Draft:FirstVIEW

firstVIEW is an international online fashion photo agency and fashion website. Based in New York, firstVIEW is the world’s largest fashion runway photo database and photo and video archive, specializing in runway photography and licensing of fashion show images.

firstVIEW covers fashion shows and events from around the world; Auckland, New Zealand to Sao Paulo, Brazil to Milan, Italy, Paris, France and it’s home city of New York. (https://firstview.com/, look online article) firstVIEW.com contains extensive galleries of both mens and womenswear fashion-show photos in addition to backstage photojournalism, accessories and candid street style images. (https://firstview.com/)

HISTORY

firstVIEW was founded in August 1995, when top runway fashion photographers (http://my.telegraph.co.uk/insidethetents/insidethetents/4909811/Top_Runway_Photographers_2008/), Don Ashby and Marcio Madeira joined forces with the goal of creating a comprehensive site specializing in the viewing and sale of fashion show photography. Madeira, who is based in France, had been shooting the collections since 1978; Ashby, who lives in New York, began in 1982. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2005/09/08/AR2005090801889.html ) firstVIEW was a pioneer in putting runway images online and making them available for mass consumption.(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2005/09/08/AR2005090801889.html ) It would act as the precursor on which Conde Nast would model it’s own Style.com, which launched in 2000, and later Vogue.com which firstVIEW provided all the fashion show photographs.

In 2000 firstVIEW merged with MCV Photo, taking on a third partner Maria Valentino another well known runway photographer.

firstVIEW made news when the pioneering site received the negative attention of France’s Chambre Syndicale de la Mode over photo rights. (Source- WWD) On March 13th, 2003 Don Ashby, Olivier Claisse and Marcio Maderia were arrested and jailed in France for copyright violation. Under French law of the time the designer, not photographers had ownership pictures of their collections. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2005/09/08/AR2005090801889.html ) On June 17th, 2005 after two year court battle firstVIEW photographers were found not guilty in Paris Criminal Court. The Court’s decision is important in that it gives photographers in Paris for the first time equal rights with designers over the use of photographs taken at the shows. (Source- look online). This decision was later overturned on appeal by the French courts and eventually also by the European Courts.

In 2006 firstVIEW celebrated its 10th anniversary with an exhibit of about 60 images at the Staley-Wise Gallery in Soho New York. (http://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/people-view-images-at-the-firstview-exhibit-opening-at-the-news-photo/55319587?Language=en-GB)

In 2009 firstVIEW launched a new branch firstVIEWTV.com (https://firstview.com/), a website, video agency and production company focusing on the fashion show videos and related content. This was later merged with firstVIEW.com.

In 2014 Don Ashby purchased Marcio Madeira’s shares in the company to become the majority shareholder in the parent company Viewfinder Inc.

firstVIEW has licensed photos to many designers such as: Louis Vuitton, Prada, Miu Miu, Ralph Lauren and Tom Ford, and publications such as Style.com, Vogue.com, most of the International editions of Vogue, Elle and Harpers Bazaar, and The NY Times.

Sources :

http://www.lookonline.com/masters_firstview.html ( Don Asby)

http://my.telegraph.co.uk/insidethetents/insidethetents/4909811/Top_Runway_Photographers_2008/   (Top runway photographer)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2005/09/08/AR2005090801889.html

http://blogger.lookonline.com/2005_07_01_archive.html

http://forums.thefashionspot.com/f71/firstview-found-not-guilty-30861.html

http://xerxes.library.wisconsin.edu/wisc/databases/database/UWI12323

http://www.popsugar.com/fashion/Fab-Site-firstVIEWcom-215276

http://dascollection.com/blog/?tag=firstview-fashion

http://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/people-view-images-at-the-firstview-exhibit-opening-at-the-news-photo/55319587?Language=en-GB ( Gallery opening)

https://books.google.ca/books?id=Zet72wOyPnIC&pg=PA243&lpg=PA243&dq=%22firstview%22+fashion&source=bl&ots=U4r7sPEssv&sig=vwBzvZcK1oWfekl1q2GWG30Uk3U&hl=en&sa=X&ei=mgc4VYueBc6xsAT77YHACw&ved=0CCUQ6AEwATge#v=onepage&q=firstview&f=false

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/10/prweb294782.htm