Stocksy United: a sustainable option for photographers

Stocksy United is a new co-operative stock photography site co-founded by Bruce Livingstone, the creator of iStockphoto. Stocksy was created to be not only a source of high-quality, royalty-free curated images, but also a source of sustainable income for photographers.

Unlike other stock photography sites, Stocksy is owned and run by the artists themselves. Photographers who fit the Stocksy aesthetic are invited to join the co-op, and receive higher fees for their work than other sites offer (50% of a standard license purchase). Stocksy artists also get an annual bonus, as 90% of all profits are divided among members at year’s end.

“We wanted to create a marketplace for photographers that was not only democratic, but fair and sustainable,” Livingstone says. “There’s no reason these artists shouldn’t be able to earn a living from what they produce. We believe that through this equitable, participatory structure and a straightforward, transparent compensation system—combined with the knowledge of the marketplace we bring to the table—Stocksy will quickly amass the finest pool of photographic content on the Web.”

If you would like to join the Stocksy United co-op, you can submit your portfolio for review.

Prices for Stocksy images range from $10 for a small low res, to $100 for an extra-large 300 ppi image. Standard Stocksy licenses allow for unlimited web use and print runs up to 250,000 copies. Additional licenses for unlimited print runs and product usage are also available.

You can browse the collection, search it, or use the directory to find images from a particular photographer.