What’s trending in Licensing: Diversity and inclusion

Keep up with key trends in Licensing with 500px’s Art Director, Karen Biilmann, as she analyzes common threads and current themes throughout our Contributors’ photography submissions. From authentic family moments to intimate snapshots of couples, here’s what’s trending in the 500px Licensing Collection.

Stock imagery is notorious for outdated, overplayed, and stiff representation of the nuclear family as defined in the earlier half of the 20th century. We see this on book covers, articles, ads, and billboards. As we modernize, the definition of ‘family’ and values associated with it have evolved, which creates a need for new content that reflects a more diverse population.

By using images that represent the diversity seen in modern-day families, we ensure that no one is left out and help to facilitate discussion around what these groups represent to each other and within their communities. The goal of building up a more diverse collection of photography is to make sure that all groups feel like they have accurate and authentic representation.

Sony Alpha a7 II
Sony Planar T* FE 50mm f/1.4 ZA
50mm
ƒ/5 | 1/80s | ISO 100

Nikon D5
35mm
ƒ/2| 1/400s | ISO 1250

Nikon D4s
35mm | ƒ/2 | 1/4000s | ISO 200

Companies continue to strive toward including diverse content throughout their campaigns. For buyers and marketers, the growing significance and appeal of this type of content has resulted in an upward trajectory of diversity within content marketing, promoting the global human experience.

It is important to note that diversity within content incorporates a number of sub-themes including, but not limited to:

– Race, ethnicity
– Cultural Backgrounds
– Sexual orientation
– Identity
– Body type
– Ability
– Age

By focusing on this type of content, we captivate global audiences. Integrating various cultural backgrounds and showing unique experiences through age, ability, and sexuality allows for more diverse messaging within the content. This creates experiential imagery that taps into a larger set audience, helping them to engage with, understand, and identify with the concepts being conveyed in the image.

Sony Alpha a7 II
Sony Planar T* FE 50mm f/1.4 ZA
50mm | ƒ/2.5 | 1/500s | ISO 320

Sony Alpha a7 II
Sony Planar T* FE 50mm f/1.4 ZA
50mm
ƒ/3.2 | 1/6400s | ISO 160

Sony Alpha a7 II
Sony Sonnar T* FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA
55mm
ƒ/2.8 | 1/1250s | ISO 400

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