The mobile photo app that mixes a social photo platform with stock photography is launching new ways to find the perfect photo and new options for photographers to earn some cash. On Friday, December 15, EyeEm launched Custom, a collective group of photographers available for commissioned work. With the feature, EyeEm also unveiled a personalized search, a way for businesses to automatically target only images that match their brand criteria.
With Custom, EyeEm has created a group of photographers available for commercial shoots, rather than relying on preshot stock images. Joining the group, for photographers, is invite only, but EyeEm says interested photographers already involved on the platform can reach out and request an invitation. The group is made of members of the EyeEm Collective, which already spans 164 countries. Through the platform, businesses can hire photographers for several different types of photoshoots, leaving EyeEm to find the right talent (or talents) for the job and managing the process with online tools.
While Custom is available for big budget, multiday shoots, the service also offers tools for small businesses. For example, EyeEm says that startups can hire a photographer for the day for a social media shoot, retaining the rights to all of the images. The Custom collective includes dozens of the top photographers on the EyeEm platform.
For brands using photos that already exist on the EyEm platform, the company is launching new tools today that help make the search for the right image simpler. Using personalized search, EyeEm staff trains an artificial intelligence program on what that particular brand is looking for. For example, buy uploading a brand’s Instagram photos, EyeEm can teach the program that brand’s particular style. The program uses some of EyeEm’s existing AI, like the program that helped to narrow down the entries from a photo contest, and tailors that to the look and feel of a brand.
The tool helps simplify the search results by excluding images that don’t match the brand’s criteria. Another benefit, EyeEm says, is that businesses with big staffs and multiple locations can maintain a cohesive look, despite having creative teams in different offices.
The announcements expand EyeEm’s options for photographers which already includes model release tools and image sales through both the EyeEm platform and licensing with Adobe Stock, with 20 million creatives now using the platform. Personalized Search also expand’s the companies AI options, which already included tools to help photographers find their best images and to autotag keywords.
