There has been a revolution in both the production and use of photography caused jointly by the internet and digital cameras. The internet has greatly increased the use and demand for photos, while digital cameras have greatly increased the ability of photographers to produce just the right kind of photos.

In the last few years, the internet has led to the emergence of numerous stock photo companies, with millions of photographs available on a vast range of topics. Companies such as istockphoto have databases of 2 million or more photos, that can be searched instantly by keyword. They can be downloaded for a fee of as little as $1, with the price rising for large size files.

This has become quite a large business. The company I deal with, istockphoto, was started in Calgary a few years ago, and when less than two years old it was purchased by Getty Images, one of the world's largest and oldest professional stock photo agencies. As a photographer, I don't make a huge amount of money from this, since my return per photo is small. However, in the past year I have had more than 2000 downloads of my photos. As I enjoy taking photos, it gives me satisfaction that they are being used and viewed by people around the world, instead of just sitting in obscurity on my hard drive.

A selection of several hundred of my own photographs are available at istockphoto.com, and the links below have organized them according to some of the main topics. My photographic interests run towards architecture and urban scenics, and I have a large selection of photographs from places such as London, Oxford, Toronto, Budapest, and Jerusalem.

As I live in Toronto, my photos of that city are the most extensive, covering virtually every aspect of that city. To view specifically photos of Toronto ( including the University of Toronto. )

I have a large selection of photos of London, England. These cover not just the usual scenes of famous buildings such as Parliament and Buckingham Palace, but also the charms of London's many quaint residential streets.

Gothic Architecture and Universities

I am a great fan of gothic architecture, and therefore of the universities that preserve the magnificent decorated stonework of the past. These surroundings have inspired some of the greatest scholars and artists of the western world. I have a large selection of photos from the beautiful medieval university city of Oxford, covering subjects such as the Bodleian library, Radcliffe Camera, New College, Exeter College (where J.R.R Tolkien was an undergraduate), All Souls College, Christ Church College, Tom Tower, and Magdalen College. To view my photos of Oxford, Cambridge and similar colleges, please please click here.

Photos without Model Releases

One of the aims of the on-line stock agencies is to make their photos available for general commercial purposes, such as advertisements. The legal framework that has arisen over the use of images requires signed "model releases" from identifiable people who appear in photographs used for such commercial purposes. However, the law also recognizes a general freedom of the press principle. Photographs taken in public places including people may be used without a model release if the photograph is used for illustrative "editorial" purposes in a newspaper, magazine or book (e.g., to illustrate an article about a famous place). Please contact me if you need a wider selection of photos, as I have a much larger stock, including ones with people, than the ones that I have posted at istockphoto. I am also occasionally available to undertake custom photo assignments.

Please click on this banner to view my whole portfolio at istockphoto.com

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