Snapharvest, a stock photography startup has launched in Kenya to be a one-stop shop for authentic African images and illustrations to the world.
Speaking to TechMoran, Charles Mugendi, COO Snapharvest said, “We noticed that a lot of advertisers, marketers, bloggers, designers and even corporate firms creating presentations were having a hard time find real African images to use. They can now find al these images on our site at and affordable price. All our images have model release forms so a buyer can use the images for any commercial purpose needed.”
Mugendi and his team then sat down and built a simple-to-use eCommerce platform for people seeking for images for use. Snapharvest.com images are contributed by its team and photographers who want to earn money from their work without having to set up their own online stores. The photographers can become content contributors by creating an account and start selling their original images online.
Snapharvest says the creatives, photographers and illustrators are the real owners of the content and it only provides the technology and ensure the photos sell and the contributors get paid.
”Our inspiration came from the need for authentic African content,” Mugendi told TechMoran. ”We simply cannot continue to have non-African looking models and images on local print adverts, presentations, blogs and even on websites. We aim to help advertisers, sellers, marketers and content creators connect better with their consumers.”
Every growing business in Kenya will at one point need to create a website, a poster, a flyer or a billboard or online advert and magazines and newspapers need images to illustrate what they are saying in the words. This also applies to every blog and presentation. Mugendi says people are attracted to images and especially those of people like themselves.
”80% of the groups mentioned above can not afford a 200,000 – 500,000 photo shoot. We are giving them an affordable and easy to access avenue to uplift their businesses and themselves,” says Mugendi. ”We want to have seen every small business grow by using our images in their advertising and marketing efforts, we want to have uplifted local models, talents, publishers and content creators. We want to be every businesses’ best friend and partner.”
