India is facing the worst surge in Covid-19 cases for the last few weeks. The unexpected rise in the number of infections made India the centre of attention for media across the globe. Unfortunately, the focus of many media houses is not on the coverage of how India is managing the pandemic’s second wave but minting money on the pretext of the misery.
The photographs of the customary Hindu funeral pyre have become a valuable commodity for photo agencies. If someone scrolls the British-American media company Getty Images and look for India Pyre or Delhi Pyre with a 30-day window, it is easy to find hundreds of photographs showcasing the Indian funeral pyres lit ablaze.
The photographs depicting India’s misery are the hotcakes selling under the Editorial section for Rs.23,000 per piece on the stock image site, which is the standard price for a large version of editorial photographs on Getty Images. A smaller version of the same images can be downloaded for a lesser price.
When we looked at the list of the names associated with the images on Getty Images, we found out that among around 820 photographs of pyres, Hindustan Times is the most significant contributor of such pictures on the website, followed by Agence France Presse, Bloomberg, Nur Photo and several others agencies and independent contributors. Here is a list of contributors with a sample screenshot of their uploads on the stock image website.
Hindustan Times: The largest contributor of pyre photographs from Delhi on Getty Images, news agency Hindustan Times has uploaded 330 images in the last 30 days. The photographs are taken by several photographers associated with the media house, including Amal KS, Raj K Raj, Sakib Ali, Mohd Zakir and others.
Nur Photo: The Italian Photo Agency uploaded 77 such photographs on Getty Images under the Editorial section in the last 30 days.
Agence France Presse: There are a number of photographers associated with AFP in India. Among those who contributed to the pyre images are Sajjad Hussain, Prakash Singh, Money Sharma, Tauseef Mustafa, Jewel Samad, Punit Paranjpe and Sanjay Kanojia. AFP uploaded 175 photographs collectively clicked by these photographers.
Anindito Mukherjee: Anindito Mukherjee is an independent photojournalist from India. He is a regular contributor for Bloomberg. There are 109 photographs of pyres in his name on Getty Images that were uploaded in the last 30 days.
SOPA Images: The Hong Kong-based photo agency contributed 139 images on the topic in the last 30 days.
Bloomberg: Bloomberg is a US-based agency, and it has uploaded 54 such images on Getty.
Other contributors are Pacific Press, Turkey-based photo agency Anadolu Agency and Independent contributor Abhishek Chinnappa.
Note: All images in the report are screenshots taken from the Getty website, and no copyright violation is intended as the report is on the stock image platform
