About | Overlai

Our Story

At Overlai, we are more than just a team of co-founders – we are a collective of passionate photographers, filmmakers, and artists driven by a shared mission: to safeguard the integrity of visual content in an age of advancing AI technology.

Our co-founding team consists of Luke Neumann, Alex Dolgov, Chase Teron and Paul Nicklen. With years of experience in the creative arts, we understand the profound value of a photographer's work, style, and brand identity.

It's this understanding that fuels our dedication to protecting digital media assets.

As photographers and creators ourselves, we recognize the importance of choice. Overlai was born out of our desire to empower photographers with the freedom to decide whether their photos, unique style, and brand should be sourced by AI algorithms.

If photographers choose to share their work, they deserve fair compensation for their creative contributions. If they prefer to maintain control and privacy, they should be shielded from AI scraping.

Overlai represents a groundbreaking milestone in the realm of photography asset protection. Our innovative application offers a one-step process to safeguard your photographic masterpieces from AI sourcing.

With Overlai, you can trust that your creative vision remains under your control, ensuring the preservation of your artistic integrity.

Join us on this journey to empower photographers, protect their media assets, and reshape the future of visual content in the digital age. Overlai – your partner in defending the artistry of photography.

Our Team.

Luke Neumann

CEO & Co-Founder of Overlai

Alex Dolgov

CTO & Co-Founder of Overlai

Chase Teron

CMO & Co-Founder of Overlai

Paul Nicklen

Co-Founder of Overlai

Cristina Mittermeier

Co-Founder of Overlai

Meet Our Ambassadors

Meet our esteemed Overlai Ambassadors: a group of creators and photographers who embody the essence of dedication, craftsmanship, and advocacy. These individuals are more than just experts in their field—they're pioneers who have mastered their craft through countless hours of trial and triumph. As advocates for a creator-forward world, they stand at the forefront of innovation, shaping the digital landscape with their talent and vision. With their unwavering commitment to excellence and their passion for empowering fellow creators, our ambassadors inspire us all to reach new heights of creativity and success.

Overlai Ambassador & Co-Founder

Paul Nicklen | Canada

Paul Nicklen is a Canadian photographer, filmmaker, and marine biologist who has documented the beauty and the plight of our planet for over twenty years.In addition to being one of the world’s most acclaimed nature photographers, Nicklen is a sought-after speaker, author, and National Geographic Fellow, who has shared stories from his adventures in several TED Talks. In the past two decades, Paul has collaborated with scientists, filmmakers, conservationists and explorers to create awareness and inspire action for global issues like climate change.As a co-founder of the non-profit, SeaLegacy, Paul Nicklen is opening a fresh, progressive chapter in the story of ocean conservation through visual storytelling.

Overlai Ambassador & Co-Founder

Cristina Mittermeier | Mexico

Cristina Goettsch Mittermeier, "Mitty", is hailed as one of the most influential conservation photographers of our time, she has dedicated her entire life to protecting the World's oceans - inspiring millions of people to do the same.In 2005 Mittermeier founded the prestigious International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP) to provide a platform for photographers working on environmental issues and coined the phrase "conservation photography".In 2014 she co-founded SeaLegacy, a non-profit organization using strategic communications at the intersection of art, science, and conservation to protect and rewild the ocean for the benefit of biodiversity, humanity, and climate within our lifetimes.

Overlai Ambassador

Shaaz Jung | India

Raised in the jungles of South India, Shaaz Jung is a professional wildlife photographer and an ambassador for Nikon and Manfrotto. Shaaz’s work in the world of wildlife and conservation has gained international recognition and his photographs have been widely published. He specialises in documenting big cats, primarily melanistic leopards and was the 'Director of Photography' for a National Geographic feature film called The Real Black Panther.Shaaz’s artistic vision creates a unique blend of photography interwoven with art, a style he calls ‘Environmental Surrealism’.A conservationist at heart, Shaaz runs eco-friendly wildlife lodges in India and utilises eco-tourism as a tool for conservation. He’s also the founder of a non-profit Trust that aims to provide vocational training and education to indigenous people that live in and around forested areas in South India.

Overlai Ambassador

Pie Aerts | Netherlands

Pie Aerts is a Dutch documentary and wildlife photographer with a sincere interest in human/wildlife coexistence stories. Through his lens, he examines the intricate relationship between animals, humans and nature and, as we become increasingly distant from each other and ourselves, he uses photography as a medium to search for the cause of this disconnect. Pie is an official Canon EMEA Ambassador and Founder of Prints for Wildlife, a fundraising platform that supports African wildlife & communities badly hit by Covid-19. Since its inception in 2020 more than $2.1 million dollars has been raised by uniting 230+ wildlife photographers from around the world. Pie’s first best-selling book 'Tales from the Roads less Traveled' was published by teNeues in 2019 and sold 8,000 copies worldwide.After more than 10 years of fieldwork all across the African continent and beyond, as a photographer as well as an activist, Pie has developed an intricate understanding of, connection with and passion for documenting the last wild corners of our planet.

Overlai Ambassador

Chris Fallows | South Africa

Chris Fallows is a Emmy nominated and multi award winning Fine Art Wildlife photographer whose work has appeared in over 500 global publications. Since being the first person to discover and document breaching Great white sharks at Seal Island in South Africa in 1996 Chris’s images have brought this spectacular and unique behavior to the world’s attention. Chris has also hosted or appeared in over 80 major wildlife documentaries such as The BBC’s Planet Earth, Life, Africa and was the primary host of Discovery Channel's iconic 20 year long Shark Week Franchise, Air Jaws. This series showcases the famous and magnificent breaching Great White Sharks that have captivated the world. Chris’s intimate photography is best known for showcasing the world’s most iconic wildlife species both on land and in the ocean. His style of getting extremely close to predators and other mega fauna lends a very personal and intimate feeling to his imagery Chris and his wife Monique are heavily involved in conservation and research projects in Africa and funds raised through the sale of Chris’s fine art works go directly towards buying land for habitat and biodiversity preservation.