Hi @tanyastere and thanks for your answer 
I understand that this is not planned at this time, in any case it would be really useful ! I think there is indeed a lot of interest in this feature, as I saw after posting my message that there was already another recent one for the same subject here : Exporting Images and another one here Downloading select images with at least somebody interested in GiraffeSpotter, also a need in ACW, also in Grouperspotter and also in Whiskerbook (our organization). I assume without taking much risk that the need would also be confirmed in other Wildbooks.
I think it can be fully compatible with your position as a neutral third party, by only allowing export of the pictures of the encounters the user is allowed to access, so :
- own pictures,
- pictures from the users with an active collaboration,
- for an orgadmin: the pictures of her/his organization.
=> It would be exactly the same as with the other data.
In addition, the software already allows all those images to be retrieved on a case-by-case basis (for example by “saving the image as” from the encounter or via the picture book), simply in a way that is not very practical and does not allow to do quickly a backup of a large number of images.
This feature would be about making practical something useful that is already, but laboriously, possible today.
Finally, it is precisely because you position yourself as not-a-photo-storage-option that it would be very useful to be able to extract images periodically, precisely for our photo storage “not in Wildbook”
(so that I don’t speak for others: @jenna , @PaulK, @accfish )