EyeEm puts your smartphone photos up for sale

One of the photographs being sold on EyeEm's market. Photograph: Dawid Garwol/EyeEm

The photographs that we share on social networks often have emotional value, but could they have a commercial value too?

Although nobody is going to pay for your filtered KFC big-bucket snaps anytime soon, the idea of people paying for amateur smartphone shots is not as strange as it may seem.

Flickr had to abandon plans to sell wall-art prints of shots uploaded to its service under Creative Commons licences in 2014. Less controversially, apps such as Fotolia, Stockimo, Foap, Scoopshot and Dreamstime are all trying to help people find buyers for their photos.

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You can add EyeEm to the latter list. The iOS and Android photography app has 13 million members and in March launched a feature in the US called Market, which catalogued their images for potential media and advertising buyers.

EyeEm is now available in the UK. It groups images by themes, including architecture, nature, business and travel, selling shots for a standard licensing fee of $20, or an extended licence costing $250 for larger print or television use, as well as on products.

The chief executive, Florian Meissner, said: "Our technology helps photographers get discovered by organising their photos in a smart way, and getting them in front of people who might want to use them." .

He founded EyeEm after moving to New York to work as a photographer. He soon lost all his equipment in a mugging, which in turn spurred his interest in smartphone photography.

"We've got this very passionate new generation of photographers, who don't need fancy equipment, but can create very real, authentic photography from the streets. Mobile phones were the grassroots of that movement," Meissner said.

"I'm 100% convinced that over the next couple of years, the majority of images being used commercially won't come from professional photographers, but will come from the long tail of the industry – people who've been hanging out on Snapchat, Facebook or Instagram."

EyeEm's Market essentially sets the company up as a stock-photography agency for amateur photographers (or, indeed, professionals taking smartphone shots), splitting revenues 50/50 with their creators.

Customers can search its database of tagged images, or work with EyeEm to set "missions" for a particular theme and/or location to send its users out on assignment in the hope of getting commissioned.

"It's a playful approach, and a completely new way of hiring a photographer and getting images back within 24 hours," said Meissner.

He added that EyeEm is keen to help its community improve their skills by providing video tutorials and tips, rather than simply seeing them as a resource to be harvested.

EyeEm isn't pitching itself (yet) as a potential killer of traditional stock-photo services like Getty Images or Shutterstock.

"They are completely complementary to us. They don't have access to the kind of images we're getting, so there's a beautiful relationship to be had there," said Meissner, pointing to a deal with Getty Images that sees the latter selling EyeEm shots in 40 countries.

EyeEm chief executive Florian Meissner: 'We've got this very passionate new generation of photographers'

I'm cautious about the idea of amateur photographers taking over from the pros, based on my own experience as a journalist.

Increasingly when I go to a conference, I take a few snaps using my smartphone, which sometimes accompany my articles. On other occasions, there's been a professional photographer there for the Guardian – Anna Gordon – taking shots.

My pics, at best, are serviceably lit shots of people on a stage. Hers are better in every respect: lighting, depth, composition right down to capturing people at just the right point.

Both of our shots can fulfil the same function – jazzing up an article – but they're a world apart in quality. The more I practise my mobile photography skills, the more respect I have for people who do this for a living.

Are EyeEm and its rivals dangling an unattainable goal for amateur photographers to compete with the pros? Or are they encouraging their media clients to opt for cheaper amateurs over skilled professionals?

Meissner sees it differently, admitting that even before the smartphone photography boom, cheaper high-end cameras had led to "amateur photographers flooding the market with shitty images that led to price-dumping".

"Anyone can become a photographer; it's the democratisation of the media that's happening. But it's harder to actually make sense of that: you can't manually screen, curate and tag millions of images," he continued.

EyeEm's argument is that building technology to do that can help ensure that its market isn't about cheaper shots alone, but about talented photographers who happen to be shooting using smartphones.

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"If you put yourself in the perspective of a photographer, you have to up your game. But we can help those guys get out there. It's always been the case that technological evolutions have forced photographers to develop their game and adapt to change."

Meissner added that even though EyeEm has now launched its market in two countries, it isn't making "sell your photos" the main message.

"We don't think the number one reason people should join EyeEm is to make money. You are on a social network like Instagram or Facebook, plus we can help you educate yourself and improve your skills, and connect you with people who have shared interests in photography."

Source: EyeEm puts your smartphone photos up for sale