Let's be honest about it: I am a big fan of Flickr. There are lots of sites like that: Picasa, Photobucket, Kodak Gallery, Photoblog, Zooomr and many others. I have used some of them and Flickr suits me the best.
About a year ago, David Hobby of Strobist published a couple of posts (part 1, part 2) on the future of Flickr. About a year ago, he was predicting some exciting changes and so was Dan Heller and a bunch of other folk. These changes are yet to happen. Right now, there does not seem to be much going on in terms of "monetization" of the Flicker archive, at least on the surface. It seems that Flickr turning into the Internet's biggest photo stock archive is more of a microstock site's worst nightmare rather than Yahoo's concrete plan.
It is interesting what other people from the photography business have to say about Flickr and 'serious photography'. One of my favourite blogs, A Photo Editor, had a post about the Flickr stigma earlier this year. It's saying that using Flickr as a portfolio is cheap and 'unprofessional'. I am in no position to argue about it. Flickr was not designed for that purpose anyway. Flickr was bought by Yahoo in 2005 and replaced Yahoo Images in their stable of web services - it was always meant as a photo-sharing tool, rather than a fancy display case. It has evolved since then and pros have been using Flickr as one of their tools, not their only tool though.
One site that allows its users to sell images online is SmugMug. They are a paid site (well, so is Flickr unless you are willing to put up with an upload limit) with impressive options in terms of page layout and presentation. They even offer to transfer your existing Flickr archive to them under the heading "Fleeing Flickr". Admittedly, it's $149 to be able to set your own prices and sell your stuff through them. Dan Heller has a long post about it here.
Why stay with Flickr:
- it's cheap
- it gets a lot of traffic
- it is here to stay (although it's dubious in what shape and form)
- its groups are a great platform to meet people and get (mostly positive) feedback
- it is being trawled by (a certain kind of) picture editors every day
- there is no limit to upload with the cheap "PRO" account, one can upload all sorts of experiments and failed attempts
- your profile can promote your real portfolio
- own domain name
- better control over the presentation layer
- tighter focus on your best images
- it shows dedication and attention to detail
- you may be able to sell images directly (but it will cost you)
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