Alamy - The Web’s Largest Stock Photo Site
We hold the largest and most comprehensive online collection of commercial photography in the world. Established in 1999, we pioneered the concept of an unedited collection and today we offer millions of images from thousands of photographers and photo agencies worldwide.
Solving problems through innovation is at the heart of our business. With so many images of every subject to choose from, we are constantly improving our search technology (patents pending) to bring the best results to our users. We are obsessed with the speed of our website, providing fast and first class customer service, and developing new tools to help photographers manage their commercial portfolios online.
A key ingredient of our success is fairness. All of our contributing photographers and photo agencies enjoy more flexible contracts and earn a higher royalty than with most of our competitors. We were the first, and remain one of the few, to pay the majority share of each sale to the owner of the image.
We’ve grown fast but still remain a family enterprise, founded by CEO James West with his uncle and business partner Mike Fischer who first thought of the idea.
Since 2006 we have been providing approximately £1 million a year to a number of medical research projects, one of which is operating at our UK headquarters where researchers are working on a therapeutic cancer vaccine. We operate a greenhouse gas reduction policy which includes running a solar lamp lighting project from our offices in India. We are also designing a zero emission data centre for our growing IT infrastructure that can run without air conditioning.
About the founders
James West, CEO (34)
James has been the CEO of Alamy since co-founding the company with Mike Fischer in 1999. His first venture was an automated web design company which he started in 1997. James, a keen diver and sailor, devotes one day per week to pursuing his interests in climate change and other projects. James is a graduate of Edinburgh University.
Mike Fischer, Chairman (older and wiser than Yoda)
Mike is co-founder and former CEO of RM Plc, the leading provider of IT solutions to UK schools, colleges and universities. He also founded the Fischer Family Trust which runs projects in health and education. Mike is a graduate of University College, Oxford.
James and Mike also work together on a small venture that builds remotely operated underwater survey vehicles.