Abstract:

Technological developments have substantially increased the supply and demand of photographs. Rapid developments in the digital photography technologies in particular are the main reasons for this supply and demand increase. Economical organization of this supply and demand at image markets is named as "image bank". In parallel with globalization processes, the image banking has brought an economic organization into life in which the image producer is totally externalized as a necessity of global image market. This study examines a global and a local actor of the global image market comparatively. The companies Getty Image and Görsel Pazar 7/24 are firstly analyzed on micro economical level in order to reveal the relationship of these two companies with their producers and customers. Furthermore the contents of the web sites of these companies are analyzed and the images offered in these sites are examined. It is found that local smaller companies are forced to function as "incumbent representatives" of global big companies in the market. Additionally, facts such as monopoly tendency in the global image market, flexible employment models, strict control of delivery and determination of the content in compliance with the market and customers, are all together responsible for the increasing similarity the contents produced.

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