It’s been over a year since Getty Images partnered with Flickr to launch the groundbreaking Flickr Collection on www.gettyimages.com.  We wanted to provide a quick update on how the Collection has grown and some of the exciting new developments in our partnership.

When launching the Flickr collection, our goal was to choose photos that created a commercially viable collection, while preserving the inspirational and unexpected nature of the kinds of images that are so prevalent on Flickr.  We’re proud to announce that today the collection has grown to over 60,000 images, many of which have been license by customers from around the world.

As you may remember, for the last few months, editors at Getty Images has been busy exploring the Flickrverse to find the right photos to be part of the collection.  While we know they’ve enjoyed viewing your work, with over four billion images, it can sometimes be an overwhelming experience!

In the past, the Flickr community could set their account settings to reflect that they wanted to be contacted by Getty Images, but could not proactively present a portfolio of photos for consideration. We know how eager Flickr members have been to showcase their work and wanted to develop a solution.

That’s why, today, we’re very excited to announce a formal Call for Artists, meaning ANY Flickr member can submit their work to be considered for the collection through the Call for Artists group on Flickr.

Detailed guidelines can be found here but a submission should include exactly 10 images that represent what they consider to be the best of their work.  The Getty Images create team will evaluate submissions based on style, subject matter and technical skill.  If some or all of the photos – or other images from that member’s photostream — are selected for the Flickr Collection on Getty Images, they will receive an invitation via Flickrmail.  This invitation will clearly show Getty Images’ initial selection of images and introduce the enrollment process.

When we first launched, we aimed to create a “living collection” — one that mirrored the vibrant Flickr community itself.  Now, with the community’s help, the collection will continue to grow and bring a new flavor of photography to Getty Images and its customers — an authentic view into the daily lives of people around the world.

We at Getty Images truly can’t wait to review the portfolios of the accomplished and experienced photographers that contribute to Flickr. With the community’s help, the collection will better represent, what is, in effect, the world’s image library.

Andy Saunders

Vice President of  Creative Imagery for Getty Images

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Inspire others with your clouds today. Download everything you need at www.gettyimages.com/flickr.

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85456529 Kate Brady/Getty Images

We built the licensing platform and with your cutting-edge imagery, together we’ve created an extraordinary collection…and it keeps getting bigger! We now have more than 15,000 images from photographers in over 80 countries in the Flickr Collection on Getty Images.

While we continue to look through Flickr’s two billion images, it’s important for you to let us know what you think.

Are you finding what you need?

Is there a picture on Flickr that you wish was in the collection but isn’t in there yet?

What do you wish there was more of?

Don’t hold back. Be honest, be vocal, and we’ll be grateful. Leave your comments here today.

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85151584,  A DragonDrop Adventure photo/Flickr

From “fry ups” to “boring castles,” and “crap snowmen” to “abandoned ironing boards,” check out all of the images I found that remind me of home.

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One of the best parts of our partnership with Flickr is the vast amount of fantastic pet imagery at our fingertips: cats, dogs, hamsters, snakes, rabbits, horses, we have the whole lot. What’s also exciting is that these pets are from all over the world.

In honor of this international set, here’s a rundown of global dog barks:

For more fun with international animal sounds check out this Animal Noise Chart. (Who knew German frogs went “quaak quakk”?)

Enjoy this small sampling of what we have on offer at Getty Images so far. More to come soon!

85072410,  Mathew Burditt Photography/Flickr

85457605,  Luisa Pelipetz/Flickr

85456917,  Luisa Pelipetz/Flickr

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As Erin mentioned in a previous post, one of the exciting things about Flickr is that we’re able to access some really fantastic images which reflect the lifestyles and people of specific regions around the world. This is great news for our customers who are searching for imagery with a local flavor.

Aside from great travel imagery, we want to find strong lifestyle imagery. The challenge is to find images that aren’t too cliche but not so random that we lose the connection. Below are some examples of imagery we’ve selected for the German speaking regions so far.

Do you think we’re getting it right?

85154229 Claudia Probst/Getty Images

85149179, Johannes Henseler/Flickr

85154089, Thomas Lottermoser/Flickr

85111840 Photography ©Eke Meidaner

85421437, German Meyer/Flickr

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85148838, Floridapfe from S.Korea Kim in cherl/Flickr

The Flickr Collection on Getty Images has been up and running for a few weeks now and while we hope you like what you are seeing, we want to know the truth — what do you think?

Do you like the images in the collection?

Is there a theme/keyword idea that we are missing in the collection?

Have you found a favorite image on Flickr that you want added in the collection?

Let us know! Leave a comment on this blog and we’ll make sure to take all of your comments and suggestions into consideration as we continue to build this one-of-a-kind collection.

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