Yuri Arcurs – Wikipedia

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Yuri Arcurs, born Jacob Yuri Wackerhausen on July 27, 1979 is a Danish stock photographer[1] and owner of PeopleImages.com.[2] In 2007 he was the top ranked selling contributor at Shutterstock, Fotolia, Crestock and BigStockPhoto[3] In 2008 Arcurs sold 650,000 images per year through 16 different microstock agencies[4]

A 2010 vote by readers of PDN Magazine ranked Arcurs among the “30 Most Influential Photographers” of the decade.[5] In 2011 he was considered to be the best selling microstock photographer in the world, selling more than 2 million images in a year[6] and in 2012 it was reported that he sells 450 images per hour.[7]

Arcurs is the owner of peopleimages.com. He is working mostly in the realm of online industry of stock imagery.

Arcurs started selling his images online as a hobby in 2005 whilst studying Psychology at Aarhus University.[8] His images were sold through online agencies like Shutterstock.
Arcurs is most well known for selling microstock images.
Arcurs has completed minor formal education in photography [9] but is well regarded for his highly technical approach.[9] He has an agreement with both Hasselblad and Profoto[citation needed]. Arcurs has his own product line of photography equipment of which the Yuri Arcurs SteadyPod is the most popular item and is currently still for sale.[10]

Arcurs attends larger microstock and macrostock related events and has, among other activities, given the opening lecture at Cepic in 2010[11] and taken part in a panel discussion hosted by B&H Photo.[12]

Personal life[edit]

Arcurs attended Aarhus Katedralskole and matriculated as a mathematical major. In 2002 he served for 6 months in Kosovo.[13] He used to be a freelance student journalist after which he started a graphic design firm. He also obtained a bachelor of psychology, a bachelor of philosophy and graduated from the Danish School of Photography.[3]
Arcurs is currently (2015) living in Cape Town, South Africa with his Norwegian fiancée Cecilie Skjold Johansen who maintains a job as a corporate psychologist. His father, Steen Wackerhausen, is a professor of philosophy at Aarhus University and holds a dual doctoral degree in both psychology and philosophy.[14] Yuri’s mother, Birgitte Krogh Wackerhausen, is a teacher with several courses completed in the field of Psychology.[15]

Business structure[edit]

Yuri Arcurs Photography supplies images to the stock industry and allows licensing to buyers. The resulting royalties make up a bulk of earnings. As of 2012 the company employed more than 100 people;[16] around 15 of whom are in-house photographers[citation needed]. The majority of staff are engaged in post-production such as retouching and keywording.[17]

Arcurs has also been involved with an outsourcing company in India [18] there has however been no recent mention of ongoing involvement. A newly formed subsidiary in Cape Town, South Africa Yuri Arcurs Productions manage these aspects of the post-production. In 2009 and the company had a royalty income of about 3 million USD per year and in 2012 it was said to be way higher with a goal of 8 figures in sight.[16]

On May 3, 2012, Yuri launched PeopleImages to serve as a direct sales platform for his image collection.

The launch was covered by Danish television with Yuri’s top selling model Emma W. H. as a featured guest due to her status as the world’s best selling female model.[19]

Yuri Arcurs Productions has a charity program to recruit and train new retouchers who come from poor circumstances and are unable to afford computers and software. This program, called “the ambition program”, received a grant of R600 000 from the Cape Town film commission.[17]

References[edit]