I received a press release for a new site selling stock photos of ancient sites. I’m not linking to it because the photos cost hundreds of dollars, and the price isn’t revealed until after you register. I appreciate that photographic work isn’t just a case of point ‘n’ click, but I struggle with the concept of buying the rights to one photo of a Sicilian temple when I can fly to Palermo, pay for the carbon offset, and get dozens of my own exclusive photographs more cheaply.
I try and use my own photos for a lot of what I do but when that fails there are a few alternatives. Flickr has a Creative Commons search which is useful. The Stock Exchange also has free royalty-free photos for use. If I need something weird and professional I tend to use iStockPhoto, which costs, but isn’t bank-breakingly expensive.
If you want a specialised image search there’s the Archaeology Image Bank set up by the Higher Education Academy, which I’ll have to remember to donate some more images to. Leicester’s School of Archaeology and Ancient History also has an image bank.
The site is hoping to sell academic subscriptions, but I can’t help the money would be better spent on books.* There are plenty of affordable alternatives if you’re struggling to find an image.
* Or sending me to exotic locations so I can take photos for public use – there’s a real dearth of archaeological photos of Bondi Beach.
