The British Journal of Photography has very good summary by Betsy Reid on recent events in the stock photography industry. The changes in technology, the market, duopoly, dubious business practice, and the freemium economy saw the death of a once fulltime profession: high quality stock photography. As Executive Director of the Stock Artists Alliance, Betsy Reid had an insiders view.
Commissioned photography is under similar pressure now and needs to adapt and be ahead of the game or be led down the same dark hole as stock photography.