Urban-eyes is a stock photography agency catering to urban planners and the professions that fall under that umbrella. Urban-eyes is transitioning its website to a powerful GIS-based search engine platform. Urban planners will soon be united around the public interest, community oriented content it creates.
Urban-Eyes Industries provides specialized photo-based services to urban planners, civil engineers, real estate developers, and design professionals.
We help streamline clients' workflow and minimize incidental overhead costs with cutting-edge, image-based data capture, research, analysis, and project management.
Our services provide a proper foundation for implementing projects in the urban realm. Use the expandable menu below to learn more about our services.
Photography
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In its purest form, photography is one of the most objective and democratizing mediums for communicating the details of any reality that cannot be experienced first hand. Everyone stands to benefit from photography, on a personal and professional level.
In the words of great photographers
Ansel Adams
When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs.
Elliott Erwitt
Photography has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.
Galen Rowell
I think that cognitive scientists would support the view that our visual system does not directly represent what is out there in the world.
Irving Penn
A good photograph is one that communicates a fact, touches the heart and leaves the viewer a changed person it is, in a word, effective.
Henri-Cartier Bresson
To take photographs means putting one's head, one's eye and one's heart on the same axis.
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Reconnaissance
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Frame issues before negotiating solutions. Reports and photography work together to deliver truth, and broker an even playing field. Anticipate project needs from the outset, and generate substantive input and support from key stakeholders.
Do it once. Do it right.
Urban-Eyes picks up where your snapshots leave off. We are professional photographers that understand the organizational structures in which you operate. Keywords, captions, and web-based portfolios facilitate interagency coordination and stakeholder participation.
Enhance workflow and analysis
Images are embedded with GPS coordinates, linking easily to any GIS. Toggle between images and maps for enhanced tracking, analysis, and project management. Know your project site in depth and detail to better serve your clients.
Shelter your business
New projects are exciting - they can also disrupt workflow. Jumpstart new projects while staying focused on current deadlines and deliverables. Build better project teams from the outset for a more effective process and greater returns.
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Photo Mapping
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GPS-embedded images link to any GIS. Toggle between images and maps for enhanced site analysis, and project management. Inventory and administer bus stops, buildings, trees, environmental features and more.
Launch Demo
Enhance decision-making
Stakeholders are too often asked to make decisions without any first-hand knowledge. Maps and pictures work together to communicate more effectively than either could alone.
Improve accuracy
When it comes to critical tasks, don't rely on memory. Locate images by latitude and longitude or by simply clicking on a map. GPS-embedded images show exactly what's doing at and around specific locations
Coordinate fieldwork more strategically
Minimize confusion and maximize precision. Train field crews with maps and corresponding photos prior to dispatch. Pinpoint sites and features in advance to expedite surveys and maintenance missions.
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Photo Management
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Bring order to your image collection with a consolidated, web-based image archive. Retrieve and share existing images fast for a very real savings in time and money. Link your collection to the Urban-Eyes image library and earn rewards from every sale.
Save time and money
Centralize your images and tag them with keywords and captions to ensure rapid and accurate image recall. Share portfolios with coworkers and clients via the web. Get the job done at a fraction of the cost.
Broadcast portfolios to targeted audiences
Web-based permissions allow administrators to keep portfolios among a select audience, or to make them entirely public. Bring greater visibility and integrity to interagency coordination and to the participatory process.
Turn your images into cash
Link your collection to the Urban-Eyes image library and earn financial rewards for every brokered transaction. Choose prices and licensing agreements that suit you.
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Stock Photography
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Save time and money finding the photos you need. Search the Urban-Eyes image library using industry lingo. Broaden research, enhance design, and bolster acceptance of your project with images that captivate and inspire your audience.
Save time and money
You spend hours searching the web for relevant images, and with few results. Urban-Eyes images are key-worded with industry lingo to deliver the images you need in a quick and cost-effective manner.
Gain a competitive edge
Keep current on emerging trends - see what peers are putting forth in both practical and creative terms. Research best practices for your project using Urban-Eyes images as your lead.
Capture your audience
You know not everyone reads the whole report - most people just glean. Photography is a compelling supplement to all those words and numbers. Give your audience an editorial break with images that inform and inspire.
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About Urban-Eyes' Founder
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Ezra Cattan is a credentialed urban planner and photographer with a MA in Regional Planning from Cornell University. Ezra sees significant disconnect between the critical demand and informal approach towards photography among urban planners. With a commitment to addressing this gap, Urban-Eyes was registered to do business in the State of California on August 1, 2006.
Starting his career in 1995 at his family's New York-based textile brokerage, Ezra gained early experience in textile design, engineering, marketing, and sales. The international nature of the work sparked Ezra's interests in globalization, infrastructure, community development, and social equity.
Ezra's first job as a planner was with New York City Transportation Planning. He moved on to earn his MA in Regional Planning from Cornell University, where he specialized in land use and transportation planning.
Moving west, Ezra worked with Nelson/Nygaard Consulting on a variety of bicycle, pedestrian, bus, and rail projects throughout California. With extensive experience building and using geographic information systems (GIS) and a thirsty mind, Ezra went corporate, where his GIS skills were used to refine Gap Inc.'s forecasting and real estate strategies.
Since moving to San Francisco, Ezra's long-standing passion and gift for photography is being met by a receptive arts community. A few successful exhibits encouraged Ezra to attend professional workshops and college-level courses on a more regular basis. His work as an urban planner and photographer is regarded as insightful and humane, and illustrates the interconnectedness of the natural and built environment.
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