Cape Town, March 5th, 2014 - Fotolia, Europe’s leading Stock Agency, today announced a global contest which will award a prize of R37 500 for the best-selling Instant Collection image of 2014 taken using an iPhone. In addition, every image accepted for the Instant Collection will instantly earn R7.50 the end of April. Now everybody has a chance to sell their smartphone images, regardless of technical ability or expensive equipment.

The Instant Collection features images catering to a specific, more spontaneous, and in-the-moment look. Contributions to the Instant Collection can be made exclusively via the iOS app “Fotolia Instant”, available to download from the Apple App Store for free. An Android version of the Instant App is already in Beta-mode and will be released soon. Android users will then be able to participate in a separate contest, which will also give R37 500 for the best-selling Instant Collection image taken using an Android phone.

“Four months ago, we launched the Fotolia Instant Collection for Smartphone images,” says Fotolia’s CEO and co-founder, Oleg Tscheltzoff. ”Today, the app has been downloaded nearly 20,000 times and the Instant Collection consists of more than 10,000 curated images. What started as an iPhoneography experiment has far exceeded our expectations. At Fotolia, we know the big breakthrough in smartphone snaps is coming, and we’re ready for it. We already have 1 million global buyers paying for professional images, but those same buyers are crying out for spontaneous, raw, real-world images. That’s why smartphone images sell at Fotolia and it becomes a serious opportunity for talented smartphone photographers.”

Fotolia Instant’s Art Director, Morgan David de Lossy, explains further: “Images in the Instant Collection are different from regular stock photos, they are impulsive and more edgy, and we are always looking for more images that fit this description. Our customers need this iconographic mobile style to advertise on social media and mobile platforms.”

His advice for successful contributions: “Smartphone users should focus on uploading images which catch that special spur-of-the-moment mood in moments with friends and family, matching keywords like happiness, fun, leisure, travel, youth, etc. Images with pets, flowers or food are less likely to be accepted. To achieve the best quality, shoot images outside in good light conditions and with a clean lens. Filters should be used sparingly.”

The Contributor of the current bestselling smartphone image, Robert Kneschke from Germany, says "The Instant Collection shows very well that even smartphone images sell. Some of my smartphone shots sell much better than the images I took with R50 000 equipment, so it really has nothing to do with the camera."

For more detailed information about the Instant Contest and to download the app please visit the Instant Contest page and the iTunes App Store.

About Fotolia

Fotolia is a leading provider of royalty-free photos, vectors, illustrations, and HD video - the preferred choice for millions of artists and content creators worldwide. As the first worldwide microstock organization to offer both crowd-sourced and professional images on one site, Fotolia members enjoy from quality, reliability and affordability. Today, Fotolia is over 4.6 million members strong, and spans the globe with websites in 14 languages and offices in 23 countries. With over 27 million files to choose from, Fotolia has something for everyone, whatever their budget. Fotolia was founded in 2004 in New York City.