Comments

Lane Oatey Posted Jul 23, 2011
Fantastic interview Jim and Shannon, and a very good read. China is a challenging market right now for a lot of reasons, and Shannon nailed a few of them. I expect it will take time, but hopefully we will see the overall situation continue to progress and mature on a few of the issues mentioned above.

One additional thing that I think should be noted by photographers interested in coming out to China, that I missed in the above conversation, is the ongoing inflation and the continued rise in cost of shooting and production. Good talent out of Shanghai and Beijing can now cost as much as one might pay in the US, or even more. Day rates for professional production assistance have also gone up dramatically.

One of the most experienced China-based stock shooters I know stopped most of his shooting over two years ago for these reasons. Both Panorama and Eastphoto (another early Chinese lifestyle producer) have essentially stopped shooting their own wholly-owned content, with Panorama shutting down production in early 2008.

That said, at Blue Jean we've continued to produce, and the overall stock photo market in China has come a long way in the last five years. As China changes and market conditions improve over time, I think more and more Western photographers will be tempted to 'head East'.

And when they do, they'll find the food is really awesome.

Lane Oatey
Blue Jean Images
lane@bluejeanimages.com

Gildo nicolo Spadoni Posted Jul 24, 2011
O

Post Comment