Here’s an exciting news bit to share with you folks. I am one of the 120 photographers that is represented by Gallery Stock, which is a “boutique” stock photo agency, based in NYC. Recently, image licensing agency Truck Archive, founded in 2005, purchased Gallery Stock, along with Bernstein & Andriulli (a repping agency I’ve known for years).
Trunk Archive was started in a kitchen in Copenhagen by 5 high-end Danish art collectors. Matt Moneypenny, the President and CEO, got his early experience at Art + Commerce in NYC, and before as an agent at the world's largest talent and literary agencies ICM Partners in Los Angeles—where he learned the important concept of “talent first”. His goal for Trunk Archive is to represent the best of the best in the medium of photography.
Trunk Archive currently represents more than 250 photographers worldwide. It will be interesting to see how this merging of two specialized agencies can gain traction over the usual suspects (Getty, Corbis, even Flickr) in a market that is saturated with image content resales. Gallery Stock will still operate under founder Howard Bernstein’s direction and retain its brand identity, surely a critical hand in their continued success.
Moneypenny believes that there's absolutely nothing 'stock' about the art Trunk looks after or the image-makers who create it. They run Trunk very much like a large talent agency with specialized divisions and services.
Between its purchase of Gallery Stock and B&A, the scope of what Trunk can offer has nearly doubled. As time goes on and the two image companies merge philosophies, I can’t help but wonder how business will be combined. With such an extensive international network however, I expect to see some exciting developments on the horizon.
To see my contribution to Gallery Stock, you can visit:
For more information on the acquisition, you can visit:
http://pdnpulse.pdnonline.com/2014/02/trunk-archive-buys-bernstein-andriulli-gallery-stock.html
http://www.ai-ap.com/publications/article/9524/industry-news-2-trunk-archive-buys-bernstein-a.html
http://www.anothermag.com/current/view/1274/Matthew_Moneypenny_Trunk_Archive