Forum Discussion
Diversity in Stock Photos
I have found some of diversity in stock images in some of the mainstream stock photos sites. My challenge is finding the same person more than once for variety, and when I find more than one image of that person, sometimes the person is either smiling too much (stock photographs are the only ones showing patients having fun in the ICU) or in a pose that doesn't convey my message (thank God for Photoshop). I've gone as far as photoshopping people darker, older and fatter, and sad.
It is an ongoing challenge for me to find the right diversity in images, but with some ingenuity and Photoshop, I have found it possible.
To address the question, I think that a good improvement would be to add people with less than perfect bodies. I know that Articulate does listen to requests and suggestions from the community, but I guess that when it comes to characters and images, there's some catching up to do with diversity (and it's not just about ethnic or age diversity). I'd like to see:
- People NOT smiling all the time
- Overweight people/different body types - at all ages
- People with hair representative of their race
- No more cliche poses (if I see another doctor with his arms crossed and a stethoscope around his neck!)
- Easy to manipulate backgrounds
I'd be the happiest Developer in the planet if I got at least one or two of those.
I believe that is a good list to start with. As I said in my OP, I was really looking for a professional looking woman who was on the phone. I didn't care about any other parameters, just those I identified. However, as each search result came more and more disappointing results, I felt I needed to speak up and bring awareness.
Maybe there is a way for us as a community to take pictures and upload them as submissions for inclusion in the stock photo resources?