MILESTONE OF A LONG, COLORFUL PICTURE JOURNEY: 20 YEARS WESTEND61

These days mark the 20th anniversary of when we set out to carve out a place for ourselves in the stock photography industry. And today, when we look back on the two decades of our existence, we believe we can justifiably say: We have succeeded!

Right at the beginning there was what drives us until today: the passion for good pictures! Our vision: to offer high-quality images at fair prices on the Internet. When the founders Gerald Staufer and Stephan Bock started as a two-man company in a small office in Munich’s Westendstraße 61, digital photography was still in its infancy. There were hardly any good digital cameras, and those only at astronomical prices. The slides of the first five photographers still had to be scanned and digitized in order to sell them over the Internet.

In the meantime, we have our office in Pestalozzistrasse in Munich’s Glockenbach district, but our name still refers to our beginnings in Westendstrasse. “Westend61″ sounded chic and international. The Westend is a hip and urban neighborhood almost everywhere in the world – and we ultimately still have the urban images that are on trend today,” says CEO Gerald Staufer.

NO COMPROMISE ON PREMIUM IMAGE QUALITY

When you can hold your own in a fiercely competitive market and a constantly changing environment like the stock photo industry for 20 years, it begs the question of the recipe for success. “We’ve been able to hold our own and remain competitive even in difficult times because we’ve always kept up with the times,” says Gerald Staufer. And there is something else that is important: “We have always consistently focused on premium images, on good and authentic lifestyle images that stand out from the crowd,” adds CEO Stephan Bock, who forms the dual leadership of Westend61 with Gerald Staufer.

Westend61’s success is primarily guaranteed by the men and women behind the camera, the approximately 1000 photographers who create content for Westend61 all over the world. Anyone who wants to work here and sell their billers must be a master of their craft and have an eye for that certain something extra in their image concepts. “We don’t just want good photos, good models and the right locations, but also natural-looking images,” says Gerald Staufer.

Founders Stephan Bock and Gerald Staufer are happy about the anniversary.

CREATIVE DEPARTMENT AS THE “HEART” OF THE AGENCY

However, the agency does not want to leave the further development of its creative potential to chance, but rather to specifically control where the image journey goes. For this reason, Westend61 maintains its own creative department with Martine Prässl. She researches and observes how trends in photography are changing and what is particularly in demand at the moment.

The information gained in the Creative Department is passed on to the photographers, with whom there is a constant exchange. Shooting plans are drawn up together, suggestions are made for the implementation of projects, and questions are answered. It is certainly this personal interaction with the photographer community that sets Westend61 apart from other agencies. This constant exchange of ideas not only makes the collaboration more pleasant for both sides, but also more inspiring!

Several times a year, the creative department makes Inspires available for download for both photographers and clients. A real added value that Westend61 offers there in both internal and external communication, and Gerald Staufer is sure: “Our Creative Department is something special, few other agencies afford something like that.”

Stock Image of Happy woman enjoying under falling confetti

Stock Image of Young woman blowing confetti from hands

Stock Image of Happy parents and daughter having fun with confetti on floor

GOAL IS AND REMAINS FIRST-CLASS CONTENT

“Twenty years after our founding, our mission is still the same: We want to provide our customers with first-class content. To this day, we succeed with a great deal of enthusiasm, persuasiveness and creativity – and without any investor at all. And that’s why we are pleased that Westend61 enjoys a reputation among image buyers, creatives and photographers as a premium image agency where you can find very special images – emotional and genuine. This is the success of our entire experienced creative team, of which we are justifiably proud,” say Gerald Staufer and Stephan Bock.

And what’s next? Gerald Staufer believes Westend61 is well equipped for the future: “We will continue to focus on premium images, and if we always keep our finger on the pulse as we have in the past, we will continue to be successful,” he is certain. Even the increased emergence of AI-generated images doesn’t worry him, because he doesn’t see them as serious competition: “We’ll continue to score points in the future with authentic images featuring real people.”

BIRTHDAY DISCOUNT FOR IMAGE PURCHASES

With this in mind: Here’s to the next 20 years! By the way: We want to celebrate our birthday properly, not only with our many colleagues, but also with you, our loyal customers: You can use the code “20YearsWestend61” to get a 20 percent discount on all your image purchases with us until November 30, 2023.