Ukrainian photo bank Depositphotos has launched Lightfield Productions – the biggest photo studio in Ukraine with total area of 2,500 square meters.
Lightfield in Kyiv claims to be one of the most spacious setups of its kind on the continent, saying that only Amazone in London (around 4,300 square meters) and IKEA in Almhult, Sweden have bigger photo studios.
“Our ceilings are 450 – 470 centimeters high, which is good for professional photographers, because you can fit lighting cranes and other tall devices in here,” says Lightfield CEO Stas Maspanov as he starts a tour around the premises. The studio is vast indeed: situated in a business center that was previously an old furniture factory, it is a loft area, draped with heavy curtains ceiling to floor.
It took about six months to plan and build a studio this big. After that, it worked for three months in the test mode until its official opening on April 11. The studio currently hosts 100 to 120 photoshoots per month, but plans to quadruple that to 400 to 500 shoots per month.
“We want to create the best service for photographers in the country,” CEO and Founder of Depositphotos Inc. Dmitry Sergeev told the Kyiv Post on April 11. “We want to provide them with everything that they need to create good work. We love talented people, and we want them to be closer to us, no matter how banal and clichéd this might sound.”
A photographer takes photographs of flower pots in Lightfield Productions studio on April 13. Photo by Kostyantyn Chernichkin
The idea of the project is to give independent photographers a place and the resources to shoot. Starting from Hr 400 (around $15) they can access basic services such as photographic lighting devices and an internet connection, and shoot in 14 different studio zones and different sets. Photographers can also hire casting specialists, stylists, producers, a post-production team and creative producers. The studio also has a catalogue of models and costumes.
With this new project, Depositphotos hopes to form an active community of photographers in Ukraine. The studio is designed as a hub for photographers, both as an educational center and a platform for big photography events.
Founded in 2009, the Depositphotos photo bank functions as a commercial platform for the creators and buyers of stock photos, vector graphics and video clips, with customers in 192 countries around the world. In 2016, the company was valued at more than $80 million.
In 2015, Depositphotos opened a photo school called “Bird In Flight,” which is now based on the premises of the newly built photo studio.
Depositphotos did not attract any external investment to build the new studio. “This is a project of our photo bank. It is a harmonious branch (of our main business),” says Sergeev. “All of the funds were allocated to the current budget plan for the company’s development in Ukraine in 2017.”
Promotional video created by Lightfield Productions for the official launch of the studio in April 2017.
“We expect to increase the sales volume of photo bank by giving good photographers the opportunity to shoot only trendy and high-quality content in a large quantity, and we can guide them and buy the best,” says Sergeev. “In addition, we’re entering the niche of premium advertising content, and we want to include works that are produced by the best masters of stock photography and advertising photography in general to the collections of Depositphotos.”
The photo bank expects the studio to start turning a profit by the middle of 2018.
Kyiv Post social media editor Iryna Savchuk can be reached at [email protected].
