David Maskrey is heading up the newley opened London offices of Contour Photos
Starting as an intern with Fleet Street legend Frank Spooner’s agency (FSP) in 1980, he went on to work with agencies such as Gamma, Gamma-Liaison, Stills Press, H&K, Visages, CPI, Saola, GLMR, Cordon Press and All Action/PA. In the process, Maskrey syndicated images from many great photographers including Greg Gorman, Richard McLaren, Tom Stoddart, Herb Ritts, Harry Benson, Colin Bell, Jason Bell, Gearard Rancinan, Catherine Leroy, Peter Kredeneser, Francis Apesteguy, Georges Merillon, Raphael Gaillarde, Pascal Maitre, John Hoagland, Andre Rau, Sylvie Lancrenon, and Ellen von Unwerth.
When did you start in the picture library business?
Way back in 1981, which dates me! I think I was lucky to just catch the final throes of old Fleet Street before the newspapers all moved out. I worked part time in The Old Bell public house at the same time, which opened doors onto all I was studying to become a zoologist. I run Contour Photo sales in the UK with one other colleague, but the office in New York employs 15 people. Hopefully each day is different. We get requests by email and ‘phone from clients, I also check out the new production lists from the US office and any new images posted on our site. I use various sources to try and anticipate which celebrity will be in demand in the forthcoming months; those with music, movies or TV programmes to promote. I offer new and relevant stock material to clients and try and keep tabs on which publications are favouring certain themes and types of portraiture. How involved are you in every day picture sales decisions? Completely immersed! As Contour Photos deals in high end portraiture clients do not download high res images direct. I have to ensure restrictions and approvals are settled and fees agreed before the usable images go out. Distribution is certainly in the digital age, but some photographers will continue to use film. As an agency quality digital distribution is where it’s at. However, some photographers have an enduring empathy with film and prints. In the creative process I do sometimes miss hard copy, my Schnieder lupe rarely sees the light of day anymore. Do you have any advice for a new picture library? Unless you have a very specific or exclusive area of operation I would do something else instead. Apart obviously from our own site I like the Rex Features site. Most of my clients also like it’s simplicity of operation. Which papers do you read regularly? I skim as many as possible as often as possible. If not at work I take at least one “quality” and one “tabloid”, generally choosing based on the front page lead. Food, fine wine, literature, rock ‘n’ roll, travel, long country walks and accumulating overdrafts. Which system do you use for your online library? Our system was developed and constructed in-house by the Mediavast techno whiz kids. Fortunately it is user friendly on the customer web interface, as I don’t have a clue. Is it web based? Yes How many pictures do you sell overnight directly through your web site? As mentioned previously we have to tightly control distribution so we do not allow automatic access overnight. What percentage of your outgoings do you spend on marketing the library? Contour have only been going three years, we haven’t done precise budgets for marketing. Our experienced staff help keep contacts fresh and we’d rather spend resources on photography. Where do you live? Barons Court in West London. Family status? Single – offers on a postcard. How are your camera skills? Grown men have wept when faced with my holiday snaps – sadly not from pleasure. What’s hot, what’s new? Contour Photos. It may sound like the party line, but it is great to be working with a new group of quality photographers in an agency that’s small enough to be human and give attention to detail and yet strong enough to give the big boys a run for their money. Mark Seliger joining this month is a great start! My next major project is to investigate the possibilities of UK based production for Contour. Any last thought? We do have a tendency, myself included, to harp on about a semi-mythical place called the “Good Old Days”. It seems to me that we whinged about the state of play then, so we had better grasp the nettle now and look forward rather than back. I intend to work hard but enjoy life at the same time.
What were you doing before that?
How many employees do you have?
Describe your day
Is the future totally digital?
Which picture library web site has caught your eye recently?
What activities do you pursue when you are not at work?
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