INDEX ON THE MOVE
. With the acquisition of Garry Adams' agency, Stock Imagery (Denver), Bahar Gidwani of Index Stock in New York has shown he is serious about becoming a major leaguer in the field of digital stock photography. Gidwani now will call his service, Index Stock Imagery. In addition to their current acquisitions, thanks to an $18 million investment in March, ISI plans to acquire other mid-sized stock agencies to complete their expansion plans. "We have two transactions sealed up and five others in the works," Gidwani told me.

The span of ISI image offerings ranges from tightly-edited and researched managed-rights photos complete with a history of publication (FlashFocus on the Web and on their proprietary browser, TeleFocus), to a section called "Photos-To-Go" that appeals in price and usage rights to the low-budget or newcomer photobuyer. .

ISI will hand-hold buyers through the selection process through FlashFocus, or you can do-it-yourself for discounts on their TeleFocus service for professional buyers. .

In the past, Gidwani has been under attack by some stock photographers who claimed that by lowering the fees to low-budget photo-users Index will diminish the value of stock photography. He has produced several fact sheets that show convincing statistics that dispel these claims. Gidwani says that automation and volume production are part of the ISI success strategy. -RE.

Index Stock Imagery, 23 West 18th St, New York, New York 10011. Phone: NY: 800 729-7466; Fax: 212 633-1914. LA: 800 729-7477. Denver: 800 288-3686. Boston: 800 335-2823. Email: info@indexstock.com Web: www.indexstock.com) .