Q&A: 500px on Photography’s Renaissance in the Digital Era
The explosion of social media phenomena like Snapchat and Instagram were pre-cursors to a wave of new mediums and channels for sharing news and information that will increasingly become driven by images. We spoke with Andy Yang, CEO of 500px, to get his take on everything from the democratization of photography to new technologies and partnerships that will ensure continued evolution in this space.
Why do you think photo sharing has recently exploded into such a massive industry?
Photography is undergoing a bit of a renaissance today. It’s an industry under tremendous disruption, and the explosive growth of photo sharing can be attributed to a couple of factors. The first is the massive proliferation of high quality cameras on mobile devices. Anyone can now take an amazing image with the right eye and timing — and now there’s software in the same device to enhance and personalize that photo.
The second factor has been there all along — photography as a way of self expression or communication. In combination with massive adoption, photography and sharing have now become the dominant method of communication. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.
You’re using AI applications like machine learning to search and tag images. Do you view the incorporation of AI into digital photography and photo sharing as essential in today’s world? What are some other opportunities that we might see in this area?
Essentially no, but it is very important. Artificial intelligence in the short-term helps with workflow, like image recognition and tagging. It helps automate some of the more tedious aspects of photography (who doesn’t have thousands of photos they need to sift through, catalog, and organize?!).
I believe the next phase that’s already begun is to focus AI on how to discern the quality of images. This will help with the organization and sharing aspect and will lead to what I see as the third phase, which is that AI will assist at the point of capture — perhaps automatically capturing alternative angles. We’ve already seen attempts at how to post-process/edit images; I believe AI come into play earlier in the creative workflow.
Your recent joint venture with Visual China Group brought 500px to China. What are the opportunities you see in China, both from a business perspective and from a global photography perspective?
China represents a massive opportunity from both a business and photography perspective. They have the largest burgeoning middle class in the world (550 million by 2022, by some estimates). This demographic will have more disposable income that will seek creative and artistic pursuits, and a large portion of the population will choose photography. The photography we’ve seen originating from China is raw and unique, and will evolve and transform; we at 500px are excited to be at the forefront of that evolution.
Are the lines between personal and professional photography blurring or sharpening? Why is it moving in any particular direction?
They are doing both — if that makes sense. More and more people are interested in and exposed to “professional” photography, and as a byproduct of that, more are becoming interested in photography as an art and profession.
However, younger photographers are also able to take advantage of other trends like the gig-economy. They don’t have to solely rely on photography as an income source. Today they can drive for Uber, rent out their place on Airbnb, and shoot for 500px. However, the best photographers will continue to dedicate their lives to the craft, and that is what will always set them apart in terms of skill, quality, and reputation.
You recently launched 500px for Business, enabling the world’s largest on-demand photography projects for clients like Lonely Planet and Airbnb. What are some of the ways you’re seeing these and other businesses take advantage of the service?
Our clients around the world are seeking to differentiate their brands and tell their stories in a unique way. Each brand and company has a great story, and we are humbled to partner with them to help them achieve their visual content needs. We typically work with them at the ideation phase, where we help them conceptualize a brief, which then our amazing community can be sent “On Assignment” to help get them the visuals they need.
With larger clients, we work with their in-house photographers to ensure we’re keeping within their photography guidelines, and we take on many of the logistical and operational hassles to help them focus on what they do best — photography. With boutique clients, we can help them create photography guidelines that align with their brand.
How does 500px reduce the barriers to entry for people to profit off of their photography? Would this have been possible in the past with incumbent players?
We introduced 500px for Business to help photographers market themselves and distribute their work. Countless photographers have told us that marketing is an area where they don’t excel — they want to simply focus on taking amazing photos. This is where we have focused our energies — on helping provide these opportunities to our amazing community of creatives.
In turn, this also helps our clients because previously they did not have this amazing resource through legacy players, or it was too cost prohibitive.
Tell us about your thoughts on popular temporary image platforms like Snapchat and Instagram Stories. Why are people suddenly reverting back to less permanent image platforms after years of securing the safety of their photos, and how does this model disrupt the traditional storage platforms? Will tradition be forced to adapt?
I’m a huge fan of Snapchat and Instagram Stories. They are truly game changers in how they have created new storytelling and communication mediums. They allow for more experimentation and authenticity, and less self consciousness from both a personal and brand perspective.
That’s the greatest thing about this though — temporary image sharing doesn’t replace or de-valuate permanent image platforms, but enhances the way these visual assets can be used. The storage platforms will be fine — with over one trillion photos being taken each year, and more and more video, there will always be a need to safely store and back up visual assets.
