It seems the practice of competitive edge seeking may benefit cash-strapped shutterbugs with the creation of a new stock market aimed at advanced amateurs and amateurs. Photographers of all levels that already showcase their work on Flickr now have the opportunity to get into the online stock game. Getty and Flickr joined forces on March 11th.

What’s beautiful, is their gain doesn’t seem to (as of yet) jeopardize the pros who sometimes make their living through stock. Getty, as a rule serves professional photographers. As we know, the last thing pros need is the digital weekend warriors encroaching into their income pools. The alliance was announced in July 2008 and is centered around images from non-pros offered to smaller companies and agencies, who can’t afford conventional stock services, at cheaper prices. Shooters get paid from $200 to $500 a photo.

According to Getty Images CEO Jonathan Klien, the reason for the alliance is that his clients were asking for access to Flickr’s vast trough of images–most of which were not yet cleared for commercial use. Over the past few months, Getty editors have been busily trolling through Flickr images and inviting those with stock-quality images to supplement their income.

Here’s how it works: When a photographer posts an image on Flickr they must allow public access, rather than choosing password-protected sharing. If a Getty editor tags the photographer with an invite, the selected image will show up in a special Flickr collection on the Getty Images site. If the image is used, the shooter gets paid. Take a look at some of the images here: www.gettyimages.com/Creative/Frontdoor/Flickr?isource=usa_nav_images_whatsnew_flickr.
Getty says they will continue to add thousands more every month. Wow, Getty editors are single-handedly buoying Flickr’s SEO rating at the same time.

“And to a whole new creative universe, chock full of images that capture the passion and personality of a global community of photographers – and of the places they call home,” reads the section on Getty’s website. Images are available exclusively on Getty’s site and have both rights-managed and royalty-free options. It’s all no so easy though. The rub is to know not only what makes a great image, but what makes a great stock image. And that’s not just about art, but about science.

With all of the recent hubbub surrounding Shepard Fairey’s artistic rendering of a Barack Obama photo, it made me start to think of all of the iconic photos of past presidents. There’s JFK having a powwow with Nikita Khrushchev. Then there’s Richard Nixon bidding adieu to the White House. And who can forget this rather amusing montage of past commanders-in-chief enjoying Thanksgiving dinner or pardoning the National Thanksgiving Turkey.

But in today’s 24/7 media-saturated environment, where a global leader can make the slightest public misstep and in seconds see his faux pas posted online for the world to see, it’s easy to forget about the relative visual anonymity many of our earliest forefathers enjoyed. We can view George Washington on the bucks in our wallet, but we’d be hard-pressed to find any type of actual photo of him toiling over the Constitution, or of Thomas Jefferson enjoying an afternoon at the fishpond at Monticello.

That’s what makes the possible discovery of a photograph of Ulysses S. Grant, our 18th president, such an astounding find. Collector Randall Spencer claims that the mid-1800s daguerreotype is the real deal, acquired at the San Jose Photographic Exposition in 1992 from a collector who had a whole stack of sixth-plate daguerreotypes.

Spencer stands by his find, and a forensic photo expert has backed him up. But it’s been a hard sell, mainly because historical institutions often want an “unbroken chain of custody” to prove an artifact is genuine.(Spencer says that a system that acknowledges probability would better serve such efforts). If he is able to sell the photo, Spencer will use the funds to continue what he’s referred to as his obsessive quest to find other remnant photos of historical figures. Nice job, Spencer, and for a noble cause — just don’t dig up anything that would incriminate our founding fathers too much. The country needs some optimistic news right now, not Monica-gate II circa 1802.