My last post discussed ethnicity in stock images. I mentioned that I had done research that supported six conclusions and discussed the first two: People image licenses are dropping as a percent of all images licensed and images of ethnically diverse people are growing steadily as a percentage of all people images licensed.
Here are my next two conclusions:
3. The average license price in the U.S. for ethnically diverse people images lags that of other people images. I am afraid that the reason for this is that ethnic images continue to be used for smaller uses that are out of the "mainstream." Interestingly, the average overseas prices on ethnic images are better than the average for non-ethnic images. This is probably a scarcity effect. (Our overseas agents have stubbornly resisted taking ethnic images. The few they have stand out and get good prices.)
4. Images that contain more than one ethnicity get higher prices than those with a single ethnicity. For example, images with both blacks and asians in them brought in a 150% to 200% premium over an average people image license.
What to do with this input? Here are my suggestions:
1. Either stay true or cave in. Yes, I am going to give rare-for-me wishy-washy advice. If you can stay true to your art and shoot ethnic situations as they really are, do it. I think that these images will appeal to the emerging market for authentic examples of ethnic culture and lifestyle. If you want to make more money, faster, cave in. Plan your shoot as though your model was non-ethnic. Swap ethnicity in and out of the situations, as though it didn't matter. Your work will look dated and foolish soon, but you'll probably make money from it--especally overseas where ethnic stereotypes will probably linger.
2. Do NOT run out and shoot a lot of mixed ethnicity situations, just to put notches on your belt! Instead, think of it as a way to create unique situations that tell interesting stories. The images may not license often, but will get a good price when they do.
The next and last post in this series looks at the differences in customer interest between different ethnic groups.
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