Stephen Mayes returns to head up Image Source US Operations

Image Source, the world’s leading independent producer and brand for creative and commercial royalty free stock photography, is delighted to announce the appointment of internationally-recognised photography veteran, Stephen Mayes, to the role of Chief Operating Officer - Americas.

Mayes has a strong track record in commercialising IP and creating proven business strategies for photography companies. His arrival following the most successful year in the history of Image Source confirms the company’s commitment to raise the bar once again in 2007.

Mayes has worked previously for Image Source as Creative Director before moving to New York to work as a director at the leading artist agency, Art+Commerce. As well as this experience, Mayes has previous stock agency involvement at senior level at Getty Images, Network Photographers and Photonica and continues his role of Secretary of the World Press Awards, the winners of which were announced on February 10 in Amsterdam. Stephen will be responsible for driving the expansion of the creative output and sales of Image Source’s New York and newly opened Los Angeles offices.

“We are delighted to welcome Stephen back to Image Source in this exciting position”, said Duncan Grossart, CEO of Image Source. “Having worked with him for several years, the time is ripe for him to return at an executive level and to head up our US operation. We have had an amazing 2006 driven by our premium content strategy that has put us in a very strong position to aggressively build on our business and market position. Our growth demonstrates the market hunger that exists for high-end premium imagery that is both creative and commercially relevant as an antidote to the overload of low-end low production value imagery.”

Given Image Source’s vision for expansion in the high-end premium content space, Mayes feels that the time is right to rejoin the senior leadership team at the company and to focus on the opportunities in the USA. Stephen said: “Image Source is a dynamic hotspot in the stock industry. Only seven years old and accelerating in a tough market, Image Source is the right place to capitalise on my experience gathered from so many parts of the photographic industry.” He added, "We have been looking for the opportunity to work together and the recent expansion of Image Source’s US operation is the ideal moment to combine our ambitions to bring something fresh to the communications industry."

Christina Vaughan, Image Source Founder and CEO affirmed: “We wanted the best in the business to spearhead our development in the United States and Stephen was the name that kept coming back to us. Having such a well-known and well respected industry figure joining us demonstrates the draw Image Source has. We have always been an ambitious company but now more than ever, with our impressive growth record in 2006, we believe it is our time to accelerate the adventure.”

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About Image Source
Image Source is the world's leading independent publisher and brand for creative and commercial royalty free stock photography. Headquartered in London, UK, with regional offices in Cologne, New York and Los Angeles, the company also supplies imagery to over 200 partners worldwide. This strong international sales network enabled the company to win the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the International Trade Category in 2005. Creative professionals around the world can buy and download quality imagery instantly from imagesource.com.