A year after Getty and Flickr first decided to launch the Flickr Collection, Getty Images has issued a Call for Artists. This provides Flickr users with an opportunity to submit work to the collection, offering a more proactive option than simply specifying they are open to being contacted by Getty within their account settings.
According to Getty, thousands of images from the Flickr Collection have been licensed since its March launch. Over 60,000 images are currently on offer, all individually sourced by Getty editors, who have thus far had to manually comb through over 4 billion Flickr-hosted photos to find commercially viable content. Getty vice president of creative imagery Andy Saunders said in a blog post that this task could sometimes prove overwhelming.
In addition, Flickr users wanted a way to pitch their work to Getty. Numerous comments to that effect have been left on Getty’s blog and various Flickr forums.
The Call for Artists responds to such demand. It offers any user an opportunity to submit 10 images for evaluation by Getty editors. If these or other images from the user’s photostream are selected for the Flickr Collection, he or she will receive an invitation that further details the enrollment process.