Ep 16: How to use Inclusive Stock Photos
Shownotes
In this episode, Joyann discusses the importance of inclusive stock photos and how to incorporate them into your marketing.
You can watch the episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3p50I9ns98&ab_channel=JoyannBoyce
Useful links:
https://www.arimacompany.com/blog/want-to-reach-more-people-use-diverse-stock-photos
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-bristol-45496564
https://bodyliberationphotos.com/body-liberation-stock-body-fat-positive-diverse-photos/
https://www.dove.com/uk/stories/campaigns/showus.html
https://www.canva.com/photos/search/natural--women/
You can find Joyann at: https://twitter.com/joyannboyce
Transcript:
[00:00:00] Joyann Boyce: Welcome and welcome back to the marketing made inclusive podcast. This week I just wanted to share my thoughts a little bit around stock photos. It's something we've mentioned before in the podcast about how important it is to have visual representation in marketing content. But I think it's important to highlight.
[00:00:21] Why, I mentioned, people need to be aware of the stock photos that they're using. So a lot of stock photos for websites work on a demand basis. If there's a demand for a certain type of image, there'll be more. If people are searching an image, they will publish more of that certain type of image. And this can mean that stock for his website tend to replicate what they assume, marketers or people who are using them want.
[00:00:47] And for a long time, that kind of followed the trend of what industry was saying is beautiful. What industry was saying was acceptable and so forth. So if you typed in the search word, a woman. It will come up with a blonde skinny able-bodied white woman. Things are changing and stock photos websites are becoming more diverse and have a lot better representation. However, there's still a lot of inconsistency
[00:01:13] when you're searching for things. Now that problem of what you find when you're searching is so multifaceted, multifaceted when you think about it, when it comes to the tech aspect of things. However, I think it's important to give marketers and allow them to understand that sometimes you have to be quite specific in what you're looking for.
[00:01:34] And as industry changes, as the stock industry changes that specificity won't be needed. I remember a lot of my early conversations, I would be talking to marketers and supporting them in putting out campaigns and doing various things and two things were very common. They would naturally say, I'm not able to find that image and I'd be like, did you type in disabled woman? Did you type in Black woman? I'm using women's specifically here because
[00:02:03] a lot of the times that is where people are finding difficulty. And they'd be like, no, I didn't think I had to type that in, or they didn't feel okay typing in Black woman, Asian woman, Indian woman, and get a specificity across. Um, and in addition, when they were searching for images of disabled individuals, they kind of stuck to the images of people in wheelchairs.
[00:02:27] However disability comes in, such a wide range of variety in there are various ways we could represent and dissipate disabled individuals in our content. So that's one thing I would advise marketers and something to pay attention to. When you're searching for stock photos, when you're creating a stock photo database
[00:02:45] think of how you can intersection that area searching for. So whether it's man, woman, child, there are variety in that. But also think about the stock photo website itself, may not have intersectional or sophisticated search capabilities. So you have to specify disabled, trans, um, black, um, India, and you have to specify those things in order to get that results.
[00:03:16] Secondly, it was when these stock photos would be in used. And this is kind of a. I think this is probably one of the most unconscious situations that I see people not realise that they're doing. There's a level of awareness in, oh, I need diverse imagery and I need to have a diverse image sets. However, when they use those images is a bit that can be quite unconscious.
[00:03:42] I recall doing audits for clients and looking at their websites and this would be across the board no matter the industry. The times they would use diverse images on an, I mean, images of Black people, images of women, images of disabled individuals would be when they're talking about specific project
[00:03:59] or when they're only targeting that group. Now, I think it should be in the mix all the time. Depending on certain aspects of targeting that are times where you wouldn't include something like, well, let's start, run down the remit of things. But if you're, let's say if your product or service or your
[00:04:25] specifically your products, actually, if your product is not usable by a disabled person, by a person of colour, then do not include them in your stock photography, do not, or different size individuals don't include them. This is why I stand strong in that if your product or service is not fit for those individuals
[00:04:46] don't include him. If it is, as far as you are aware, because I understand sometimes people just don't know. They're new to the industry they just launched or they just don't have the data to say otherwise, that's when you need to make sure that's a diverse representation, not only one day as a project.
[00:05:02] Or when there is a campaign, should it be that, that sits on that spotlight and aspect. But when you're thinking of how can we mix this up? That is an area to include diverse representation within stock images. Now the way I got started in inclusive marketing was from this lack of diversity in stock images. Representing diversity in stock images is not solely, you know, showing someone's face.
[00:05:33] Cause when I was building my website, I wanted an image of hands that look like mine. Um, the whole story itself about me trying to find these images got featured in the BBC. And I couldn't find images of a Black woman's hands on keyboards
[00:05:51] typing. I just couldn't. I just couldn't find it. I haven't had to do that search in a while. So I don't know if it's updated. But. I kind of want to speak to the people who create stock photos now.
[00:06:02] There's a lot of stock photography websites that are, they're promoting the inclusion of different bodies, different skin tones, different age ranges, and so forth. But they're missing some of the mundane. I talk about beauty in the mundane, and this is another area. The mundane sometimes we just need a stock photo of an elbow holding a door open, and that elbow could be a wide range of skin tones,
[00:06:33] um, heights, abilities, sizes. Or sometimes we need a stock photo of a phone by an ear. We don't need to see the person's face. Or hands on a keyboard. Various types of hands on a keyboard. Um,
[00:06:49] I think there's. Beauty in the mundane representation. I have had to look for clients before have images of someone stirring a cup of tea. And I can only find white hands. White women hands actually, not a lot of men, but that leads into a little bit of what the representation of men in the kitchen.
[00:07:12] So many things where we're exploring here. But yes, some mundane stock photography would be welcomed. And if anyone knows a website, I found some amazing websites. Uh, they're listed on our website of representation of different types of stock bodies, there's body liberation. There's the UK Black tech stock, um, database. That is the women in tech.
[00:07:39] There's a lot of collections coming out now and having to come down for the past few years. But I haven't seen a collection. That is just really like, mundane, boring casual stuff like someone getting into a car or, you know, keys and a door. Or just, you know, watering plants, not the cheesy grin.
[00:08:02] You know, I'm watering plants and I look like a real human being. No I want, the basics, the, oh, this just happens to be someone's house and it just happens to be a plant and that person happens to be a amputee or happens to be. Um, a south Asian woman. That kind of vibe. Some mundane stock imagery is welcomed.
[00:08:27] And then finally there is now as we go through the rise of the AI world and the rise of AI generated content and AI generated imagery. I want to share a slight warning that when it comes to artificial intelligence, it is learning from the past.
[00:08:51] And a lot of the times what, what those models and AI models have been trained on. Is the past and the history told by white men: conquers, colonisers, whatever. I'm not going to go into a history lesson here. Um, there is work being done to change this. However, that work is taking time and it's not necessarily prioritising
[00:09:14] those from underrepresented backgrounds to represent in the content. So I have seen. Images generated by AI that could be used as stock photography. Um, I've seen some images generated by AI that really represents individuals from a wide range of backgrounds. However, I wouldn't lean on it. I wouldn't lean on it yet. Maybe that's the caviat, but I wouldn't lean on it yet.
[00:09:45] There's still some things within this images that I can tell the viewpoint and the vocal point of how that content was created based on the training, information it was given. If I get too technical, send me a DM, but essentially to create an AI generative tool. You have to give it a bunch of images.
[00:10:08] All over and then when I'm in a bunch, I mean, a gazillion , billions. So imagine feeding an AI generated tool all the stock websites out there so all the big ones. And then it will produce based on what you ask it for. So if that is where you'll probably, you're possibly leaning. Um, Be cautious that it may not have the representation
[00:10:32] of the diversity of the planet we live on yet.
[00:10:37] And be mindful of that, but it is a fun tool to play with that. I think when you're looking for a particular type of image going to something that's generated by AI may be quicker. Maybe, you know, a shortcut in some ways. When speaking to AI models and trying to prompt them to give you what you need, that is the specificity that you need
[00:11:03] more than I would say you need, when you're searching a stock photo database. That's the times when you need to say you want a disabled woman in a wheelchair who has a darker skin tone, um, pouring a cup of tea. That is the times when you need to specify that you want a man who is plus sized, of south Asian heritage.
[00:11:27] The, the way you talk to the model and the way you talk to the AI, um, has to have details. So to summarise, I just want us to go on a quick rant about stock photography. It is something that if you haven't used it as a marketer, I don't know how you've avoided it. Um, but it's very well used in our industry and
[00:11:50] things are changing so this is a little bit more positive story than it then some of the subject areas we've spoken on. But be mindful of the platforms you use to get those images. Uh, don't be afraid to specify because sometimes you need to and try to include the areas that don't come up naturally. So, uh, I'm highly advocating for representation of disabled community within stock photography.
[00:12:16] And also don't, don't. Not don't. Sprinkle diverse representation of your stock photos throughout your content. Not only on those days where you're talking about the individuals, disabled, people of colour, women sprinkling throughout. You know, they can do those things and you can celebrate them and have them featured
[00:12:39] anywhere in your content, it doesn't have to be that niche day. And finally, if you go into, go towards the AI aspect of things, approach with caution. Um, there's still a lot of work to be done there. It's moving very quickly, but approach with caution in regards to this representation of the wider earthwe live in.
[00:13:03] Thank you for tuning in for the marketing made inclusive podcast. I've been your host, Joyann Boyce. And send me any stock photo databases you come across. I love seeing them, the niche ones. As I mentioned this UK Black tech and there's the Un liberate I believe. And there are campaigns that have been done by Dove,
[00:13:27] by Unsplash and by Canva that specifically there to increase the representation of diverse communities within stock content. So speak to you next week. Send, slide into my DMS and send me those links. Thank you.
