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Third Light celebrates 20th anniversary!

On 16th April Third Light celebrated 20 years in business, and looking back to when it all started, we can say that our eventful and exciting history has helped shape the company we are today.

Third Light was founded in 2002 by Michael Wells not long after he completed a degree in Engineering at Cambridge University. With a strong interest in photography and as a member of the Royal Photographic Society, he started to develop a tool to help manage and store thousands of his digital image files. Ben Holland joined him soon after, taking on more of the technical work so Michael could build the business. As the professional benefits of digital asset management became apparent to marketing and creative industries, Third Light flourished.

Here's to our third decade, as we all forge ahead as part of PhotoShelter to build the most definitive and complete DAM offering in the world.

Michael Wells, Founder of Third Light

"In a busy year where many exciting developments have been unveiled, it is a pleasure to stop, pause and acknowledge Third Light's 20th anniversary today. From humble beginnings serving a rapidly expanding movement of photographers in the UK through to the feature-rich collaboration tool we see today, every one of those years has been an adventure. I am particularly grateful to our loyal customers who have driven forward our progress, shared our vision and engaged with our team, and to our staff who have innovated, worked hard and achieved so much.

Here's to our third decade, as we all forge ahead as part of PhotoShelter to build the most definitive and complete DAM offering in the world."

Third Light's key milestones from the last two decades.

Third Light timeline

Our evolution from a small software company in Cambridge UK, that developed a digital asset management tool for photographers into becoming part of PhotoShelter, a US-based market-leading provider of DAM, is a journey that we’re really excited to celebrate this year. At the forefront of our efforts has always been working closely with our customers and collaborating with them to ensure every project is a success. For two decades we have worked with thousands of marketers and creative professionals in brands and organizations around the world to help them overcome the difficult challenges associated with collaborating on creative projects and managing digital media.

You have taken us to a whole new level of DAM with your superb product and unparalleled support. You all deserve a very big round of applause for all the hard work and unconditional dedication to your clients.

From Third Light's customer, St. Joseph’s College — Office of Marketing & Communications

“Congratulations to everyone at Third Light on this very big occasion. 20 years! It seems like yesterday, actually it was 2008, when we were searching for a solution to organize our digital assets. The answer was Third Light. Michael came to St. Joseph’s College to meet with us, and introduced us to this wonderful company. Still very new, but with so much potential. We decided to put our faith into Third Light. It was the best decision. And as they say, the rest is history. We knew it was going to be a good fit.You have taken us to a whole new level of DAM with your superb product and unparalleled support. You all deserve a very big round of applause for all the hard work and unconditional dedication to your clients.Congratulations from all of us for your wonderful journey of 20 years of success! And cheers to the next 20!”


DAM - Digital Asset Management