How do large home stores source the photographs and prints they sell?

Question

When stores such as IKEA or other home retailers sell framed photos or art prints, where do those images usually come from? Are they typically licensed from stock agencies, commissioned from photographers, produced by in-house photographers, or sourced some other way? I'm also curious whether the process differs between large chain retailers and smaller shops.

prints stock-photography licensing retail photo-business

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

15y ago

user21 · Accepted Answer

For large multiple retailers, there is ultimately one of two things that go on -- Either a photographer has licensed the work as a stock image, or the manufacturer has commissioned the work. Given the nature of the photos, I'd be surprised if they commissioned them, themselves. They've then printed up thousands of copies for the retailer to distribute and sell.

Smaller retailers sometimes act like galleries and will accept finished works from photographers and sell them on a commission basis. The one I'm involved with has even gone the other way, and approached photographers on sites like Flickr to see if they'd like to try and sell images for them.

How do large home stores source the photographs and prints they sell?

2 Answers

Your Answer

Related Questions