Finding inclusive stock photography for marketing and advertising use where different people from varied backgrounds and representation of individuals that fall under certain protected characteristics has been difficult over the last two or three decades.
When there's lack of diversity in stock photography, these are trickled down to the projects in which these are used for
Not only does this hurt vulnerable communities, but it’s also a missed opportunity to highlight exactly how brilliantly diverse the world is.
Below is a list of Stock Photography websites for diverse and inclusive images.
Please note: licencing for any photographs you wish to use must be checked as they vary from platform to platform.
Free Stock Photo Sites for Diverse Photography:
Unsplash is a popular user-friendly platform that you can use to search for specific tones or concepts.
The Gender Spectrum Collection is a free LGBTQ+ stock photo library featuring images of trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming models that go beyond the stereotypes. This collection aims to help the media better represent members of these communities as people not defined by their gender identities.
Nappy provides free beautiful, high-resolution photographs of Black and Brown people to startups, brands, agencies, and more.
Disability:IN offers disability inclusive stock photography to the public. In an effort to empower business to achieve disability inclusion and equality, they encourage corporations to use this in recruitment material, marketing material, internal and external communications, etc. These photos were taken by Jordan Nicholson, and can be contacted at jordan.n.photo@gmail.com. Please take note of the photo usage guidelines on their website.
One of photography’s biggest issues is the representation around Africa and Black people that don’t fall into being racist or stereotypical in the way that Africa is typically depicted in the media. Iwaria offers a variety of high quality, free African photography that ranges from food, people, landscape, and more.
UK Black Tech supports, promotes, represents, and encourages the continued growth of diverse innovators and tech innovation across the UK. One of their initiatives is to provide free stock photography of Black people in technology that can be accessed and used with appropriate credit.
The photos from Women of Colour in Tech are available under a Creative Commons Attribution - License, meaning that you may copy, distribute and display the images as long as attribution is applied. Find out more on their Flickr page.
Paid Stock Photo Sites for Diverse Photography:
Along with offer inclusive photography, they also have programs that reinvest back into the BIPOC, disabled, and queer communities they photograph.
For use on your websites, web applications and mobile apps, we’ve built illustrations to be used anywhere and everywhere.