Amazon have done it again. First, they revolutionized the world of retail by bringing the store to the consumer. Now they have finally overcome photography’s greatest conundrum – how to take a photograph of an object in front of a white background without leaving a shadow, with a patent approved by the US Patent Office.
This will have drawn sighs of relief from the photography industry, as well as from the world of fashion, where back-drop shadow puppets have long plagued designers’ shoots, and e-commerce, where unsightly shadows in the background of product-shots have historically made consumers reluctant to buy online.
Amazon’s move here is business done right – finding solutions to pressing problems, and filing them appropriately with the regulatory authorities so as to monetize them effectively. Needless to say photographers worldwide will be paying Amazon a huge debt of gratitude, on top of the obligatory license payment whenever they take a shadow-free photograph against a white background.
Hardly Business Review 