NEW YORK, July 13, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Shutterstock, the leading global provider of stock images and footage by subscription, is celebrating its seventh birthday, marking its impressive growth since the company was founded in 2003.

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Seven years ago, buying a stock photo was a vastly different experience. Traditional stock agencies dominated the industry, and the cost of a stock image was out of reach for many customers. Shutterstock developed a unique business model which combined crowdsourcing images from talented contributors worldwide with affordable, user-friendly subscriptions.

Today, Shutterstock's library has over 12 million stock images and more than 200,000 stock footage clips. The site is available in 10 languages to serve a worldwide community of image buyers, and a fast, accurate search engine ensures customers can quickly find the images they need.

Shutterstock achieved its success through its commitment to providing high quality content at affordable prices and a dedication to developing innovative products and services. A timeline below provides a picture of Shutterstock's growth since 2003:

-- July 2003: Shutterstock is founded by Jon Oringer, president and CEO, who uploads 30,000 stock photos to the site. -- February 1, 2006: Shutterstock becomes the world's largest subscription-based stock image agency, with more than half a million images. -- February 9, 2006: Shutterstock is the first among its competitors to expand into stock footage. -- June 5, 2007: Shutterstock introduces Shutterstock on the Red Carpet, expanding its collection of celebrity and editorial photos. -- August 5, 2008: Shutterstock launches On Demand subscription plans to further meet the needs of image buyers. -- September 23, 2009: Shutterstock acquires Bigstock. -- February 16, 2010: Shutterstock's collection surpasses 10 million images.

As Shutterstock celebrates seven years of growth and achievement, everyone at the company would like to thank our international community of contributors and buyers for helping us become a global leader in the stock image industry, said Jon Oringer, founder and CEO of Shutterstock. We look forward to growing along with all of you for many years to come.

About Shutterstock(R)

Founded in 2003, Shutterstock is an innovative global e-commerce company and a leading provider of stock photos, illustrations, and footage. Shutterstock provides royalty-free content to creative professionals worldwide, specialising in subscription products that are simple and user-friendly. For more information, visit http://www.Shutterstock.com.

SOURCE: Shutterstock

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