With his handsome good looks having already graced a number of editorials and a family name that allegedly inspired Ian Fleming to create the character of Moneypenny for his Bond novels; Matthew Moneypenny, CEO of creative image licensing company,
With his handsome good looks having already graced a number of editorials and a family name that allegedly inspired Ian Fleming to create the character of Moneypenny for his Bond novels; Matthew Moneypenny, CEO of creative image licensing company, Trunk Archive looks equally at home in the world of Hollywood as he does in fashion. In fact that is just where he started, as an Agent at the offices of International Creative Management. He says, “Hollywood invented the modern concept of looking after top creative talent and it is absolutely the best place to learn the representation business. Aside from time management, hard core negotiation skills and a shark pool like no other in which to develop instincts, the most important thing I learned from ICM was 'talent first.'" Which might go some way to explain how Trunk Archive which he took over in 2007 from five high-end Danish art collectors now exclusively represents the licensing aspects of the crème de la crème of photographers from Hedi Slimane, Bruce Weber, Inez & Vinoodh, Miles Aldridge, not to mention photographers working outside the realms of fashion such as Mary Ellen Mark and Jessica Craig Martin. “While many of the images in our archive are fashion-based, the goal of what we're doing with Trunk Archive is to represent the best of the best in the medium,” says Moneypenny, “Not just those known for their work in fashion image-making.”
What distinguishes Trunk from stock agencies like Getty and Corbis is well, the connotations in the first instance. He states emphatically, “For starters, 'stock' is a completely forbidden word in our office – there's absolutely nothing 'stock' about the art we look after or the image-makers who create it. We also run very much like a large talent agency with specialised divisions and services tailored to our artists and clients needs.” As a bespoke, boutique company, such services run to an archiving, creative services and digital imaging departments which assist the artists in preparing and organising their archives. Mr Moneypenny has been known to zip around the world between London, Paris, Moscow and Madrid providing a personal touch for Trunk’s 5,000 global clients.
But with the advent of the internet where images can be uploaded gratis onto endless blogs and tumblrs without artists’ permission, has there been a devaluation of good photography? Moneypenny counters this, “Not at all – in fact, quite the opposite. Between the internet and the explosion of premium print titles in far flung territories around the globe, the audience's tastes and expectations from the medium have been greatly enhanced. We also now live in a world where virtually everyone is a photographer and shares their work for review and inspiration by others via social networking and image sharing sites. I think developments in media over the last 10 years have definitely increased everyone's awareness of the medium and the popular conception of what makes a great image, or not so great image.”
