The Flickr Collection Debuts on Getty Images

Getty Images has expanded its content with the addition of the Flickr Collection, available today March 11, 2009. Yahoo applauded the initiative of delivering creative imagery from Flickr members to gettyimages.com and allowing customers to access photographs via commercial licenses. All the digital images that managed to find their way on the Flickr Collection on Getty Images have been handpicked on such criteria as “inspirational and unexpected photographs,” which is apparently a rarity in stock photography.

"We are thrilled to provide our customers with this ground-breaking collection," said Jonathan Klein, co-founder and chief executive officer of Getty Images. "We are impressed with the talent from the Flickr community, and are proud to once again lead our industry in this exciting new direction. We are eager to hear what our customers think, and look forward to their input in shaping this ever-expanding collection."

Andy Saunders, vice president of creative imagery at Getty Images, emphasized that the Flickr Collection content was selected with the purpose of offering the world a window inside the lives of the authors. In this regard, Saunders opined that the new collection represented an entirely new perspective over stock photography, by not only offering unexpected and genuinely original images but also making content from people everywhere available for commercial licensing. Getty Images indicated that the addition and debut of the Flickr collection was simply the beginning and that it would make sure that the volume of content available would continue to grow with more select Flickr members joining in on the initiative.

"This collection reflects the unique perspective Flickr offers as the 'eyes of the world' and is testament to our community of photographers, who have shared their authentic visions with the world through Flickr," added Kakul Srivastava, general manager, Flickr. "Providing our members with a way to bring their imagery to Getty Images' worldwide customer base through this partnership has been an important step for us and we look forward to seeing the collection evolve over time, just as Flickr itself continues to do."