Alamy gives access to millions of historic images

Alamy says it has struck an agreement to supply AP’s contemporary and archive news images to UK and Irish customers. The five-year deal means 18 million historic images and a daily feed of thousands of news pictures from around the world will be available on the Alamy platform.

The collection includes images captured by AP’s Pulitzer Prize winning international photographers, and will be available for license to customers operating across digital media platforms, publishing, advertising, marketing, design, and other sectors.

Alamy says around 150,000 current news images from AP on-the-spot coverage of recent events are now accessible through their platform with 5,000 news photos added every day. The prestigious AP photo archive encapsulating news, culture, sport and more will come on stream in March.

Emily Shelley, managing director of Alamy, said: “AP photographers have been eyewitnesses to history for two centuries and today their international news operation leads the world. We’re extremely proud to be working with the AP to make available this extraordinary collection of images for Alamy’s customers across multiple sectors in UK, Ireland, and the Channel Islands.

“Alamy is committed to dynamic storytelling through thought-provoking content from as wide a range of sources as possible, and to making those pictures available to as wide an audience as possible. Like the AP, we value trust, authenticity, and accessibility, making this collaboration a perfect fit.”

AP vice president, sales for Europe, Middle East & Africa Alwyn Lindsey said: “We are delighted to be working with Alamy. The combination of Alamy’s innovative platform and AP’s iconic photo collection is extremely positive for customers.”

Alamy, part of the PA Media Group, has a diverse creative and editorial stock imagery collection, comprising almost 300 million photographs, vectors, and 360-degree panoramic images. The business says it has 100,000+ customers in more than 150 countries, working across a range of sectors including media, publishing, design, advertising and broadcast.

With journalists in some 240 locations in nearly 100 countries, AP supplies more than 1 million news photos every year. The news agency boasts an archive of tens of millions of images spanning two centuries. AP photojournalism has earned 34 Pulitzer Prizes.

AP joins the PA Images collection, Reuters, DPA, Everett and the World History Archive, as well as 80 further global news agencies, as part of the Alamy Editorial service.