In the digital era, we have thousands of pics in our smartphones, but hardly any framed photo or photo album in our houses. However, many people would love to print their photos — especially photographers who surely want to bring in revenue from their work.
Printing photos presents its own set of challenges. From a consumer’s standpoint, people have to select the photos they want to print very carefully despite being used to having endless storage space in the cloud. Also, getting the printing done requires taking the digital images to a store, and coming back to pick up the final product.
From a photographer’s standpoint, many of them don’t really want to print their work before having secured a buyer. Printing without selling could be the main road to bankruptcy for photographers, who often struggle to make ends meet at the beginning of their career.
"We tried to create a really easy, seamless way for [photographers] both to make money after their work, as well as to donate to causes they’re passionate about."
To solve both sets of challenges, a new startup born out of Boston College hopes to be the middleman between photographers and customers. Darkroom.Tech, which was among the teams who completed this year’s Soaring Startup Circle Venture Partners (SSC VP) program, is an online marketplace where photographers can upload and showcase their work through galleries, set the price for each printed piece, and get in touch with potential customers.
When customers browse galleries, they choose which photos they want and pay for the printing. The order, which includes a flat shipping fee, is then delivered to printing distributors, who handle the shipping. As a result, customers receive the photos they’ve chosen on their doorstep and photographers make safe money, which they may decide to donate to local charities.
“We tried to create a really easy, seamless way for [photographers] both to make money after their work, as well as to donate to causes they’re passionate about,” co-founder and CEO Theo Chapman, a recent graduate of the Carroll School of Management at Boston College, said in an interview.
The company makes money by taking 5 percent of each transaction and said it’s already profitable. Launched in August, Darkroom.Tech said it has a network of around 315 photographers, who retain the copyright on any photo they share on the online platform.
In a follow-up email, Chapman wrote that recently, the company had its first seller launch a 7-day gallery that ended up surpassing the $1,000 mark in sales. All of the profits were donated to Hale House, a residential care facility for seniors in Back Bay.
“We're super excited about this milestone for the company, our photographers, and the wonderful charities that our community is able to benefit,” Chapman wrote.
