Mary Evans Picture Library

What Mary Evans Picture Library does

Mary Evans Picture Library is a London-headquartered historical and cinema image archive founded in 1964, operating as a privately-held picture library with a staff of nine. The company aggregates millions of images across 530+ contributor collections sourced from photographers, museums, archives, and private collectors, serving editorial, media, creative professional, and cultural institution buyers. Its core product is a rights-cleared image archive accessible through a website platform that supports browsing, search, lightbox curation, and Mood Boards project organization, with regional storefronts denominated in GBP, USD, EUR, and AUD to serve UK, US, European, and Australian markets.

The underlying technology stack is an image library e-commerce platform built in partnership with Media Storehouse, which powers digital hosting, content distribution, and additional collections. The platform supports quote-based transaction licensing for editorial and commercial image use, alongside a Print Store (prints-online.com) that enables direct retail of art prints, posters, and puzzles. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and varies by intended use, resolution, and usage rights. Marketing is conducted through the website, organic social media (Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram), and email newsletters.

The business model is transaction-based: customers pay one-time licensing fees for image usage rights or purchase physical prints. Revenue derives from two streams — image licensing and sales (the primary B2B/B2-professional stream) and the Print Store (a B2C extension). Customer segments are horizontally distributed across Editorial/Media publishers, Creative Professionals (advertising, design), and Museums/Cultural Institutions. The company operates without disclosed external funding, acquisitions, or M&A activity, and shows no AI/ML capabilities in its product offering.

Name

Mary Evans Picture Library

Legal name

Mary Evans Picture Library

Website

https://maryevans.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Mary Evans Picture Library is a London-based historical and cinema image archive, founded in 1964, aggregating millions of rights-cleared images from 530+ contributor collections. It serves editorial, creative professional, and cultural institution buyers via a licensing platform and an integrated Print Store across four regional storefronts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Picture Library

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (51921), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192), Photofinishing (81292)

SIC

Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPABANAC

Archive & Library Footage Licensing (News, Sports, Entertainment)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Broadcasting (TV & Radio)/Broadcast Content Sales & Licensing (Formats, Archives)

SECONDARYMPADAMAG

Digital Archiving & Asset Management (MAM/DAM, Cataloging, QC)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Film & Video Production/Distribution/Film & Video Restoration, Archiving & Preservation

SECONDARYMPAHAGAI

Archive Restoration & Digitization (Film/Video/Audio Scanning, Remastering)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Media Technology & Services (Post-Production, VFX, Animation, Streaming Infrastructure)/Media Asset Management & Archiving (MAM/DAM, Preservation)

Keywords

• Historical image licensing
• Picture library services
• Archival photography
• Cinema stills archive
• Rights-cleared imagery

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Others, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Image Licensing and Sales: One-time licensing fees for image usage in editorial and creative projects. Customers purchase rights to use historical and cinema images for their specific needs.
2. Print Store: Direct sales of prints, posters, and merchandise featuring library imagery through their integrated print store.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Mary Evans Picture Library is a historical and cinema image archive that aggregates millions of rights-cleared photographs from 530+ contributor collections, including photographers, museums, archives, and private collectors. Customers license images for editorial and creative use, and can also purchase physical reproductions (art prints, posters, puzzles) through an integrated Print Store. The platform also offers lightboxes and mood boards for project organization.

Product overview

Mary Evans Picture Library operates as a comprehensive historical and cinema image archive for editorial and creative use. The core offering is the picture library itself, which aggregates millions of images from hundreds of contributor collections including photographers, museums, and specialized archives. The platform includes a Print Store for purchasing physical reproductions (art prints, posters, puzzles) and a Mood Boards feature for curating image collections. Powered by Media Storehouse, the service serves media, publishing, advertising, and creative professionals seeking historical imagery.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mary Evans Picture Library A historical and cinema image archive offering photographs for editorial and creative use, featuring millions of images from contributor collections. Customers license images for editorial, commercial, and creative projects.
• Print Store Online retail store for purchasing art prints, posters, framed prints, wall art, and puzzles featuring images from the Mary Evans archive. Operated at prints-online.com.
• Contributor Collections Aggregated collections from 530+ contributors including photographers, museums, archives, and specialized picture libraries, offering millions of historical images organized by contributor.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Shutterstock: Large publicly listed stock content platform with broad imagery, video, and audio offerings. Overlaps with Mary Evans in editorial and creative image licensing, but is a broad incumbent with subscription models and AI tools rather than a specialized archive.
• Getty Images: Global stock and editorial imagery platform serving the same editorial, creative, and cultural buyers as Mary Evans. Competes directly in historical and entertainment imagery, but at vastly larger scale, with subscription pricing, AI search, and a much broader catalog.

Direct peers

• Alamy: UK-based stock photography platform that also aggregates content from individual photographers and archives. Closely comparable to Mary Evans in market positioning, contributor-aggregation model, and historical content focus, but with substantially larger catalog and technology investment.
• AKG Images: German-based picture library specializing in fine art, cultural, and historical imagery. Direct peer in the niche of rights-cleared cultural and historical image licensing to editorial and institutional buyers across European markets.
• TopFoto: UK-based picture library specializing in historical, social, and cultural photography. Direct peer to Mary Evans in historical image licensing for editorial, educational, and publishing use, with a similar aggregation model and customer segments.
• Magnum Photos: Historic photography cooperative representing renowned documentary and fine-art photographers. Comparable to Mary Evans in licensing of iconic and historical photography to editorial and cultural buyers, with a stronger brand but narrower contributor base.
• Bridgeman Images: Art and cultural image licensing specialist that aggregates content from museums, galleries, and photographers. Direct peer in the niche of rights-cleared historical, art, and cultural imagery sold to editorial and institutional buyers.
• Granger Historical Picture Archive: US-based historical and editorial image archive serving publishers, broadcasters, and creative professionals. Direct peer in historical imagery licensing, with comparable archive aggregation model and similar customer base to Mary Evans.
• Photo12 / Collection Cinéma: French picture agency specializing in cinema stills, historical photography, and celebrity imagery. Direct peer to Mary Evans specifically in the cinema/film-still and historical celebrity archive niche, serving similar editorial and entertainment buyers.

Emerging players

• Science Photo Library: UK-based picture library focused on scientific, medical, and specialist imagery. Partial overlap with Mary Evans in editorial and institutional licensing, but differentiated by its science and medical specialization rather than historical and cinema focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/mary_evans
• Facebookfacebook.com/MaryEvansPictureLibrary
• Instagraminstagram.com/mary.evans.picture.library
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mary-evans-picture-library

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mary Evans Picture Library