I think you should lose the exclusivity requirement, that's just a bit...blah. Any professional fine art photographer wouldn't consider these terms..though if you lost that clause, then perhaps you would attract higher end fine art photographers into your image bank - and as a result - be able to sell higher volumes of (better) art from higher end artists and generate more profit in the long run.

At $25-30 royalty including exclusivity it just isn't worth it for serious photographers to consider (considering many of them do 8-15x that amount per image marketed by themselves, at multiple non-exclusive venues of their own choice....).

Subtract the exclusivity and it makes much more sense, since the aim of a commercial photographer is to sell multiple licenses multiple times to make multiple dollars. Not 30 bucks every once in a blue moon.

I look through the gallery and I see thousands on thousands of images...but very little that are breathtaking; very little that have impact. Not trying to bring down your business or anything, but voicing my opinion that it may make more sense to increase the quality of your image bank by losing the exclusivity stance. More great images, more buyers, the more sales...isn't that what everyone wants in the long run?

Thanks!

Thank you for you feed back and for voicing your concerns. I understand that there can be some confusion around our business model as it is quite different from normal stock agencies. One of the key differentiators is that we design and develop finished art work for the Hospitality industry. In collaboration with our artists, we sign a binding contract stating that we pay on both the gross revenue of each project as well as Royalty on the number of times an image is produced. This is a volume based model, and is scaled accordingly. Basically the more pieces produced, the more revenue everyone realizes.

Regarding your thoughts on us taking any type of image, I would like to state that due to the nature of our client base we are often required to source images from around the world, and from many different subjects. Whether it be for a hotel in Ohio and the client requests “farming landscapes”, or we are searching for details of water towers in Tribeca for a boutique hotel there, we must cast a wide net and look for beautiful images of all subject matter.

Regarding our past posting on Craigslist, I would say that there are amazing photographers who look for others to connect to on multiple sites, blogs and postings out side of the traditional means. I am proud to say that we have found wonderful talent to collaborate with on public listings such as Craigslist. Our business is about community and connectivity, and we are happy to meet new partners any where there is an interest.

I can assure you that we do our utmost as an organization to service our artists and clients in the best way possible, and our focus is to be the leading provider of art work within Hospitality around the world. I do appreciate your thoughts and concerns and would be happy to speak with you any time you would like to discuss them further.

Thank you.
Todd Towers
President & Creative Director
Farmboy Fine Arts

If we have an image of yours that is not doing well and you want to pull it and replace it with another, no problem. As long as its not up for quote on another job, is not currently in the design funnel for a project and you are not licensing that image to another art/design company due to the nature of our non-compete clause.

Suppose we submit something and their is no activity on an image. Do we reserve the right to withdraw the image and market it elsewhere?

Thanks,

Arn

James--

1. After you submit a low res selection of your photos (or a link to your website, etc) we review your work and let you know what kind of imagery works best with our aesthetic. This helps to direct your future submissions. These don't necessarily have to be images that you want to license to us, but it's helpful if they are. We don't go any further until you have a signed agreement with us. After that is completed we assign you an artist code and you can begin submitting high res.

2. The images for low res submissions (for review) should be about 3.5" x 5" at 72dpi.

3. We do not have our contract available on our website, but it is certainly available upon request as well as our submission guidelines and an FAQ sheet that addresses a lot of your concerns.

4. Model releases (as well as property releases) are the photographers responsibility. This is outlined in our contract. If you need a model release template I can supply one for you.

Fran--

1. Feel free to email me for our submission guidelines: moconnell@farmboyfinearts.com.

2. When you license your work to us you are not giving up the copyright. You retain the rights to all of your images. You are granting us license to produce them as finished art pieces. You can still use these images in art/gallery shows, in your portfolio, personal promotion and more. If you have a specific use that you are unsure about, just ask.

3. We are open to licensing digital art, and the submission process will be the same as with photography.

I hope that helps clear things up. We've been enjoying the response from photographers thus far. Really amazing work!

You should also re-think your exclusivity requirement. I can understand not wanting the same images available for other corporate art providers, but I think many artists would be uncomfortable giving up their copyright to *any* other use of a given image.

And one specific question: Will you accept digital art, either created entirely on the computer or based on original photography?

Thanks!

I looked through the site but could not find better submission guidelines than are here. Could take a moment and answer a couple questions?

What happens in the submission process after I send you images via e-mail?
What size should the images be in the submission?
Is there a copy of your terms and conditions or contract available?
As these are fine art images, how important are model releases?

Thanks for taking the time to answer - it looks like a great idea and opportunity.