By Kenzie Love
Stocksy was founded as a multi-stakeholder platform co-operative in Victoria in 2013 with the goal of putting power back in the hands of contributing artists in the stock photo industry. The founders, veterans of this industry who wanted to create a new space by using the co-op model, began with 220 contributing artists, a number that has since grown to 1,900 members in 85 countries. As a multi-stakeholder co-op, artists comprise Class C, one of Stocksy’s three classes of members, with advisors, including the CEO, comprising Class A and staff comprising Class B. The model was designed, says Operations and Governance Director Michelle Sadler, to ensure everyone working for the Co-op had a stake in its operations.
The co-op model was also a reaction to the prevailing norms in the stock photo industry at the time, which Stocky’s founders saw as forsaking quality in the interests of profits. By choosing instead to emphasize creativity and diversity from the outset, Stocksy sought to stand apart from the big players in the sector. Today, while it remains unique as a co-op in the stock photo industry, Sadler says it’s now facing stiffer competition when it comes to the content it produces, with other stock industry providers copying its style if not its values.
“When we joined the scene, our collection was completely unique, and there was nowhere else you could find this kind of content,” she says. “Since then, our competitors have caught up, they’ve taken notice of what is selling at Stocksy, what is popular, what makes Stocksy unique.
And they are starting to compete quite heavily.”
The rise of generative AI is also affecting the industry, Sadler says, although Stocksy doesn’t accept this type of content, something else that distinguishes it from its competitors.
“That does still set us apart,” says Sadler. “We still have clients who come to us and are loyal to us because of that, and they need the legal clearance and protections that Stocksy can offer by having human-generated, properly released, legally cleared content that they can use.”
For Sadler, who’s been with Stocksy for eight years, the opportunity to contribute to something bigger than herself is a key source of the Co-op’s appeal.
“It’s knowing that the work that I am contributing is having an impact,” she says. “There’s just something that is more impactful about the work that you’re doing when you’re supporting and uplifting, and part of something. And there’s a responsibility that comes with it, so it just feels really rewarding.”
In the coming years. Stocksy hopes to continue expanding its reach, building on its base of loyal clients by expanding into a market where many prospective clients are unaware of the Co-op’s existence.