As the sun rises on the West Coast, the news is not good - PhotoShelter, in an effort to sustain their PhotoShelter Personal Archive is closing the PhotoShelter Collection October 10th, according to sources. They will be making a formal annoucement shortly with an expanded explanation about PhotoShelter's plans moving forward.
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This impending announcement comes on the heals of a rough industry situation as both Getty Images and Jupiter Images are suffering losses, and the promotion of all-you-can-eat subscription models that are squeezing every bit of profit out of the market. PhotoShelter has always championed the interests of photographers - seeking to be an advocate and a true representative (that is - looking out for the best interests of those they were representing) and when it came to pass that a change in the business model (i.e. a higher percentage to PSC, or a lowering of per-image pricing to compete with Getty/et al) was the solution, PhotoShelter opted to close the Collection rather than act to diminish their service to photographers.This shuttering of a division of PhotoShelter Inc, will have no effect on their monthly PhotoShelter Personal Archive, which I use on a regular basis to service my clients and I think is the client-image-delivery-platform of the future, as the concept of shipping CD's to clients becomes an antiquated one. In fact, with more time on their hands, they will be able to be more focused on growing that product, which is, according to sources, a key part of their plans moving forward.
More information as we get it.
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Update: Official statement here.
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