So, how did it all start? Well, Pixtures started life as a showcase for my personal and commercial photography. I had already built a couple of photography based websites for photographers and photo clubs, for example this most recent one at www.stuartchapmanphotography.co.uk, and so creating something to showcase my work wasn't really going to be that difficult. More recently though I have decided to make Pixtures about the promotion of photography and photographers in general because displaying just my own work, although pleasing to see it presented so professionally,.didn't really seem to make the best use of the Pixtures platform.
All well and good but how exactly does it work! Well, it was really when I started to integrate Pixtures with Flickr that the whole project sprung to life. This is because Pixtures seamlessly integrates with the Flickr API to pull albums and photos from any member account registered on Pixtures from their respective Flickr albums if they have them. Sounds complex? It's not, read on.
For those that don't know Flickr or have used it for a while and then dropped it in favour of facebook, Instagram or SmugMug let me explain. Flickr is a photo display service that allows photographers to show and share their images as they wish. You can also follow photographers you admire, and in turn, other photographers can follow you. There are also various groups you can join such as the Nikon D600 group that I'm a member of. Basically then, Flickr is a community of photographers looking to display and share their best work. It's also free if you want to display less than 1000 images, with a Pro option and unlimited storage for just £4.99/month (I'm not on commission by the way). That's a good deal since SmugMug is a minimum of £8/month. It's easy to get started with Flickr, simply signup for free, create a few albums and upload some images to them. You're online and part of a global photographic community from that moment on
Now the good part! Having created the means by which Pixtures can pull any album or indeed, any photo from Flickr, photographers signing up with Pixtures, even with the free membership option we offer, can have any of their Flickr albums instantly promoted on Pixtures and through any of our social media channels. For those photographers looking for more support or who want to sell their photography, then of course, we offer some low cost options to do just that.
But I don't want a Flickr account! No problem, photographers who simply don't want a Flickr account can still promote their images on Pixtures, you just need to sign up with the free Pixtures acoount and then zip your processed jpeg files and send them to me via wetransfer. I will upload and manage them on the site for you. It's not an elegant solution as with Flickr but it means that there are no barriers to you getting good exposure through Pixtures. By the way, the copyright of the images always stays with the author, you just provide Pixtures with the right to display the image on the Pixtures platform. It's all pretty straightword really.
Pixtures has most recently been given a brand new look (it also works brilliantly on any mobile device too) and with the new ideas we are coming up with plus the opportunity to work with lots of new photographers, Pixtures could really explode in popularity in the next few months. I very much hope that you will be there to be part of that journey.
I hope the above helps with your understanding of the site and how it has developed with time. If not, or you have any questions at all, please contact me here - that's me in the photo above so you know who you are talking with - and I'll be glad to help you in any way I can.
Take care, Dave
