Picture-perfect images

The good news for communication professionals in advertising and media industries is that the Seattle-headquartered international imagery company, Getty Images has come to India through a tie-up with Visage Media Services in Mumbai.

Set up by Mark Getty and Jonathan Klein 10 years ago, Getty Images is a stock photography company that creates and provides still and moving images for use by television channels, print media companies and advertising agencies. Visage Media, meanwhile, is seven months old and works with the country's top 10 advertising agencies.

Visage Media's chief operating officer Srini Kilambi says, "The partnership is an initiative on the part of Getty Images to serve its Indian clients better. Indian agencies had to source the pictures from Singapore earlier."

According to Kilambi, the different time zones and variation in exchange rates rendered the process of sourcing pictures difficult. The partnership stands to benefit Visage as well.

Other than acting as Getty Images' partner in the South Asia region, Visage plans to develop the India based image content in line with Getty's international standards.

Kilambi says that India is a country of icons. It is easier to get pictures of the Taj Mahal and of Madhubala, "but everyday pictures for an Indian product are difficult to find."

For instance, when a famous Indian Hospital down south wanted to advertise, agencies could not locate a picture of an Indian doctor operating on an Indian patient; the available pictures featured foreign doctors only, he recalls.

The size of the stock images market in India is difficult to ascertain though some estimates put it at Rs 200 crore.

Photographs, illustrations and film footage created by professionals are usually licensed for a price determined by how the images will be used. Kilambi says that stock images are available on a royalty fee basis.

However, there are the premium, rights-managed pictures as well. For these the buyers pay a fee for a stipulated time period and ensure that no one else uses the same picture.

Stock images are used on TV channels and in newspapers, magazines, books and advertising campaigns. Companies like Getty either employ or have arrangements with renowned photographers, photojournalists, artists and creative researchers which helps the clients dip into their pool of pictures.

In case you need an image of that early morning sun, a blooming flower or an autumn fall, you needn't wait for the right light, climate or time. It will be delivered to you, ready-made.