A Finnish man, Arto Mäkelä has earned more than $19,000 (£12,200) from mobile app-based photo agency Scoopshot. The app allows users to upload pictures, videos or other content that can be sold on, as with a traditional picture agency.

Mäkelä made his money by responding to a specific task set by Finnish directory services company Fonecta, which requested pictures of businesses across the country. He went from city to city, taking thousands of pictures on his phone, and selling them to Fonecta for around $2 each.

Scoopshot chief executive Niko Ruokosuo says: “We’re thrilled that Arto has enjoyed such success using our app. Since launching in 2010, we’ve paid out more than $300,000 to our users and we’re paying more out every day. With more than 110,000 users globally, our service is now available in 160 countries worldwide and we’re expanding rapidly into new markets.”

Scoopshot takes a 30 per cent commission on each picture sold, with special rewards for particular tasks.