When a designer or brand is called out for a lack of interest or commitment to inclusivity, the response is often that a more diverse pool of models or imagery is simply not available.
Getty Images, Dove and Girl Gaze just turned that excuse on its head.
The visual media company, beauty brand and creative agency teamed up on #ShowUs, a collection of 5,000 gorgeous images representing female-identifying and nonbinary individuals of all ages, skin tones, sizes, ages and abilities from all over the world, and all taken by female photographers. The photos are available for purchase as stock imagery, meaning they can be used in things like projects, media and advertisements.
Dove indicated in a release that an internal study of more than 9,000 women from around the world found that 70 percent of women don’t see themselves represented in media. And while most people don’t see what’s happening behind the scenes, this project is a joint effort not only to diversify what we see in front of the camera but what’s behind it, too.
In a touching video announcing the project, its messaging is clear: exposing women to imagery that more closely reflects what they see in the mirror ― whether in childhood or adulthood ― is powerful, effective and necessary.
In addition to sharing a diverse range of photos, the subjects were given the opportunity to come up with their own descriptions and tags for their images, a job typically left up to the photo agency.
It’s still up to brands and publications to make use of the catalog of photos, of course. but it’s certainly a step in the right direction toward a more accurate depiction of what consumers actually look like.
Check out more photos from the collection here and see more photos below.
