Instead, they will be replaced by 3D models.

Shutterstock is set to acquireTurboSquid, a marketplace for 3D assets and imagery.

3D Catalogs

3D imagery is already more pervasive than you might think.

An image of a virtual room.

Amr Taha / Unsplash

IKEA, for example, started to replace product photography for its catalog years ago.

In 2014, its catalog contained 75% computer-generated images.

Now,even some of IKEAs “human” models are CGI.

A couple standing in an empty room with home interior decorations sketched in.

SDI Productions / Getty Images

This would let customers like IKEA combine their own 3D imagery with items purchased from Shutterstock.

This could remove the need for photography almost entirely, perhaps just for adding people.

Right now, the company doesnt just sell stock photography.

Half draw sketch of a modern living room interior overlayed by a matching photograph.

asbe / Getty Images

Also, if youre selling a home, you better take photos of an actual location.

And then there is the psychological factor.