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Bindu D. Menon

New Delhi, June 27 A picture speaks a thousand words, they say. And if you are a cash-strapped film-maker wanting an exquisite footage of the Manhattan skyline or a real estate builder who wants to give a conceptual imagery of your forthcoming project, then try an image bank for your quest.

Visage Images, an online digital image bank and a master delegate of Getty Images, is upbeat that buoyancy in infrastructure, retail and media domains will spur growth in the digital images business.

“Hard-hitting or creative images will have the ability to tell a story. Though still in its infancy, the digital imagery business is growing along with sectors like retail and infrastructure,” Mr Viinod Nair, President, Visage Media Services, told Business Line. Getty Images is the world’s largest imagery company

The company with a bank of over 70 million pictures and 30,000 hours of film footages, targets three markets — creative professionals (advertising and graphic design), the media (print and online publishing), and corporate communication departments for other businesses.

“In India, both retailers and real estate companies heavily use our conceptual imagery to give a picture of their core projects. This apart, editorial imagery is also highly in use by various companies such as media,” he added.

The sector is growing at an annual rate of 35-45 per cent. “We have grown two-fold since our inception four years ago. The revenue from India operations alone stands at $3.6 million and we are growing aggressively,” Mr Nair said.

Asked how the company protects its copyright, he said it has software which tracks pictures that are digitally altered.

“Every picture has a DNA and no matter how much you disfigure it, the software tracks it down and pins the culprits.”

The services are both subscription based and individual picture based. Visage is also looking to cover the SAARC region to expand its footprints.

More Stories on : Outlook | Photographic & Allied Products

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