Name: Alex Hewitt
Agency name: Writer Pictures www.writerpictures.com
Position: Co-owner
Explain Writer Pictures in a sentence?
High quality portraits of Writers, from poets to philosophers via authors and entertainers.
Where are you based?
Edinburgh and London.
How many people in the office?
Two in the office, one in the field and a huge wealth of top quality contributors internationally.
When did you start the agency?
September 2004 when Graham Jepson and I had a conversation that went like this:
Alex: ” I’ve had an idea that I wanted to ask you about ”
Graham ” Hey, me too ”
Alex ” You go first ”
Graham ” No you go first ” …..and it turned out we were talking about exactly the same thing.
What were you doing before that?
Being a Picture Editor and Photographer in Scotland, and I still am.
How may photographers contribute to the agency?
About 30 consistent contributors, 30 more sporadic contributors and 5 major agencies.
How many staff photographers?
Four if we include those of us based in the office. It’s a cliche but we’re a photographic agency for photographers by photographers.
How many images are available as stock through your website?
About 80,000 at present but still growing fast.
Do you just cover authors and writers based in the UK?
No, we specialise in the UK but cover the industy internationally.
Are you looking for older image sets, pre 2004 – time lines and deceased authors and writers?
Yes very much so. We’re always looking for collections big and small and we find that portraits of minor figures sell just as well as the portraits of famous personalities.
Are authors and writers generally happy to be photographed?
Mostly yes, seldom no we try to be upfront and honest about what we do and place ourselves as a resource for all involved.
How long do you typically get on a shoot?
We usually ask for 20-30 mins. Less is difficult more is a blessing.
Mainly studio or improvisation?
Mainly improvised on location but we’d like to do more studio based work.
Have you shot exclusive subjects recently?
Lennoxlove Book Festival in Haddington and the Borders Book Festival in Melrose have an exclusive deal with us and we usually get some nice shots at these events as the writers are always very relaxed.
Most difficult shoot?
I’m not going to name any names but it was at the Borders Book Festival when a writer decided halfway through a shoot that they didn’t actually want to be photographed.
Favourite set of images?
We love every picture in our collection, but especially fond of both Graham Jepson’s shoot with James Ellroy and the Mathieu Bourgois shoot with the very same James Ellroy. He obviously makes a good subject!

Graham Jepson portrait of James Ellroy

Mathieu Bourgois portrait of James Ellroy
Who are you trying to photograph at the moment?
We’ve got a man in New York at the moment who we’re trying to set up some big names for. Philip Roth and Brett Easton Ellis are on the cards.
Do you book most shoots through a PR /agent or directly with the author?
It always varies depending on the author. We get a lot of commissioned work which has been previously arranged via the Publicity teams.
Any advice for a start-up photo agency?
Yes, keep your costs and expectations low and your quality and ideals high.
Visit www.writerpictures.com
–ENDS—-
Writer Pictures exhibited at FotoFringe London May this year.
“Connecting with…. “ is a new series of industry specific interviews sponsored by

Here Tom Walmsley, MD at Specialist Stock, has created a Biovid for his library site. This is a great way to market your images explaining to picture buyers your expertise on the stock you have and your company mission which will attract contributors.
Tom told PAN this morning, “The video was shot on Canon 7D with professional wireless tie mic (would use professional video camera to produce Biovid for others)
The shoot took 1 – 2 hours (had to wait for gap in lawnmowers, bird song and squirrel attacks) Post production took 2 days
Credits: Cameraman: Jon Clay and Editor: Edd Maggs Sound track: John Tuff
More from Specialist Stock on their You Tube Channel

Name: Kevin Townsend
Company: Keedup www.keedup.com
Position: CEO
Explain KeedUp in a sentence.
Keedup is the keywording company you want for a quality job at moderate prices, with a can-do attitude.

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“Connecting with…. “ a series of industry specific interviews.
Sponsored by:



Name: Siobhan Hennessy
Picture Library: Camera Press
Position: Deputy Lifestyle Editor
Location: London
Explain your job?
As deputy lifestyle editor my job involves editing ( mainly fashion and interiors), picture research for UK media ( interiors / beauty / lifestyle / food) and art-directing our own very successful lifestyle shoots.

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PAN advertiser Media Storehouse have recently published their latest brochure (below) explaining how to maximise your image collection by selling prints online. Media Storehouse display, print, look after customer calls and deal with payment and returns making the whole process very stress free…..
PAN spoke with Matt Hamer MD at Media Storehouse to provide you with a quick guide to how it all works.


PAN: in a sentenceExplain Media Storehouse
Matt: We provide services allowing image owners to realise revenue from their images via print, download and license sales.

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PAN is taking you into the agencies – For our latest feature we have been asking Managing Directors of photo agencies and picture libraries across the globe to send a shot of their desk…here they are:
UPDATE 23 Aug

Desk owner: Martin Stephens MD at Press Association Images, Nottingham ….see he has PAN open on the laptop..good man!
UPDATE 20 Aug – a few more desks in overnight….more arriving today!

Graham Cross MD at Eyevine, London …..not sure I can see your desk in the reflection Graham?!

Desk Owner: Stephen Mayes MD at at VII Photo Agency, New York …healthy chap!

Desk owner: Brenda Marks MD at Skyscan Aerial Photo Library, Cheltenham UK
…and under the desk…….


Desk owner: Robert Goddyn MD at Robert Goddyn Photography, Netherlands ….Mac’d up!
- UPDATE 2pm 19 Aug – latest desk’s just in –

David Jacobs MD at London Features International LFI, Portugal….guess STILL on holiday then!

Desk owner: Trevor Adams Director at Matrix Photos, London …guitars?
- Desks posted first thing this morning 7am 19 Aug –

Kevin Smith owner at Splash smudged at his desk in his UK ‘country retreat’ yesterday

Desk Owner: Jason Hawkes of Jason Hawkes aerial photo library, London – note iPad, centre

Desk owner: Stewart Mungeam Director at Gallery Stock, London…he’s had a tidy up!

Desk Owner: Alan Smith MD at Topfoto, Edenbridge UK…the email is open on that screen!

Desk owner: Tom Walmsley MD at Specialist Stock, Bristol UK….nice location Tom!

Desk Owner: Hamlet MD at UNP, Saltaire UK – note all the world clocks

Mark Leech (left!) MD at Offside Sports Photo Agency….umm Mark, that’s not work now is it?!
More desks arriving – will post them as we get them!

“Connecting with…. “ a new series of industry specific interviews.
Sponsored by:


another PAN exclusive interview

Name: David Taylor
Picture Library: Xposure Photo Agency Ltd
Position: Managing Director
Location: City (London)
Describe the agency in a sentence.
An established, but still growing celebrity Photo Agency changing with the times and setting the pace in the industry.

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“Connecting with…. “ a new series of industry specific interviews.
Sponsored by:


PAN exclusive interview-

Name: Jason Hawkes
Photo Library: Jason Hawkes Aerial Photography
Position: Owner
Location: Oxfordshire
Jason has specialized in aerial photography since 1991, is based just outside London in the UK, and works worldwide. He has produced over 35 aerial photographic books for publishers such as the BBC, Random House and Harper Collins. Jason’s clients include brands such as Nike, HSBC, NatWest, Ford, American Airlines, Rolex, Toyota, Smirnoff, Mitsubishi and BP.
Jason has a catalogue of over 100,000 images by location or generic keywords available as RM stock.
Introduce your photo library in one sentence.
Aerial library, shot over the last 20 years encompassing 1000′s of graphic generic aerial views.

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‘At 4Corners Images we specialize in high quality travel and travel related photography of the world’s most important travel destinations. Our collection is especially strong on the Southern Europe and we have one of the finest collections of contemporary travel pictures of Italy available anywhere’.
Name: Carlo Irek
Agency: 4Corners Images
Position: Owner/Director
Location: Chiswick, West London
When did you start in the picture library business?
Aged 19.
What were you doing before that?
Trying to establish myself as a photographer.
What’s new at 4Corners?
We’re working on some exclusive Solomango stories, and editing some beautiful work from new contributors.

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“Connecting with…. “ a new series of industry specific interviews.
Sponsored by:


-A PAN exclusive interview-

Russ O’Connell, 32, Picture Director Q Magazine
How long have you been at Q Magazine?
Just gone 18 Months.
What were you doing before that?
Picture Director of Heat magazine – the weekly celebrity gossip mag. I was at Heat for nearly 7 years, I actually started there on work experience after completing a degree in photography and worked my up to the top, it taught me a lot about the industry from the picture library side of things, to spending hideous amounts of money on excusive sets of pictures of so called celebrities doing the most mundane things. It gave me the experience and confidence in coming up with great visual ideas for photo shoots that has helped me get where I am today.
How many people work on the picture desk?
Myself and Ian my Picture Researcher.

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