Those of us who have ever submitted a photo or piece of art in hopes of it getting published can all relate when the possibility of it actually making its way into print arrives.  However, there are companies out there that prey on that fact.

Several years ago, let’s say around 2003, I was looking online for a photography contest to enter, merely to try my hand and see how I would make out.  Landing on Picture.com, I submitted a piece of work.  I had forgotten about entering it when I received a letter in the mail stating that my picture was selected for publication.  Naturally I was very excited to the point where the fee for purchasing the book had not shocked me.  Taking it a step further, I not only paid for a copy of the book but also paid to have a short biography included in the back of the book.  The book title was “Forever In A Moment” (ISBN: 0-7951-5195-0).  I mailed in my payment and later on received the book only to be disappointed.

What I received was a book of a few hundred pages filled with no discernable organization and crammed to the brim with photos on every page.  Rather than giving each photo breathing room, each page was cluttered with 6 small photos each.  Some photos were horrible, such as a man jumping sideways off of a diving board in a backyard pool, a child with his face covered with food, etc. 

I felt ripped off and I was ripped off.

I looked up the ISBN and could not find it on any of the major retailer sites.  That seemed a bit fishy to me.  Yet, I still submitted a few photos online, thinking that alone would not be of any harm.

As of late, I have received several more letters after submitting photos to the site.  Most recently was a photo of my daughter which is “scheduled to be printed” in “Tender Imprints” (ISBN: 0-7951-5246-9). 

Each time I have approved the photo to be printed but never sent any more money in.  Looks as if I was right not to do so.  Some research online yielded disturbing results, such as this BetterPhoto.com thread with many, many responses of those who felt they had been ripped off.  If you read the entire thread, there are two great links in there that I want to point out. 

First, there is this CBC Marketplace article about how odd the contest results were.  Aside from the fact that nobody in charge over at ILB had returned comments to the author of the article, there are staggering figure estimates for book profits, which makes me feel even worse that I had sent them some of my hard earned duckets.

Second, and probably equally disturbing, is the Baltimore Better Business Bureau site for the International Library of Photography.  At the time I wrote this blog, the BB reported the following in regards to ILB/Picture.com:

The Bureau processed a total of 422 complaints about this company in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period. Of the total of 422 complaints closed in 36 months, 159 were closed in the last year.

And their marketing machine continues to power onward. 

So is the ILB a scam?  Are they guilty of false advertising?  I would say that they are guilty of false advertising as they stretch the limits of the truth in order to make their products and services more intriguing.  The BBB has a helpful article about vanity pitches, which is certainly what Picture.com and ILB are up to.  You decide whether or not this is a scam.  But like everything else nowadays, do your homework before sending anyone money.