Adobe Unveils First Stock Artist Winners To Reward Beauty In Royalty-Free Images

While all eyes look to the exciting slew of art-generating bots, Adobe is simultaneously recognizing the beauty in the human touch with an award just for its royalty-free creators.

The creative technology giant has hosted its first Adobe Stock Artist Awards to celebrate the “best examples of aesthetic, technical, and narrative quality” across its expansive stock library and inspire more contributors to capture the world in refreshing, purposeful ways—while gaining visibility for it.

The inaugural event honors 33 creatives who have clinched prizes in categories like Artist of the Year, Photographer of the Year, Design Template Artist of the Year, Vectors and Illustrations Artist of the Year, Video Artist of the Year, and Newcomer of the Year. These top-choice winners have received a US$1,000 gift for their good work.

An Asset of the Year award commends the “best asset of any type from across the Adobe Stock standard collection,” explains Adobe. The title was given to Danish photographer Nicholas Felix of peopleimages.com for his artistic shot of two women holding up a mirror with their reflection in it, against the blue sky.

The assets were curated by a diverse jury of industry-leading creatives in the spheres of photography, video, illustration, and design, including portrait photographer Aundre Larrow and It’s Nice That senior creative Will Knight.

The selection process began last year. Since then, Adobe has thrown its hat in the AI art generation ring with a new ‘Firefly’ tool, though its version promises to respect human artists’ work by training on Adobe Stock and public-domain images.

The award acknowledges the unique perspectives that human creators still hold. With it being the first of likely more, there will be many more chances to take in such diverse, organic interpretations.

“Most successful Contributors have a few key things in common,” details Sarah Casillas, senior director of Content for Adobe Stock. “That’s consistently high-quality imagery, an eye for aesthetics and commercial value, and the passion and flexibility to keep learning, working, and growing as artists and professionals.”

You can check out more prize recipients here, as well as view and download all of their work via this dedicated gallery.

[via Adobe Stock, images courtesy]