It's Official: Getty Images Sold to Private Equity Firm

After a decade of acquiring nearly every stock photography collection and agency with promise, Getty Images has itself been acquired. The buyer? Private equity firm Hellman & Friedman LLC, in a transaction valued at approximately $2.4 billion.

Starting just over a decade ago, the imaging company built with money from oil baron Mark Getty set about transforming a sleepy, largely mom-and-pop industry built on analog slide shipments into the leading digital photo library in the Internet age. Over the years the company's work impacted nearly ever professional photographer in the business, and, as is the case with most disruptive businesses, engendered more than its share of criticism.

Still, the company's power and success are undeniable, as evidenced by today's heft price tag.

What's next? How will the purchase, if approved, impact photographers working today? Stay tuned as this all shakes out, and please share your thoughts in the comments below. Also, if you're at all interested in the history of how Getty got to where it is today, see our analysis of its acquisition history.

Full press release after the jump.

A History of Getty Images' Acquisitions

With news of Getty Images' acquisition by private equity firm Hellman & Friedman, we thought we'd share this list, compiled by research firm Ketupa.net and analyzed by yours truly, to show how Getty became the prime mover in the photo industry. Full list of Getty's acquisitions, and prices when available, after the jump.

Star of Lauren Greenfield Doc Dead of Apparent Suicide

Polly Ann Williams, one of the women featured in Lauren Greenfield's THIN, the HBO documentary about women battling eating disorders, died Friday, Feb. 8 in what media outlets are calling an apparent suicide. The 33-year-old Williams was an aspiring photographer and a lobbyist for the National Eating Disorders Association. Her family asks those who wish to make contributions in her memory to visit www.nationaleatingdisorders.org.

On her website, Greenfield remembers WIlliams as "an extraordinary woman with unforgettable gifts. ... In her short life, she touched more people than most people do in their lifetime and I know she was very proud of the contribution she made in the eating disorder community."

During the making of THIN, which was filmed at a Florida center for women with eating disorders, Williams opened up to Greenfield and her crew and took them and viewers along with her during her rollercoaster battle with anorexia and bulimia.

At one point, Williams contributes what could arguably be described as the emotional climax of the movie, when she allowed Greenfield and crew to film her purging after a meal. She was eventually kicked out of the center after giving pills to a fellow patient and getting a tattoo.

Greenfield has used the documentary's success to illustrate the plight of women with eating disorders. According to the THIN website, eating disorders affect five million people in the U.S., and more than 10% of those diagnosed with anorexia nervosa will die from the disease.

--Jay DeFoore

Live Broadcast of David Burnett Masterclass

We can't think of a better subject for a masterclass than David Burnett, a photographer who for the past four decades has captured history, co-founded Contact Press Images, and landed countless Time magazine covers, all the while keeping his feet firmly on the ground and a smile constantly on his face.

Burnett's presentation to the Joop Swart Masterclass students in Amsterdam will be streamed live online Thursday, Nov. 8 at 17:00 CET (11:00 p.m. EST). Visit the World Press Photo website for more details.

The Masterclass, administered by World Press Photo, pairs photography's top young photojournalists with leading industry figures for a weeklong workshop and bull session. This year's theme is Fragile, and the "students" -- many of which are already world-class working photographers in their own right -- represent the creme of the international crop:

>Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, Iraq, The Guardian/Getty Images
>Olivia Arthur, United Kingdom
>Christoph Bangert, Germany, laif
>Kate Brooks, USA, Polaris Images
>Alexandra Demenkova, Russia, Photographer.ru.
>Agnes Dherbeys, France, Cosmos/Eve photographers
>Cédric Gerbehaye, Belgium
>Rafal Milach, Poland, Anzenberger Agency
>Munem Wasif, Bangladesh, Drik News
>Sirio Magnabosco, Italy
>Irina Werning, Argentina
>Xin Zhou, People's Republic of China, Xinmin Evening News

Burnett's presentation will last an hour and a half. The lecture will also be available on demand from Nov. 9-15 if you miss the live stream.

For more Burnett, check out his blog.

--Jay DeFoore

(Photo of David Burnett, above, right, and Rencontres d'Arles founder Francois Hebel was taken by Jay DeFoore in Arles, France, in 2006 shortly after Burnett spilled red wine on his pants.)

National Geographic Announces $50K Photo Grant

The golden age of National Geographic -- sometime in the '70s and '80s -- is a thing of legend in the photojournalism community, a time when contributing photographers spent months working on a particular photo essay, in the process racking up fees and expenses in the tens of thousands of dollars. The level of resources dedicated to photography -- not just financial but editing and production as well -- made the magazine one of the premiere outlets for in-depth photo essays, and forever endeared it as a benevolent father of concerned, environmental photography.

Today's budgets have slimmed considerably, but the magazine that fronts the National Geographic Foundation's media empire is still one of the friendliest magazines to work for. It consistently produces some of the best photo reportage on the planet.

Continuing in this tradition, National Geographic magazine is extending its annual grant of $50,000 to a professional still photographer who best "reflects the Society's goal to convey an understanding and appreciation of the unique -- and vulnerable -- world in which we live."

The grant is open only to professional photographers -- defined as any professional photographer whose primary source of income is through his or her photography -- so weekend warriors and amateurs step aside. Past winners include Carolyn Drake's report on Brooklyn's Lubavitch culture, Penny De Los Santos' look at Southwest Texas Hispanic culture, and last year's winning proposal by Eugene Richards to cover people profoundly affected by the war in Iraq.

Applications will be accepted from now until Feb. 1, 2008. The application process requires a written statement outlining either a proposed or current project and examples of the applicant's photography. The work presented should demonstrate an ability to competently photograph the project being undertaken or proposed.

For complete details, rules and application, visit nationalgeographic.com/photogrant.

--Jay DeFoore

(Photographs by Eugene Richards)

Washington Post Reporter Killed in Iraq

Salih Saif Aldin, an Iraqi stringer working for the Washington Post as a reporter and photographer since 2004, was killed in the line of duty Sunday in Baghdad. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Saif Aldin is the latest of at least 118 journalists who have been killed in Iraq while on duty, nearly 100 of whom were Iraqis.

Residents of the neighborhood where Aldin was shot told the Washington Post that "Saif Aldin was killed while taking photographs on a street where several houses had been burned. His wounds appeared to indicate he was shot at close range. His body was later observed lying on the street, covered with newspapers."

Introducing Radius Books

While the Internet is a tool of limitless potential for photographers, there's something uniquely priceless about sitting down with a beautifully printed photo book and poring over its contents page by page.

Few appreciate this act more than American Photo contributor Darius Himes. As the founding editor of the PHOTO-EYE, a quarterly dedicated to none other than photography books, Himes has established himself as a preeminent authority on the subject. And now, Himes is putting his knowledge and passion behind a new art book publishing company called Radius Books.

Q&A with Time Magazine's MaryAnne Golon

John McDermott tipped us off to an in-depth Q&A he just published with Time magazine director of photography MaryAnne Golon on the Canon Europe website. In December of last year Golon took over the top photo editing spot at the magazine for her longtime mentor, Michelle Stephenson. At the time, I wrote:

Golon … is younger and spunkier than Stephenson and perhaps better equipped to grapple with the changing media landscape. The future for newsweeklies in print is anything but certain, and Golon should have her hands full over the next few years guiding the magazine into the digital age.

From McDermott's interview:

So what shape is photojournalism in today?

I don't want to jump on the bandwagon of people saying that photojournalism is dead, but it has never been in worse shape than it is right now. The internet is the fastest, quickest most amazing way to reach the public that we've ever had and that's all very exciting. It represents a much larger market for photojournalism than we've ever had before. But in terms of traditional outlets, in how images get displayed and support for long-term projects, the market has really contracted. Time is still one of the places that embraces photojournalism and we want to be able to do it whenever we can. I think it's just becoming harder and harder to support longer-term projects given the amount of space we're devoting to it.

Photojournalist Alexandra Boulat Dies at 45

Alexandra Boulat, one of the founding members of the VII photo agency, died Friday the 5th of October, 2007 in a Paris hospital. She was 45. Boulat suffered a brain aneurysm last June while living in Jerusalem, Israel. She was later transferred to Paris. She never regained consciousness.

Boulat was one of the most talented photographers of her generation. Her complete biography can be found on the website of the VII agency,

which she helped to found in 2001. Prior  to that she worked with the SIPA agency for 10 years. Shooting for Time, Newsweek, National Geographic, and Paris Match, she covered complex and often dangerous stories around the globe, including the conflict in Kosovo and the war in Iraq. Recently she had worked on an extended project on women in the middle east.

An update from VII and info on funeral arrangements and a foundation to honor Alexandra's legacy after the jump...

News Photog Helps Nab Fugitive

Police in Lewiston, Maine are heaping praise on a local newspaper photographer there who helped nab a fugitive yesterday.  Sun Journal photographer Russ Dillingham was able to get this dramatic picture of a suspected car thief jumping from a third-floor balcony and then to a garage roof. Once the suspect hit the ground, Dillingham tackled him and held him down until police could lend a hand (or, in this case, a knee to the head).

From the Associated Press report:

"I always kind of wondered what I'd do in a situation like that," said Dillingham, a 25-year veteran of news photography. "But you don't even think about it. You just react."

Still, something about Dillingham's actions don't quite sit right with me. I guess the citizen/journalist calculation is different for everyone, but it seems a delicate balance. In this case, Dillingham acted as a citizen first, and a news photographer second (or actually a news photographer first, citizen second, and then news photographer again thirdly). I guess I just don't think journalists should be doing the police's work for them.

Then again, if a journalist came across a crime in progress, say an attempted murder or a rape, he'd be vilified if he didn't intervene. Thinking it all the way through, I guess Dillingham might be beyond reproach here. Not only did he get the shots for his news outlet, he also helped put a stop to what could have been an ugly situation that could have escalated in a hurry.

How many of you would have done the same thing?

--Jay DeFoore