Why websites for photographers are disappointing (and the solution for it)

As a passionate photographer, I am always online searching for ways to promote my work and gain exposure. I believe the internet is the best place to find clients, as it gives me access to people from all over the world from the comfort of my studio.

Unfortunately, my pursuit for a reputable website where I can share my photos has been most frustrating — and maybe yours too.

This is why I decided to share my latest findings with you, including a possible solution for this challenge.

Many websites lack curation

The main issue I came across while checking websites for photographers was the lack of curation. Anyone can have a photo published. You can take a shot of your toe (and I don’t mean artistically), and it will be online straight away.

On top of it, it’s easy to create fake profiles and vote for your own photos. As a consequence, some images have a crazy number of votes and comments.

This scenario leaves you with no credibility or authority. Customers searching for a photographer can’t tell the quality of your work.

Lack of clarity is a real problem

On the other hand, some websites do have curation. To make into their main gallery, your work must be approved by a peer group of photographers. Therefore, high quality is essential. Great!

Still, their curating process isn’t clear. In fact, no one seems to know how it works. If you check their forums or google their brand names along with “curating process”, you find a large number of complaints specifically about it.

And when you have a photo rejected (which is fine), you don’t know why or what you should do to improve it.

What about Instagram?

I have also considered Instagram. Many photographers I know use it to promote their work.

But, in my opinion, Instagram has lost its uniqueness. It’s no longer a photo-sharing platform.

Nowadays, you can share anything on Instagram, making of it just another social media platform (no surprise it’s currently owned by Facebook). My photos would be competing with cat memes and duck faces.

The solution I’ve found

After months of disappointment, I shared my thoughts with another photographer going through the same quest. And we decided to use our software engineering skills to build our own website.

The birth of 100 ASA was tough, but we now can say there is a truly curated photography website in the market. You will know this is true just by looking at the quality of the images on our home page.

We’ve solved our competitors’ core issue: our curation process is crystal-clear and reputation-based. We also made it very hard to create fake profiles.

Photographers with a good reputation can unlock extra features. And the more reputation you get, the higher your ranking will be. You can even become a Moderator.

But we aren’t stopping here. We are already working on a pop-up photography gallery, which will give you exposure offline. And we will be adding new features — you can keep yourself up-to-date by signing up to our newsletter.

What about you?

How has been your search for websites to promote your photography work? Maybe you have found something good? Or do you have a different view of 100ASA? Please leave your thoughts in the comments or any tips you are willing to share.