Thursday, October 02, 2008

Ode to Istockphoto.com

I remember when we had to go
To Corbis, to Getty, to I don’t know
What was it, photos.com?

And suddenly, like manna from heaven
If you believe in heaven, and you like manna that is,
Istock appeared on the internets

And lo, it was good, and low, as in cheap
Its contents juicy, the artists, many,
And the lightboxes, divine

Searching is wiggy but soon you learn
That white background means color
and ethnicity too

For a dollar - photo credit,
Which you can use outright
Or edit!

It’s bad for the artists, but good for us
They’re screwed, yet no one makes a fuss
“I’ll make it up in volume!” their tortured cry.
Istock, great photos we can afford to buy.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Istock is great if you want crappy photos! And the istock people don't complain about their low profits, its the real photographers whose work is devalued who are getting screwed. But hey, there's a reason they're called STARVING artists, right?

You once told me to never underprice my own photos...look how far ye have fallen!

Me said...

Touche, oh surly one!

Anonymous said...

yeah, McCain is bumbled and angry. And, almost fittingly facetious with his overuse of the phrase, "My Friends". I wonder if "My Friends" will get a party invite to one of his 7 posh abodes :)

Not really anonymous - its me, Barb.

Me said...

Hi anonymous-barb!

Something tells me "no", they won't get an invite. I know I won't!