10 Resources for Diverse Stock Photography

When it comes to stock photography, simply finding images for your brand that feel authentic and realistic can be a challenge in and of itself. Sifting through thousands of generic photos of staged interactions in sanitized spaces used to be the norm and, until recently, finding photography that showcased people of color in a variety of contexts was particularly elusive. While I usually go to Unsplash first to find free, high-quality stock photos, sometimes I need to search elsewhere for photography that showcases Black and brown people in more diverse settings and scenarios.

Thankfully, there has been great progress in stock photography libraries that specialize in diversity - whether it’s racial, gender, or otherwise. This is a big deal.

The imagery you use in your marketing, whether it’s on your website, on your social media channels, or in print sends a signal to your audience - and that signal should be inclusive. Visual storytelling can help to normalize and hopefully diminish stereotypes of Black and brown people - especially in leadership positions. It’s absolutely critical for prospective clients and customers to see themselves in your photography. As marketers, we can help to visualize the world that we want to see.

That being said, what’s even more important than inclusive design* and marketing is an inclusive culture. Marketers must be aware not to use marketing to over-compensate for or distract from a sub-par organizational culture.

Aspirational content that aims to broaden your reach is a worthwhile endeavor, but remember to be accurate and realistic or you could toe the line of false advertising.

I encourage you to take a thorough look at the imagery you’re using to market your organization and reflect on whether it’s inclusive enough or not. If you notice that your brand photography is homogenous or only shows people who look like you or your leadership team, then it’s time to take a deeper look at the organizational culture. Sometimes it’s up to the marketing and communications staff as the conduits between the outside world and the company to speak up and encourage leadership to make the changes needed to create a diverse, inclusive, space.

In an effort to ensure my own branding and imagery is diverse and inclusive, I researched stock photography sites that specifically focus on people of color, including trans people of color. Representation matters and I hope these resources help you diversify your content and broaden your circle of supporters. We are all in this together.

TONL

Paid Membership. Tonl offers a beautiful and wide-ranging collection showcasing a variety of ethnic backgrounds of everyday people, with a majority of the focus on Black people and voices. Check out their Narratives section for a more in-depth look into the subjects in the photographs, who they are and what they represent.

CREATEHER

Paid Membership. CreateHer Stock is “a grassroots resource and digital ‘pantry’ for stock imagery that can be used for lifestyle, business, and everyday content creation for bloggers, creatives, and growing influencers.” The site was created by Neosha Gardner in 2015 out of a desire to easily find more photos of melanated women. They have tiers of memberships for various types of users, all are relatively affordable!

NAPPY

Free. Nappy provides stunning, high-res photos of Black and brown people that are targeted towards startups, brands, and agencies. Nappy makes it easy for companies to be purposeful about representation in their designs, presentations, and advertisements. The free resource was created by Shade, an influencer marketing and talent casting agency for culturally conscious brands.

PIXISTOCK

Paid Membership. I discovered PixiStock via Instagram, and that’s no surprise when you learn more about the business. PixiStock is more than just styled stock photography, they also offer cool social media templates, content planners, and business guides all designed to help women create better content to grow their business. They offer monthly, quarterly, and annual subscriptions so they are accessible for entrepreneurs and businesses of all levels.

COLORJOY STOCK

Paid Membership. ColorJoy Stock is a brand new stock photography library for women of color. Their lifestyle images promote diversity, business, lifestyle, collaboration and celebration. Images have an editorial look, so it’s easy to share your brand story. Not only do members get unlimited downloads, but they also receive caption prompts and ideas for how to use the photos in social and other digital marketing.

PICNOI

Free. PicNoi offers a beautiful, artistic collection of free stock photography of multi-cultural subjects. They created the site so that publishers, bloggers, website owners, marketers, designers, graphic artists and the like can easily search and find diverse multi-racial images.

VICE: THE GENDER SPECTRUM COLLECTION

Free. The Gender Spectrum Collection is a stock photo library created by VICE that features images of trans and non-binary people created with the intention of going beyond the clichés. As they say “The collection aims to help media better represent members of these communities as people not necessarily defined by their gender identities—people with careers, relationships, talents, passions, and home lives.” They even offer a highly detailed and thoughtful guidelines page that encourages users to challenge their own implicit biases when making photography decisions.

MUSLIM GIRL VIA GETTY IMAGES

Paid Downloads. In 2017, MuslimGirl.com collaborated with Getty Images to produce a collection that features racially and ethnically diverse Muslim women and girls — with and without hijab — doing everyday things at home, at work, and at play. Getty Images has a vast library of high quality photography, but it does come with a high price.

UKBLACKTECH

Free. The mission of UKBlackTech is to “make the UK the most ethnically diverse tech ecosystem in the world.” They offer recruitment and job placement, event planning, and promotion - and on top of that have also created a stunning little library of stock imagery of Black people working in the technology field. They understand the importance of imagery and how it can shape the future of an industry.

LEAN IN COLLECTION VIA GETTY IMAGES

Paid Downloads. The Lean In Collection for Getty Images is a library of photos and videos “devoted to the powerful depiction of women, girls and the people who support them.” The collection is a collaboration between Getty Images and LeanIn.Org and features over 6,000 images of female leadership and equal partnership in contemporary work and life. A portion of proceeds from the Lean In Collection goes toward the creation of Getty Images grants for images showcasing female empowerment and to supporting the mission of LeanIn.Org.

If you know of other resources for diverse stock photography, please share in the comments!

*To learn more about inclusive design, I highly suggest this article from InVision’s In Design blog that has elaborates on the concept and its applications.