SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Minted, the marketplace of independent artists, today announces the launch of Photo-Op, the first ever on-demand, in-home, affordable portrait photography service. With the touch of a button, anyone can organize a photo shoot at the time and location of their choosing, and work with Minted photo retouchers and stylists to incorporate their new photos into the perfect holiday card.  Starting at $100, customers can book a 30-minute in-person session with one of Minted's independent portrait photographers, at home or at a location of their choice. Inspired by the growing on-demand lifestyle and the service-assisted shopping that customers crave, Photo-Op is a complete departure from booking a service with a traditional photo studio.

"Today's connected generation expects to be able to have services delivered in the convenience of their own home and as easy as calling a ride or delivering a meal," says Minted CEO and Founder, Mariam Naficy. "We are making portrait photography accessible to more consumers who are too busy to otherwise schedule a session, and helping connect them to emerging photographers who want to follow their passion and do something creative to generate income."

Photo-Op makes it easy for people to get photos they'll love. Within three days of the photoshoot, customers will receive 10 expertly retouched photos, as well as holiday card styling suggestions. Top selections will be loaded into the customer's cart for final review and purchase.  For those customers who want to find their photographer based on a portfolio of past work, Minted has also created a choice for customers to be introduced to established, independent photographers in their area.  Photographers can sign up to be on this list.

To create Photo Op, Minted called on its 10+ years of crowdsourcing and creative community experience. A key component to the company is its crowdsourced approach to design, where artists from all over the world share their work with Minted's audience of millions for a chance to be selected and sold in its online marketplace. With Photo-Op, Minted incorporated its insights to expand the market for professional photography, and enable a broader range of photographers to connect with convenience-driven consumers who might not otherwise pay for professional portraits.

"There is a renaissance happening in the design community right now, that is largely being led by technology," says Naficy. "We are growing the overall demand for creative services like photography by using technology to make booking these services more convenient.  Creatives and consumers, alike, are exploring the balance between using technology to represent themselves while remaining authentic and creative. Our goal at Minted is to facilitate that self expression."

A pilot of Photo-Op will launch in New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Learn more and book a photo session at minted.com/photo-op.

Media Contact: 
minted@factorypr.com

About Minted:

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Minted is a design marketplace that connects people to the world's best independent artists to create something one-of-a-kind. Minted's unique crowdsourced model represents a modern marketplace – one where the community decides what goods are showcased and sold. This model ensures fresh, on-trend designs are continuously being added to Minted. Minted enables artists, designers and photographers around the world to create original work, then provides them with an operations platform that handles all fulfillment and customer service. This leaves creatives to do what they do best, while letting Minted do the rest.

The company, which began in stationery, has expanded its crowdsourcing model into wall art (2012), textiles (2014), digital content (2015), and most recently, home decor (2015). Minted has raised $90M since launching in 2007, and is funded by Benchmark Capital, IDG Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, Technology Crossover Ventures as well as angel investors. Visit www.minted.com to learn more.

SOURCE Minted

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