KECHEROUD Sabrina Friday, December 4^th, 2005

M2 JPI (groupe Communication)

Site Audit

www.arabianeye.com

I- Introduction

arabianEye is a photojournalism agency whose purpose is, as its name may say, to focus an “Arabian eye” on big Arab and Islamic issues and cultural themes.

It is especially why I chose to present this website. I do think that such a site has a special role to play in a field where Western countries may be thought to hold a monopoly. Indeed, as French people and generally Western people, we usually have a western-centred vision because we think it obvious that our countries detain a global control over information techniques. This website is an evidence to the contrary.

Moreover, it is important, at these times when there is a big focus on the Arab and Islamic world, that there be a eye of the Arabs on themselves.

Besides, let us note that Arabian Eye is based in Dubai, that is to say where there is money enough to spend on information and new technologies, in a world where these two domains are still part of luxury – even though the Internet has been democratized. In the same vein, we can quote Al Jazira, the now famous Arab television channel, a huge network which has been compared to CNN. This Arab channel is based in Qatar, another emirate, and was, at least at first, supported by the emir himself. So we can say that the Arab countries began about ten years ago to provide themselves with usually democratic tools.

This shows that these countries want both to appropriate the information concerning them directly, and combat their image as non-democratized countries.

So there is the willingness and means, but also the seriousness. This is shown by what may emerge from the general presentation of the site and the work of the agency as a whole.

II- Form

A) The Homepage

The homepage is quite simple indeed. It offers a global vision of the website, which is good, as there is no Site map. The advantage is there, as it is possible to say that, for the whole site, the presentation is quite clear. It gives a good accessibility and ease of access to the consultation of the different pages.

On the left hand side, after a general presentation of Arabian Eye, there is a presentation of the different headings of the site: Features, Stock and Get in Touch. On the right hand side, the photos visible, regularly changing, make the presentation page livelier.

Features and Stock are in fact links to get into the different themes of the photo reports. The term “new” means that the photos are regularly renewed, which also means a precise attention of the staff of the agency to the website. This precise attention shows how much, in recent years, photojournalism has forged an important link with the Internet. It is in fact the best way to support an activity that is economically quite difficult to maintain on the global market.

B) The organization of the site

Menu: Up and down the homepage, there is the menu of the site. It appears on each page of the website, which once again confers ease of access and functionality to the site. This menu replaces a map of the website. All the pages appear on it: Home, Features, Stock, Photographers, Lightbox, Login, and Contact. This gives once again confers ease and functionality onto the site.

The menu down the pages is a bit different and appears with more details: Home, Features, Stock, Submissions, Lightbox, Login, Contact, Terms.

Simplicity, Accessibility And Functionality: Simplicity is the main quality of this website. This is noticeable all along it. The presentation is always clear and actually, there are not a lot of pages. Thus, it is very easy to go from one page to another with one or another menu. A mere click can bring you the information you require.

C) Design of the site

Simplicity: Simplicity is also a characteristic of the design. There are no flourishes, which means no superfluity. But on the other hand, this shows a lack, in a certain way. It seems that the reason is that arabianEye is not one of the biggest of photojournalism agencies. Besides, simplicity seems to be a choice of the agency in all respects. The only mark of fantasy could be the logo.

Logo: The logo of the agency is quite representative of an Arabian eye, as it is the stylized drawing of an eye with wavy lines, arabesques. But at the same time, the drawing is simple. As it is quite representative, it is quite beautiful.

Colour of the Site: The colours used for the site are a clear brown and grey tone, on all the pages. In a certain way, these colours recall, all through the website, the desert, which usually belongs to Arab fantasy and the oriental dream. Besides the use of this colour and this recall, to my mind bestow a relaxing aspect onto the site, as these colours are not aggressive.

The place of photos: The photos have of course an important role to play on this website. In view of this, there is a regular changing of the photos which are presented on the homepage. It makes it livelier, giving an impression of movement. But the most interesting thing about the photos is more about their contents and the information given about them.

III- Contents

A) The Place Of the Photos

Protected By Copyright: It is important to notice that the photos presented on the site are protected by copyright, like anywhere else. This is a sign of the seriousness of the work of the agency, and surely a way of protecting a quality that can be recognized.

Features: The features are series of photos that can be seen and used as a whole report, or as a whole story. Here again there is diversity as there are 53 features. The subjects can go from Saudi Bedouins to The Dancing Girls, with also Arabic Architecture, or Islamic Banking. We really can deplore the lack of great political issues such as The Israeli Withdrawal among these features. This is quite disappointing according to the idea that the observer may first have nurtured about a website like this. Indeed, the Middle East is such a flashpoint of the planet...whereas an “Arabian eye” seems to see only questions of society and ways of life. This is a pity.

Stock: Stock photos are usually photos that can be used for communication operations, or advertising. Here, the agency defines this stock library as “including Arabic Lifestyle and Travel Imagery”. So we can understand that there is here clearly a commercial aim that can be balanced against the art that the features very often represent.

Of course, there are fewer themes than for the features, but there is quite a large choice with 31 series of stock photos. They are about certain countries, but also aspects of everyday life such as: Business, Office Life, Shopping or Food.

Presentation: The photos are well presented. Concerning the functionality of their consultation, there is a good accessibility thanks to the opening of another window. It makes the consultation easier. The text presenting the photos is clear enough. As it is concise and precise, there is generally a good caption. All this makes the manipulation of the photos very accessible.

Photographers: It is interesting to see the diversity of the photographers and of their work. Concerning the photographers themselves, their page provides a presentation of each one, made by the photographer himself in a few of them, or by a writer for the main part. It is a curriculum presenting at the same time the photographers' career and way of seeing photojournalism, the different expositions they can have participated in and the awards they can have obtained. According to these presentations, it appears that arabianEye's staff is really of high quality. The photographers are from Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand, the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States, Iran, Portugal, Palestine, Belgium, Spain, and Sudan. This kind of diversity can only be a good thing, in addition to the competence these photographers have.

Quick search: On each page of the site except the homepage, the database can be consulted by typing keywords. But as there is not so much to search, you do not find automatically what you want. But this is anyway one aspect of the accessibility of the website.

B) A young agency

A Still Small Agency: This is a large part of the negative points we may raise. Indeed, the simplicity that is present all through the website is in a certain way a sign. A sign that the agency is still a small structure, even if arabianEye is part of a network of press agencies.

Moreover, Advanced Digital Technology, who dealt with the site mastering, have ranked this website as their third most recent project.

Arabian Eye Is Part Of A Network: arabianEye is a partner of Western press agencies in the Middle East. These press agencies are three: French REA, German FOCUS, and American Redux Picture. It is to be observed that the French agency REA is specialized in economic issues.

At the same time, it is stated on the website that these agencies represent arabianEye in their countries. Thus, there is a contract between these Western agencies and arabianEye, which concerns collaboration in terms of the exchange of photos, and information.

C) Interaction: Communication Between The Consumer And The Agency

Interaction seems to be a real choice of the agency. On the homepage, the last paragraph is entitled “Get in Touch” and the text is clear about the availability of the staff in helping the client and hearing all the propositions that can be made. The many headings linked to the exchange between the agency and its client can be a sign of this. Is it specific? I don't think so. But it is a very well developed aspect in arabianEye's work, and once again seriousness is visible through the detailed form of a page like “Terms and conditions”, for instance.

“Terms And Conditions”: This appears to be a contract that any user of the site “agrees to be bound by”. So it represents a series of obligations for the client, overall concerning questions of royalties and the re-use of photos which are protected by copyright in advertising, etc. There are also some rights, of course. It is the juridical part of the site, and it is important to set it down in this clear and well-detailed way. It is a way, by defining a clear frame for the relations between the client and the agency, not to leave any doubt about what might happen to anyone who did not follow these rules: the definition of the terms “client”, “reproduction”, “image” and conditions of use, usage rights, time of use, alteration of the image, etc.

Submissions: It is a very small part of the site. But it is quite interesting in terms of a choice for interaction by the agency, and more especially of the policy assumed on the homepage of a “fresh look” at the Arab and Islamic world. Indeed, a client or any person can submit photos to the agency through this site. Thus, arabianEye is permanently seeking out new issues, and maybe talents. It is really encouraging for the sector of photojournalism, which is said to be currently in crisis. One surprising thing is that the postal address does not appear in this page of “Submissions” but in the small part called “Submissions” on the page entitled “Contact”.

Contact, Login and Newsletter: The page “Contact” is a clear presentation of all the means you can contact the agency through. There is the postal address, the telephone and fax numbers, and the different e-mails, according to the kind of request.

In addition to that, it is on the page “Contact” that it is possible to find the links to get to the websites of arabianEye's partner agencies of (go to III- B)).

You can subscribe to the website, and in this way have your own Lightbox, receive the newsletter, and surely get photos and contact through the agency. Actually, you have to be part of a firm to get all this.

About the newsletter, it does not seem very regular for the moment. As far as I could see at the same time, it does not appear to be very elaborated for the moment. I was sent just the homepage. Anyway, a member of the staff, Celia, tells you that if you want any information, you can ask her, which reinforces the idea of the dedication of the staff to the relationship with the client. This confidence that the agency is trying to create between the client and arabianEye will surely be a label of credibility for the agency in the future.

The Lightbox: Any photo you want to keep in a personal file can be put into your “Lightbox”. It is a sort of personal memory in which you can stock photos of your own selection. It is a way to keep the photos you prefer and in this way, it is easier to find these photos later. It is the equivalent of what we would call in French a “mallette”.

IV- Verdict – Conclusion

To put it in a nutshell, the agency arabianEye is not really up to the hopes it may give rise to at first sight. The simplicity of its presentation is one positive element of its functionality, but at the same time a sign of some shortfalls.

Anyway, on balance, there are more qualities than imperfections. The latter are very few indeed. It is important to note the quality of this website, which may make arabianEye aspire to always be up to date. It will surely become a bigger structure and weigh more on the photojournalism sector in the future. The ambition is clearly there, in the now well-known context of globalization. Moreover, on this global market, arabianEye has partners.

However, the agency should to my mind change its editorial line, which is maybe not politicised enough, while great political issues are constantly taking place in the Middle East.

So it is a bit early to throw a critical eye on arabianEye, as it is still a young agency. But we can from now expect that if more of a focus is made on political issues, and if arabianEye goes on with its bet on interaction and contact, this agency may earn great credibility and a lot of publicity in the coming years.