© Ryan Pyle/drr.net

As the concept of carbon offset and carbon neutrality gains worldwide momentum, Ryan Pyle takes a peek at one Chinese town's vision of an ecofriendly future.

The first phase of Dong Tan, China's first carbon neutral eco-city, is set to be completed by 2010, and by 2040 its will be home to over half a million people. Dong Tan, at the moment, is a sleeping fishing and farming community on Chong Ming Island about forty kilometers from Shanghai. Dong Tan has been developed for two purposes, the first is to reduce the population pressure on Shanghai, and the second is to create an environmentally friendly city for the rest of the world to follow.

© drr.net

Like most photo buyers, you've probably developed a list of favorite photographers and photo agencies who you regularly ask to scour their respective stock photo archives to find images that meet your requirements.

What if you had a tool that is as simple to use as email, but also extends your reach putting you in contact with a global network of photographers and agencies, who after submitting images for your consideration, would aggregate their responses into one simple interface for you to review?

Moreover, what if when you found the images that you liked rather than having to contact multiple sources to license the images, you could put all of your images in one cart and purchase them in one download?

Today we are very happy to introduce Digital Railroad Research Network™.

Research Network gives buyers the opportunity to communicate directly with the photographers and agencies who know their digital and analogue archives the best.

What buyers are already saying:

“Digital Railroad's Marketplace performed beautifully from the first day I used it. The Research Network enhancement will be only short of miraculous, hooking me up with superb photographers’ personal image libraries worldwide when I need to find that one perfect image for tough book cover concepts.”
Deborah Grahame, Editor, Marshall Cavendish/Benchmark

“Research Network is very exciting and innovative; our team will definitely be able to use this feature. As you know, it's always tough to find the perfect image, especially for our wide range in client base. It's an excellent idea for us to work directly with the individual photographers – an awesome enhancement which will be greatly beneficial to our business.”
Sarah Clay, Account Manager, Avenue A | Razorfish

“Digital Railroad’s Research Network sounds like a great new service. I’m looking forward to using it for those hard-to-find images!”
Lori Barbely, Photo Editor, ISLANDS Magazine

“Research Network appears to be the “missing link” if you will! How fabulous to contact photographers directly for their cache of existing work. Excellent solution!”
Amy Blasen Rivera, Art Producing Manger, DDB Los Angeles

“Finally, a way to reach a diverse group of independent photographers and small agencies with a single research request!
Jen Pouech Art, Coordinator, Alfred A. Knopf/ Random House

=======================

How to use Research Network:

1) Go to research.digitalrailroad.net and click on "Request Stock Images"

2) Follow the on-screen instructions to submit your research request including your deadline. Requests that include the greatest amount of detail and information will result in member submissions containing the highest number of relevant images for you to choose from.

3) Research Network will notify you as images are uploaded to your request. Research Network aggregates images from multiple sources into one easy to use interface.

4) Review and select images from multiple sources and have the convenience and efficiency to purchase images under one license, one price quote, one invoice.

We look forward to seeing you enter your photo research requests and tapping into the power of our global community of photographers and agencies TODAY.

As always if you have questions let us know and email us at support@digitalrailroad.net

image © Andre Jenny/Mira/drr.net

vineyard image © Brad Perks/drr.net

Images selected from Marketplace by Andre Jenny/Mira and Brad Perks are included in a feature on hot air ballooning in the Sept '07 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

© John Warburton-Lee/Danita Delimont Agency/drr.net

© Chad Ehlers/Stock Connection/drr.net

Picture yourself in a completely isolated environment, yet simultaneously connected to your outside world, all courtesy of your wireless tool. Being isolated AND connected is a concept that our culture finds fascinating and that DRR photographers have successfully explored, including John Warburton Lee and Chad Ehlers.

Travel photographer, John Warburton Lee’s of a desert nomad on a cell phone succinctly captures the phenomenon of being physically isolated AND connected. Conceptually speaking, this device has helped a transitory man remain in touch with the outside world. Alone? Yes. Globally connected? Yes. Certainly, this nomad is not stranded in the desert --or upon a desert island!

Commercial photographer Chad Ehlers’ images of executives using wireless communication devices in remote locales –such as desert islands-- and the vast open wilderness--seem to convey a similar message: far-off places no longer mean solitude and isolation and that wirelessness enables all of us to become 21st century global nomads (if we wish).

Interestingly enough, Ehlers’ images may also be used to assert the argument that social scientists raise --claims that the more time human beings spend online, the less they physically interact with their immediate communities. In essence, his images may also be used to assert the time spent with wireless devices, is, in itself akin to venturing to the aforementioned desert island.

Intro to a Three Part Series:

Think back a few years. Just when did the terms “landline”, “texting” and “crackberry” nudge their way into your lexicon? As wireless communication devices—laptops, cell phones, PDA’s – continue to evolve at amazing speed we quickly incorporate them into our daily routines, --all the while assessing the impact on how we communicate, work and live.

Whether you deem your wireless communication devices useful tools or distracting toys (or both) they are clearly here to stay. As we consider the influence the tools/toys have on us, DRR photographers continually aim their lenses at people “going wireless” around the world and turn up valuable images-- images that are certain to feed ongoing conversations about our relationship with these devices. Ultimately, whether you choose to endorse, comment on or criticize the wireless phenomenon, DRR photographers have crafted the visual component of your argument.

© Olive/drr.net

© i love images/drr.net

While Ehlers and Warburton-Lee depict wireless communication in remote corners of the earth, photographers capture images of individuals relaxing, unwinding, even sleeping with their wireless devices, exploring the concept of zoning out and tuning in to our world at same time. Even as we retreat to personal spaces in our minds, we can still strive to keep our fingers on the pulse of the world. The great “ESC”?

© Torin Boyd/drr.net

© Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert/drr.net

If the novelty of using your thumbs to type “CU L8R” or taking snapshots with your phone is wearing thin, stay tuned for the next developments in wireless communication that may make your phone more convenient—perhaps more indispensable. Quite possibly, you we’ll leave our wallets at home as your phones become your camera, calendar, and your bank. It’s in the works! Take a sneak peak at the future by glimpsing some IC Card enabled phones.

© Tom Tracy/Stock Connection/drr.net

CEBDS, Brazilian Council of Sustainability Development, has published this image from Tom Stack/Stock Connection. For more information about Sustainable Brazil, visit http://www.cebds.org.br

©Michele Westmorland/drr.net

Underwater photography is a specialty that few photographers master. Shooting underwater not only requires special equipment and expert skills as a scuba diver, but the willingness to travel to exotic locations.

Michele Westmorland and Dan Burton are two Digitalrailroad.net archive owners whose amazing underwater photos are available in Marketplace.

Based in the UK, Burton specializes in aerial and underwater photography. His projects have included photographing the recovery of silver and gold artifacts from various shipwrecks, including the HMHS Britannic, sister ship to the Titanic, resting on the floor of the Aegean Sea.

Burton’s clients include National Geographic Magazine, Scientific American, WIRED, Geographical Magazine and Men’s Health.

Westmorland is an adventure/underwater photographer, She is a founding member of the prestigious International League of Conservation Photographers and a Fellow National of The Explorers Club.

Her clients include Outside, National Geographic Traveler, National Geographic Adventure and Sport Diver. She is traveling to Tahiti and Papua New Guinea this fall to capture more fabulous imagery. When she isn’t traveling to a remote destination, Westmorland considers the Seattle area her home.

To see more of Michele and Dan's work along with other Digitalrailroad.net members' underwater images, view this Lightbox.

©Dan Burton/drr.net

©Jules Annan/POTP/drr.net

POTP photographer Jules Annan's photo on the July 24, 2007 cover of The Daily Telegraph

The July 2007 floods in central and western England put the UK-based agency, Pictures on the Page, to the test. The Digitalrailroad.net archive member, founded by editor, photographer and partner Paul Stewart, his wife Vivien, also a photographer and partner at the agency and son Graham, was set to re-launch in September. The severe flooding in the country, including near the home of one of their photographers, Jules Annan, prompted the agency to start a couple of months early.

“We hadn't finished putting our distribution system in place when this all kicked off. Luckily, we had signed up for our Digitalrailroad.net archive and were able to use the syndication feature of the site to get the images out to national newspapers and international agents,” says Graham, who serves as deputy editor for the agency.

Pictures on the Page is an agency that specializes in editorial photography, including news, sports and celebrities, as well as studio, corporate and stock photography. Their motto is “if the picture goes on the page (paper or web), we can provide it.”

“Marketplace allows us to put our pictures in front of a large amount of clients with a few clicks from our regular website,” says Graham. “This puts us in control of marketing our material not just in the UK but to the world.”

To view a lightbox of POTP's photographs in Marketplace, click here.

©Keith Barraclough/drr.net

Photographer Keith Barraclough’s Digitalrailroad.net archive is devoted to the environment. The Washington DC-based photographer uses the site to showcase his environmental stock images, concentrating in four areas: energy, transportation, and rural and urban issues. Barraclough’s work on the topic focuses on how humans interact with the environment.

“Digital Railroad is the perfect avenue to showcase my images. I can shoot, process and upload the images on a daily basis, getting them in my archive and into Marketplace instantaneously, maximizing the potential for sales,” says Barraclough. “Clients love the fact that they see new images each time they visit Digital Railroad.”

A selection of his environmental images, from pollution and taffic to alternative energy sources and agriculture, are available in Marketplace.

©Keith Barraclough/drr.net
Empty bottles and other trash litter an abandoned campfire site along the Potomac River.

Franck Perrier, founder of Eyeka, an online publisher and syndicator of video and photos, recently interviewed Evan Nisselson, CEO and Founder of Digital Railroad and published this video update on his blog. Evan shares his views on the state of the photo industry and how DigitalRailroad is empowering photographers and photo buyers through the continued expansion of DRR's Member Archives, Marketplace and newly launched Research Network.

© Franck Perrier

Photo: Amakusa, Kumamoto, Japan Sea - Credit: © JTB/drr.net

Digitalrailroad.net Marketplace member Japan Travel Bureau had two images used in a story on Amakusa, Japan travel featured in the Sept 22, 2007 issue of LeMonde, France's leading newspaper. Click here to see more from this marvelous collection.

Merveilleux!

©Ana Elisa Fuentes/drr.net
Detail of Raps seeds, when pressed, it's oil becomes the alternative fuel known as SVO (straight vegetable oil) which can be processed into biodiesel.

The climate crisis has forced us to look at alternative sources of fuel to help reduce global warming. Digitalrailroad.net’s Marketplaces includes images by Ana Elisa Fuentes, who considers herself a photographer “with green sustainability and humanitarian motives.”

From her home base in Bavaria, Germany, she has been documenting a story called “Biodiesel - From the Fields to the Tank,” the step by step process of Raps (rapeseed) into SVO (straight vegetable oil) or biodiesel that can be used as fuel. Her biodiesel project was recently published online by the Global Reporting Initiative and is featured on her Digitalrailroad.net archive homepage.

©Ana Elisa Fuentes/drr.net