Today was a little sad as I wound up my picture library, which was based around travel images of France. It was a shame as I have been running it for eight years.
Around 50 other photographers contributed as well and it was nice to get their messages of sympathy and support.
The library has been loosing me money for a while, in the face of competition from other much more well resourced libraries, so I shouldn't get sentimental. But I did, as I put a lot of work into it, and so did many of the photographers.
When I started it was possible to run a small specialist picture library, but that is no longer the case. With the proliferation both of images and libraries, and the driving down of prices as supply of images in many areas far exceeds demand, those libraries that generate huge numbers will survive and prosper. The bigger fish are already eating up the smaller ones and dominating the market.
It was a labour of love and I enjoyed it very much, though it often required a lot of work.
I was affected much more than I thought by its demise, as it was a large part of my working life for many years.
So heres a few images to say goodbye.
D
