Leica’s Largest Stakeholder Buys Stake in Photo Contest Website

Leica owner Andreas Kaufmann with the new Leica M

Dr. Andreas Kaufmann, the majority shareholder and chairman of Leica, has apparently purchased a 25.1% stake in photo sharing and contest website I-SHOT-IT, reports Leica Rumors.

The website was started in 2010, and allows photographers to submit their photos in various competitions for a small fee. Winning entries — judged by a panel of well-known photographers — receive cash prizes, making this an interesting way to be potentially rewarded for sharing images to an online audience.

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“Many amateur photographers, and professionals, too, think our platform is great, because this is where their work finds the recognition they would otherwise often never find,” said Hartmut Hennige, founder of I-SHOT-IT.

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“There has been a tremendous upswing of interest in photography over the past few years. The wish to be able to present your own photos to a virtually unlimited number of people in competitions is widespread,” Andreas Kaufmann said on the matter. “The growing numbers of fans and users shows just how enormous the demand is amongst photographers around the world. We intend to satisfy this demand.”

With over 1.8 million page views and 130,000 visits, I-SHOT-IT has become increasingly popular, especially in the United States – from which a majority of its visitors reside. Over 5 million images have been uploaded to date, according to Hennige.

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