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Microstock Photography Forum - General => General Stock Discussion => Topic started by: Photosky on April 20, 2015, 03:46

Title: What happened to those top mcstock sellers who moved to Getty/IS 2-3 years ago?
Post by: Photosky on April 20, 2015, 03:46
I remember those posts by Yuri Arcurs etc. about shutting down their relations with conventional mcstock agencies and the wake it caused at that time... It seems that all is quiet again?
Title: Re: What happened to those top mcstock sellers who moved to Getty/IS 2-3 years ago?
Post by: ShadySue on April 20, 2015, 04:18
I remember those posts by Yuri Arcurs etc. about shutting down their relations with conventional mcstock agencies and the wake it caused at that time... It seems that all is quiet again?

Yuri only posts here when he has something to boast about or he wants advice from the group. He doesn't follow up.
However, it seems he's been project managing at iStock-Getty and was promising changes from September 2014. For most people who are reporting, results there since then (actually, since they introduced subs in April) have been diminishing.
http://www.microstockgroup.com/istockphoto-com/can-istock-turn-midstock-sales-around (http://www.microstockgroup.com/istockphoto-com/can-istock-turn-midstock-sales-around)
The other people who got the faux-exclusive deal with iS didn't make a song and dance about it.
Title: Re: What happened to those top mcstock sellers who moved to Getty/IS 2-3 years ago?
Post by: Photosky on April 20, 2015, 04:45
[url]http://www.microstockgroup.com/istockphoto-com/can-istock-turn-midstock-sales-around[/url] ([url]http://www.microstockgroup.com/istockphoto-com/can-istock-turn-midstock-sales-around[/url])
The other people who got the faux-exclusive deal with iS didn't make a song and dance about it.


Thanks for the link, very instructive. In particular, I've read out that "In the past year Yuri has added a huge number of new images to his collections, many of them produced by photographers who were trained at his 2012 boot camp in Cape Town. Yuri wholly owns all of these images." If it's true then how is it even possible? AFAIR, most agencies legally require photos to be made by the submitter, no?   
Title: Re: What happened to those top mcstock sellers who moved to Getty/IS 2-3 years ago?
Post by: Semmick Photo on April 20, 2015, 04:46
Yuri is a narcisist and if he had done well we would have known. I think he makes less than he did before his move and that his million dollar investment in that mobile phone stock agency has returned him a loss.
Title: Re: What happened to those top mcstock sellers who moved to Getty/IS 2-3 years ago?
Post by: Semmick Photo on April 20, 2015, 04:47
[url]http://www.microstockgroup.com/istockphoto-com/can-istock-turn-midstock-sales-around[/url] ([url]http://www.microstockgroup.com/istockphoto-com/can-istock-turn-midstock-sales-around[/url])
The other people who got the faux-exclusive deal with iS didn't make a song and dance about it.


Thanks for the link, very instructive. In particular, I've read out that "In the past year Yuri has added a huge number of new images to his collections, many of them produced by photographers who were trained at his 2012 boot camp in Cape Town. Yuri wholly owns all of these images." If it's true then how is it even possible? AFAIR, most agencies legally require photos to be made by the submitter, no?
no. You need/have to own copyright
Title: Re: What happened to those top mcstock sellers who moved to Getty/IS 2-3 years ago?
Post by: Photosky on April 20, 2015, 04:49
Yuri is a narcisist and if he had done well we would have known. I think he makes less than he did before his move and that his million dollar investment in that mobile phone stock agency has returned him a loss.

I presume that everything has a price to pay, even the money themselves...

The phonecam stock seems to be a natural next link in the chain "analog cams - digital cams" but maybe its time hasn't come yet.
Title: Re: What happened to those top mcstock sellers who moved to Getty/IS 2-3 years ago?
Post by: Photosky on April 20, 2015, 05:19
[url]http://www.microstockgroup.com/istockphoto-com/can-istock-turn-midstock-sales-around[/url] ([url]http://www.microstockgroup.com/istockphoto-com/can-istock-turn-midstock-sales-around[/url])
The other people who got the faux-exclusive deal with iS didn't make a song and dance about it.


Thanks for the link, very instructive. In particular, I've read out that "In the past year Yuri has added a huge number of new images to his collections, many of them produced by photographers who were trained at his 2012 boot camp in Cape Town. Yuri wholly owns all of these images." If it's true then how is it even possible? AFAIR, most agencies legally require photos to be made by the submitter, no?
no. You need/have to own copyright


Da*n, he turned into a manager, it seems? I used to adore his early works when mcstocking just started.

... So, if nowadays we see someone who is regarded as a great photographer with ingenious photos, there is a chance that s/he is merely an owner of a sweatshop where all the ingenious stuff is made by unnamed employees? Then how can we distinguish a great artist from a slavedriver manager?
Title: Re: What happened to those top mcstock sellers who moved to Getty/IS 2-3 years ago?
Post by: PixelBytes on April 20, 2015, 13:46
Maybe I am mistaken, but I don't think many ever considered Yuri a great artist.  His brilliance was/is in self promotion.  Otherwise he's just a competent stock photographer, good at copying the ideas and styles that sold well. 
Title: Re: What happened to those top mcstock sellers who moved to Getty/IS 2-3 years ago?
Post by: Cesar on April 20, 2015, 14:28
if you sort by  new yuri istock portfolio , first 10 pages are very average photos and extremly similar. boring, not a work by a pro.
Title: Re: What happened to those top mcstock sellers who moved to Getty/IS 2-3 years ago?
Post by: ShadySue on April 20, 2015, 14:30
if you sort by  new yuri istock portfolio , first 10 pages are very average photos and extremly similar. boring, not a work by a pro.
Remember he has (at least?) two accounts at iStock. One seems to be old images up to a cut-off date.
Title: Re: What happened to those top mcstock sellers who moved to Getty/IS 2-3 years ago?
Post by: Photosky on April 20, 2015, 14:41
Maybe I am mistaken, but I don't think many ever considered Yuri a great artist.  His brilliance was/is in self promotion.  Otherwise he's just a competent stock photographer, good at copying the ideas and styles that sold well.

if you sort by  new yuri istock portfolio , first 10 pages are very average photos and extremly similar. boring, not a work by a pro.

Well, I am not informed sufficiently well to agree or disagree with you guys in this regard. What I remember is that 10 years ago I didn't notice him doing any unusually large amounts of self-promotion, if compared to other mcstockers. But what I remember is his photos (he started with gold fish, afair) which were made in his unique light style, and also the way how his models were glowing in his photos. I don't know if he copied somebody but hundreds tried to copy him and/or learn from him, that's for sure.

Besides, regarding (self)promotion in general. You see, many artists, which are regarded as great nowadays, were just ones of many during their times but became famous only after they found certain unique ways to promote themselves. Somebody managed to get into a prestigious magazine, somebody  managed to pull the fat contract from a corporation, somebody was making portraits of influential people
and invested earnings into a little army of PR noise-makers. Their contemporaries, which were less street-smart or wealthy, remained in shadow forever - often despite being more talented. Hence, there comes the question: what's the ultimate objective criterion of greatness? If it is fame and money then YA has made it, afaik. If it's about seeing someone's products hanging on every second billboard then I see his models a way more often than Mona Lisa, hehe. If it's about being remembered forever then who will be remembered forever with the absolute certainty?
Title: Re: What happened to those top mcstock sellers who moved to Getty/IS 2-3 years ago?
Post by: PixelBytes on April 20, 2015, 15:35
Your right, 10 years ago Yuri wasn't doing so much self promotion.  He was a newbie busily learning how to copy the styles and concepts of Lise Gagne, Andres Rodriguez, Hidesy, and Photoeuphoria who were the top sellers of the time.  His unique style is not unique and never was.  He  was the guy who turned it into a brand is all.
Title: Re: What happened to those top mcstock sellers who moved to Getty/IS 2-3 years ago?
Post by: qwerty on April 20, 2015, 19:09
Inspiration wasn't also limited to artists works on microstock. People made a lot of sales producing works inspired by RM work aswell.
Title: Re: What happened to those top mcstock sellers who moved to Getty/IS 2-3 years ago?
Post by: shudderstok on April 20, 2015, 19:23
Your right, 10 years ago Yuri wasn't doing so much self promotion.  He was a newbie busily learning how to copy the styles and concepts of Lise Gagne, Andres Rodriguez, Hidesy, and Photoeuphoria who were the top sellers of the time.  His unique style is not unique and never was.  He  was the guy who turned it into a brand is all.

None of the above invented the stock wheel. All of them in one form or the other were doing similar work to many before them. The only difference I see in any of their work is that they brought high production shoots to the  insanely priced microstock world as opposed to what was a very well established style in the macrostock world at the time.
Title: Re: What happened to those top mcstock sellers who moved to Getty/IS 2-3 years ago?
Post by: PixelBytes on April 20, 2015, 19:31
Your right, 10 years ago Yuri wasn't doing so much self promotion.  He was a newbie busily learning how to copy the styles and concepts of Lise Gagne, Andres Rodriguez, Hidesy, and Photoeuphoria who were the top sellers of the time.  His unique style is not unique and never was.  He  was the guy who turned it into a brand is all.

None of the above invented the stock wheel. All of them in one form or the other were doing similar work to many before them. The only difference I see in any of their work is that they brought high production shoots to the  insanely priced microstock world as opposed to what was a very well established style in the macrostock world at the time.

No argument from me.  I agree with you.