Specialisation: Photography Agency

 

Place of work / place of training:

 

Specialists in Media and Information Services (“FAMI”) with specialisation in the field of photography agency work in public services as well as in private economy, e.g. documentary centres.

The following some of the most important branches of economy are listed:

 

·        Media and information

e.g. public photography agencies, media archives, photography agencies and photography archives of publishers

 

·        Providers of databases

            databases, especially picture and photography data

 

·        Universities, colleges, specialised academies

e.g. scientific picture academies

 

·        Art, culture, museums

museums / conservation e.g. photography archives and photography agencies

 

·        Religious communities

churches and religious associations, here: photography archives

 

 

Fields of activity

The main tasks of Specialists in Media and Information Services with specialisation in the field of photography agency are as followed:

·        Acquisition, indexing, archiving and exchanging of pictures

·        Identification and cataloguing of image contents

·        Technical handling and storage of pictures

·        Using, maintenance and administration of image information

·        Application of methods of archiving pictures

·        Construction and updating of picture databases

·        Support service

·        Processing of claims and invoices

·        Marketing

 

Specialists in Media and Information Services with specialisation in the field of photography agency sell and lend graphical material.

They win clients, advise them for example on the selection of pictures and inform them about offerings as well as terms and conditions. Linked to this, they also negotiate about copyright and terms of use and use calculation procedures for royalties.

Specialists in Media and Information Services are also responsible for administration and organisation. They supervise loan periods and monetary transactions, handle general correspondences as well as supervising picture transmissions. Other tasks of "FAMIs" include the collaboration of designing and the production of picture catalogues and advertising material as well as giving presentations.

One of the main duties is the documentation of graphical material. In order to do this, pictures are being formally described, indexed and archived according to instructions and predetermined categories.

Additionally pictures have to be maintained by putting in place measures of conservation and restoration.