RooM by Pocketstock launches: A Commercial Platform For Elite Instagramers
There are plenty of platforms for selling mobile phone images, where there are few or no barriers to entry. It’s not common then, in the fast growing mobile photography world, for a company to come along with a policy that has little interest in the numbers game but a whole lot more in absolute quality.
RooM by Pocketstock, we have been told, is much more than a mobile stock photography agency that will just sell images – if they’re accepted in the first place. It’s a platform that’s being developed around promoting mobile photographers to a broadening number of clients who are looking to undertake campaigns using Instagram: any compensation is usually based on the number of followers, as well as the photographic capabilities and location of the photographer.
RooM has two accounts, Elite and Lite. Elite is invite only and even Lite membership, which is actually open to anyone, is strictly controlled by RooM’s Briefing system, where a contributor can only upload images to Briefs, as created by RooM’s Art Directors – based on what is likely to sell. Even then, any uploaded images are edited for quality and only the best get through.
Russell Glenister CEO and founder, puts it this way, “Whereas all our rivals will take just about anything, because they believe they can become a commercial Instagram, we have a more discerning approach, only taking quality imagery that we believe we can sell well, we take nothing else.” Having been in the business of selling stock images for over 25 years, he should know quite a bit about what sells.
How then do RooM researchers find the best mobile photographers? Glenister says, “We have no secret, we just work hard at researching talent – I personally have to sign off all Elite accounts and only those that are serious Street or Commercial shooters are ever put in front of me. Currently we have around 100 on our list of invitees and that’s out of over 130,000 mobile photographers we have looked at, so you might say, we are a bit selective.”
One of TheAppWhisperer.com’s Columnists Richard “koci” Hernandez, Emmy award winning photographer, was the first to be invited onto RooM as an Elite member, Koci said, “I’m very excited by the approach of RooM, after all there are some exceptional shooters out there, so there is no need to dilute any offering?” He added, “Why would any client want to look through many thousands of images of questionable quality? At RooM the editing is done for them; the way it should be.”
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter is a British photography journalist, editor, curator, and the founder of *TheAppWhisperer.com*, one of the world’s leading platforms dedicated to mobile photography and art. Since its launch in 2009, TheAppWhisperer has become an international hub for artists of all levels to discover, learn, exhibit, and engage with contemporary photographic practice.Built on principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and artistic excellence, Joanne has spent almost two decades championing mobile photography as a serious artistic medium. Through interviews, critical essays, exhibitions, competitions, and education, she has helped shape and document the evolution of mobile art on a global scale.Her work has taken her internationally, lecturing on photography and mobile art at institutions and events including the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, alongside appearances in the UK and Europe. She has served as a juror for international photography and mobile art awards across Portugal, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Italy, and the UK.Joanne is also the founder of *TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com*, one of the first online galleries dedicated exclusively to collectible mobile art, connecting artists with collectors across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Before founding TheAppWhisperer, Joanne worked extensively in print journalism and photographic publishing, including roles at a paparazzi photo agency and as deputy editor of a leading photography magazine. Her freelance journalism, criticism, and commentary have been published widely in both the UK and the US, with bylines in *The Times*, *The Sunday Times*, *The Guardian*, *Popular Photography*, *NikonPro*, *DPReview*, *Which?*, *Vogue Italia*, *LensCulture*, the *BBC*, and more recently, the *Financial Times*, where her published letters on photography continue to contribute to wider conversations around the medium.Alongside her editorial and curatorial work, Joanne’s own photographic practice has been exhibited internationally across the UK, Europe, South Korea, and the United States. Her work increasingly explores themes of grief, loss, death, memory, and the body.Her current research interests centre on grief, death, and poverty, with forthcoming postgraduate study leading towards doctoral research in these areas.Joanne is currently developing new long-form writing and photographic projects and is available for commissions, editorial projects, speaking engagements, and collaborations.Contact: joannetheappwhisperer@gmail.com)
