Joanne Maly: ImageBrief Shuts Down After 6 Years of Trying to Disrupt Stock Photos

Thursday, March 1, 2018

ImageBrief Shuts Down After 6 Years of Trying to Disrupt Stock Photos

ImageBrief has announced to its members this morning that it will be closing after six years of connecting agencies and brands with photographers.

The company was founded back in 2011 and went on to raise $1.5 million for its mission of disrupting the stock photography industry. The idea was that instead of purchasing generic cheap photos through stock agencies, buyers could simply post “briefs” with their requests, budget, and time frame. Photographers signed up to ImageBrief would then receive the briefs and submit photos for consideration.

Premium photographers could also use the service to promote their services and be connected directly to buyers to arrange a photo shoot to satisfy the briefs. ImageBrief’s Twitter states that the service was being used by 12,000+ brand marketers to source photos from 65,000+ photographers in recent days.

Unfortunately, it seems that ImageBrief has reached the end of the road. Here’s the email message

Today, we’re announcing that after six years of connecting agencies, brands and creators, we will be closing down ImageBrief’s photographer marketing services

We’re proud of the products and apps we built, but even more so, we’re grateful for the community that enabled them to grow. More than 70,000 creators earned millions of dollars collaborating with 12,500+ global agencies and brands in 169 countries.

There has never been a better time for creators to thrive. Demand for content has increased, and the tools to create world-class creative are more accessible than ever.

Our talented team of engineers, designers, developers, and curators have worked tirelessly to make ImageBrief a success in a competitive and rapidly evolving landscape, and our immediate priority is to help you transition to other services to support your business.

In the coming days, our team will be in contact with you directly with detailed information about your specific account, license history, and services. Over the next week, we recommend logging into ImageBrief to download and retain your license history and related assets.

We want to thank you for your participation and loyalty, and look forward to working with you in the coming weeks to ensure a smooth transition.

Sincerely,

Team ImageBrief

Another failed example of business model based on photogs. shouldering all risk 4 chance of pennies on the dollar ROI. Spec work isn’t work.

— David Robin (@eyetide) March 1, 2018

I didn’t participate in many briefs but @ImageBrief seemed like it was doing well. Surprised to receive an email from them a short while ago stating that they were closing the photography section https://t.co/GPL6iP7BjR

— Feroz Khan (@zoomnclick) March 1, 2018

ImageBrief says that all photographer photos that have been uploaded to the service will be deleted from its servers within the week. During this week, you’ll also be able to log into the site to grab additional copies of your licenses (with you’re still legally obliged to adhere to).

Image credits: ImageBrief screenshot by Kaptur.co