Shannon Fagan | Photography Copyright & Stock Photo Specialist

Shannon Fagan is a recognized photographic industry expert with respect to production standards, creative mapping and aesthetic trends, marketing, assignment procurement, pricing and sales, and licensing models for both analog and digital works in the image licensing industry. He began his career in the photography industry in the late 1990s with work experiences at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Curatorial Photographs Department / Walker Evans Archive), Magnum Photos (archive & licensing / annual meeting), and Fairchild Publications (production and fashion editorial).

He has an Honors Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Photography and Art History, with a Minor in French, from The University of Memphis (1999), where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. During his time as an undergraduate student, he held leadership roles with the Photography and Art Departments to work as a president of student organizations and member of funding committees to coordinate guest artist seminars from artists such as Bruce Davidson, Duane Michals, Emmet Gowin, Sylvia Plachy, and Keith Carter. He holds an Executive Master’s Degree in Business Administration (EMBA) from The University of Maryland (2015), alongside Mandarin intensive studies, in conjunction with their international partnership program with The University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing. As a cohort leader for the executives in attendance, he expanded the program’s marketing efforts in Mainland China in conjunction with the program Dean and staff, communicating with and seeking collaboration from the Chicago Booth School of Business at Tsinghua University and Beijing International MBA Program at Peking University, where he delivered a talk on his experiences for TEDx.

Shannon’s extensive work with commercial and fine art photography in New York City from 2000-2010 provided him with direct collaboration with photographers whose work overlapped between these two genres. These included conceptualists Hugh Kretschmer, Hans Neleman, and Ellen Carey; documentarians Jonathan Torgovnik, Carolina Salguero, and Helen Marcus, and portraitists Michael O’Neill, Sandi Fellman, and Henry Leutwyler. He joined the Advertising Photographers of America New York Chapter (APA/NY) as their youngest board member in the early 2000s to assist with programming geared to emerging photographers. At the same time, his role in volunteering and mentoring saw exchanges with the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) with whom he single-handedly developed a stock photography committee for the protection of photographers’ interests during sweeping licensing changes after the 2008 economic recession. The Stock Artists Alliance (SAA) elected Shannon as their culminating President in 2009 to merge the organization with the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) in Atlanta.

Shannon has worked as both a producer and photographer. First, in the capacity of rapidly evolving competitive assignment projects for organizations such as McCann Erickson, Bozell Lowe Advertising, and the New York Times, for end-use clientele such Verizon, General Electric, BMW, and The United Way. Second, on speculation for enterprising projects of creative stock imagery created for Getty Images / iStockphoto, Image Source, Blend Images, Shutterstock, Alamy, and others. He has won merit-based awards for these projects, including the Communication Arts Photography and Advertising Annuals, Cannes finalist, a NY Addy, PDN’s 30: Emerging Photographers to Watch, and inclusion in American Photography’s annuals. His work has allowed for significant travel throughout North America, with specializations for the tri-state area of New York, Vancouver / British Columbia, Hawaii, and extensively in Mainland China and Hong Kong SAR.

He is experienced in the management of licensing rights in matters relating to unauthorized use and infringement. He has participated with legal firms Higbee & Associates and KodakOne/VAAAM, ImageProtect, ImageRights, and Getty Images’ legal counsel with cases concerning the value of individual images. He has privately consulted Getty Images on major contract changes and co-developed best practices for presentations given at The Photo Plus Expo series in New York, ASMP’s Strictly Business initiatives, and the American Photography Archives Group (APAG). He has been published in photography industry reports, including contributions to The Stock Artists Alliance, Selling Stock, Shutterstock blog, Dreamstime blog, and Photo District News regarding licensing trends and adaptations to business models.

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Specialties

Photography Copyright Valuation, Expert Witness, Archive Support, Stock Photography Consultation & Production, Licensing Consultation, Photography Generative AI Strategy, Education Coaching & Mentoring, Mainland China Small-Medium Enterprise, MBA

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