NEW YORK, May 7 /PRNewswire/ --

- Former iStockPhoto Co-Founder Tapped to Head Up Rival Microstock Agency's Operations in US

Today, Fotolia (http://www.fotolia.com), one of the world's leading sources for high quality microstock imagery and video, announced the expansion of its executive team with the hire of Patrick Lor, co-founder of rival firm iStockPhoto, as the company's new President for North America. The hire will bring Lor out of retirement, after his company sold to Getty Images in 2006.

Fotolia has continued to be an innovative pioneer in the microstock space. They continue to democratize the microstock industry, keeping stock imagery affordable for small business owners, non-profit organizations, and other groups that would otherwise not be able to afford the costs of licensing imagery associated with other companies, says Lor, of his decision to join the team. They also continue to make it possible for talented photographers to connect with an audience of potential buyers, without the hurdles and costs of traditional stock firms. It's a pleasure to join such a talented global team, and I look forward to working with them on bringing the company even more success as we continue to expand and enter new ventures.

Lor will be overseeing North American operations for Fotolia, which currently has a presence in 10 countries worldwide. He will be working with co-founder and CEO Oleg Tscheltzoff on continued expansion strategies for the company, which has nearly 4 million monthly unique visitors (comScore), more than five million images available for license and more than 1 million members worldwide.

Patrick had tremendous success with his work at iStockPhoto, and I've always admired his talent and what he was able to achieve, explains Fotolia co-founder and CEO Oleg Tscheltzoff. Fotolia has seen a tremendous amount of growth over the past years, and we've continued to expand both our physical presence globally and our service offerings. We have a number of exciting projects in the pipeline and are thrilled to have Patrick on board to help us bring Fotolia to the next level of success.

The hire announcement comes on the heels of Fotolia's expansion into the microstock video market, which was announced on April 28.

Since its launch in November, 2005, Fotolia has grown to offer one of the world's largest libraries of legal, micro-priced images on the Web, offering professional and amateur photographers the ability to connect with more than 500,000 media buyers worldwide -- from small businesses and design firms to some of the world's most recognizable brands. With the launch of its stock video offering, Fotolia continues to expand its reach into new markets, satisfying the needs of videographers and video buyers worldwide by providing high-quality, low-cost alternatives to traditional stock video offerings.

About Fotolia

Fotolia.com is one of the world's leading providers of affordable stock imagery, with a database of over five million images and over one million international members. With web sites in 10 languages, Fotolia, LLC is based in New York and has offices in 11 countries. In 2007, Fotolia became the first independent microstock agency to enter the traditional stock marketplace with the launch of Fotolia Infinite Collections.

For more information on Fotolia United Kingdom, please visit www.fotolia.co.uk.

Press Contact: Daniela Reissmann Director of Operations Fotolia United Kingdom P: +44-(0)20-881-67284 Daniela@fotolia.com www.fotolia.co.uk

Daniela Reissmann, Director of Operations, Fotolia United Kingdom, +44-20-881-67284, Daniela@fotolia.com