ArenaPAL

ArenaPAL is a UK company, based in London, which specialises in the licensing of performing arts images, both in the UK and throughout the world. Its collection falls under the main categories of opera, theatre, classical and contemporary music, classical and contemporary dance, as well as educational imagery covering all categories.

ArenaPAL Performing Arts Photo Library

Type	Privately held company
Industry	photo archive, photo library, publishing, photography and the performing arts
Genre	photography
Founded	1997
Headquarters	London , United Kingdom
Area served	Worldwide
Services	Image licensing, picture research, archival services, arts photography commissions
Website	arenapal.com

It manages a library of 10 million images with over 750,000 currently viewable online. The library also holds thousands of unscanned prints, negatives and transparencies. These are digitised as part of its on-site archival scanning project. In 2007, it was declared the best international image library in the world.

History

The Arenapal website serves as a portal to the company's primary search facility and distribution outlet

ArenaPAL was founded in 1997 as the first fully digitised performing arts archive. Unlike most specialist photographic agencies, it has worked with a wide range of contributors from its inception. The company continues to expand its extensive archive as well as taking in submissions of contemporary performance, including theatre, ballet, dance and opera productions, plus classical music, rock, pop and jazz events.

ArenaPAL is also a photographic commissions agency with a roster of arts photographers including Clive Barda, Richard Cannon, Eric Richmond and Hilary Shedel. ArenaPAL is a member of the British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies (BAPLA), which has declared it: "the best international performing arts photographic resource for all images users representing a unique collection from around the world", in 2007.[1]

Collections

In 2013 www.arenapal.com launched its new Imageflows powered search engine.

In addition to the original Performing Arts Library (PAL) (*) founded by Barda,[2]^:19 the following archives and collections are represented by ArenaPAL:

• Andia Pictures (France),
• Boosey and Hawkes Collection,
• Collection Christophel French film archive,[3]
• Glyndebourne Collection (*), including:
  • Guy Gravett Archive,
  • Mike Hoban Archive,
• IndiaPicture,
• Le Pictorium (France),
• Noel Gay Archive,
• Roger Viollet,
• Royal Academy of Dance Collection,
• Royal Ballet School Special Collections,
• Royal College of Music Collections (*),
• Royal Opera House Collections (*), including:
  • Donald Southern Archive,
  • Edwin O. Sachs Archive,
  • Frank Sharman Archive,
  • Lady de Grey Archive,
  • Roger Wood Archive,
• Sputnik (RIA Novosti),
• The Stanislavski Centre theatre photo archive (*),
• TopFoto,
• Ullstein Bild,
• University of Bristol Theatre Collections (*), including:
  • Bertram Park and Yvonne Gregory Glass Plate Collection,
  • Bristol Old Vic Archive,
  • John Vickers Archive,
  • London Old Vic Archive,
  • Mander and Mitchenson Collection,
  • Richard Southern Collection,
  • Stephen Moreton-Prichard Collection,

(*) = Exclusive franchise

Photographers

ArenaPAL represents the archives of many photographers of the performing arts, such as: Sue Adler, Simon Annand, Frazer Ashford, Sophie Baker, Joe Bangay, Clive Barda,[4] Alan Bergman, Conrad Blakemore, Sisi Burn, Sheila Burnett, Laurence Burns, Henrietta Butler, Pamela Chandler, Nobby Clark, Bill Cooper, Fritz Curzon, Ian Dickson, Mark Douet, Mark Ellidge, Sasha Gusov, Jamie Hodgson, Pete Jones, Jak Kilby, Marilyn Kingwill, Ivan Kyncl, Helen Maybanks, Helen Murray, Morris Newcombe, Nigel Norrington, Johan Persson, Robert Piwko, Dan Porges, Keith Saunders, Herb Snitzer, John Timbers, Allan Titmuss, and Colin Willoughby.

See also

• Image hosting service
• List of online image archives
• List of photo sharing websites

References

1. ArenaPAL British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies (BAPLA). bapla.org.uk. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
2. Barda, Clive (2000). Performance! Musicians in Photographs. London: Peter Biddulph. ISBN 978-0952-01094-4.
3. "New Collection – 200k film stills uploaded – now at ArenaPAL". photoarchivenews.com. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
4. "Talking Pictures: Leading classical music photographer Clive Barda features in BBC Music magazine..." BBC Music Magazine. Retrieved 5 July 2010 – via arenapal.blogspot.com.

External links

• Official website of ArenaPAL
• "Licence To Sell: ArenaPAL". F2 Freelance Photographer. (June/July 2009). f2freelancephotographer.com. (Subscription required).