FAQs

1. What is the thinking behind Factify? »
   

   Factify allows anyone to submit their photos, join a collective of photojournalists, share and makea living from their work. We encourage citizen photojournalism: people using any photographic means possible to capture the world around them and share it with everyone.

2. What are you looking for? »
   

   Thousands stood and photographed the Berlin Wall toppling, and we want those people's images. A man covered in blood and dust, holding a copy of the Wall Street Journal, shocked after the World Trade centers were hit, captured on a mobile phone - we want that image. A woman uses a well to clean her clothes in Georgia, her son takes a photo of it on a toy camera he was bought for his birthday, we would like to see that too. Any of these could be great images. Nothing links them in theme, style, content, technical ability or equipment. We don't really like the phrase 'socially or historically important', but we do feel all of our images are just that.

3. How do I become a member? »
   

   The membership process is very simple, but not guaranteed. You can submit up to 10 photos to begin with, these will be voted on by the current members of the collective. Only in this way can we ensure quality or relevance, without becoming another mass photo sharing website. Once 5 of your photos have been accepted into the archive, you will instantly become a member and have voting rights. You can then submit as many photos as you like. Click here to get started.

4. How do I know if my work will be accepted? »
   

   The simplest way to find out is to submit your work and have it judged by the collective. All rejected work is given a reason by the member judging it. For the best possible understanding of what kind of work is likely to be accepted, just browse the current collection.

5. Can I make money? »
   

   Of course we want our photographers to make a living from their work. To do this we adopt a modern business model of making sure the work finds a large audience first, and then worrying about making money from it. A high school kid will be able to download images for free, we don't expect them to pay for socially important images. A newspaper will pay a lot more as they make money from the images contained inside. A business will pay the most as their sole reason is to make money. For every £3 we make, £1 goes to the photographer, £1 goes to a charity of the photographer or customer's choosing and £1 goes back into maintaining the collection.

6. Where does Factify aim to go? »
   

   Factify aims to be the first place editors, documentary makers, researchers and students visit for socially important imagery.

7. Any more questions? »
   

   If there is anything you don't understand about factify, drop us an email at hello@facitfy.com.