Representation Matters: A Collection of Diverse Stock Image Resources
This is by no means a comprehensive collection of diverse images. But, it’s a start and hopefully a good resource for people to remember when using photos in professional or personal posts. Representation matters. Help be a part of the change to make that happen.
One of the pieces of feedback I hear from people is that they don’t know where to find diverse images to use. Well, no more excuses. This blog post is a resource with lots of links to get you started.
Disclaimer 1: always check the resources for permissible usage for your needs.
Disclaimer 2: not all of these sites are free, check before using.
Note 1: I will update this blog post as I find new resources and have time.
[Last updated December 29, 2021.]
Note 2: Be sure to search within each site for diverse images, as many have large repositories of diverse photos in their collection.
▪ 500px
https://500px.com/galleries
▪ AI Generated Photos
https://generated.photos/faces
▪ Alamy Arab Photos
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/arab-men.html
Note: The URL says “arab-men” but there are Arab women on that site.
▪ Alamy Non-Binary Photos
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/non-binary-gender.html
▪ AllGo — An App For Plus Size People
https://unsplash.com/@canweallgo
▪ Bantu Photos — Authentic African Photos
https://www.bantuphotos.com/
▪ Black Illustrations
www.blackillustrations.com
▪ CanStock Photos Arabic
https://www.canstockphoto.com/images-photos/arabic.html
▪ Countries Stock Photos
https://www.dreamstime.com/photos-images/countries.html
▪ CreateHER Stock —
Your Destination for Authentic Stock Images Featuring Melanated Women
https://createherstock.com/
▪ Creative Commons
https://oldsearch.creativecommons.org/
▪ Creative Market, Diversity Avatars
https://creativemarket.com/Flat/3734411-795-Diversity-Avatars
▪ Creative Market, Inclusive Icons
https://creativemarket.com/Flat/3542290-Inclusiveness-350-User-Icons
▪ Deposit Photos
https://depositphotos.com/free-collection/diversity.html
https://depositphotos.com/stock-photos/differently-abled.html
▪ Disability Images
https://www.disabilityimages.com/
▪ Disability Inclusive Stock Photography
▪ Disabled and Here: Black, Indigenous, people of color
https://affecttheverb.com/collection/
▪ Diversity Photos
https://diversityphotos.com/
▪ Envato Elements
https://elements.envato.com/
▪ FreeImages
https://www.freeimages.com/search/diversity
▪ Freepik
https://www.freepik.com/
▪ Gender Spectrum Collection: Stock Photos Beyond the Binary
https://genderphotos.vice.com/
▪ Haute Stock
https://hautestock.co/free/stock/photos
▪ ImageFinder
https://imagefinder.co/
(contains some NSFW images)
▪ iStock by Getty Images — Diverse Families
https://www.istockphoto.com/photos/diverse-family
▪ Iwaria — specializes in African imagery, which includes landscapes and cultures as well as people.
https://iwaria.com/category/people/
▪ The Jopwell Collection — Vol. 1:
Free Stock Images Of Our Community At Work
https://jopwell.pixieset.com/thejopwellcollection/
▪ Jopwell
https://jopwell.pixieset.com/?t=diversity
▪ Jopwell Latinx Collection
https://www.jopwell.com/thewell/posts/jopwell-launches-latinx-stock-photo-collection
▪Mocha Stock — quality images featuring people of color
https://www.mochastock.com/
▪ Muslim Girl Collection on Getty Images
https://www.gettyimages.com/search/photographer?assettype=image&family=creative&license=rf&photographer=muslim%20girl&sort=best#license
▪ Nappy
https://www.nappy.co/
▪ NativeStock Pictures — leading supplier of Indian Country images
https://nativestock.com/famain.asp?customerId=27&sKey=XEWPV34W
▪ Noun Project Photos
https://blog.thenounproject.com/introducing-noun-project-photos-35d92bc95ab7
▪ Pexels
https://www.pexels.com/
▪ Pexels Latino Hispanic Photos https://www.pexels.com/search/latino%20hispanic/Pixabayhttps://pixabay.com/
▪ PICNOI
https://picnoi.com/
▪ Pixabay
https://pixabay.com/
▪ Pixerf — Asia’s Fastest-Growing Asian Stock Photo Site
https://pixerf.com
▪ POC Stock
https://www.pocstock.com/
▪ Public Domain Pictures
https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/
▪ Raw Pixel
https://www.rawpixel.com/?sort=shuffle&page=1&feed=creative-feed
▪ SheBold Stock
https://www.sheboldstock.com/
▪ Shutterstock Hispanic Tech Images https://www.shutterstock.com/search/hispanic+tech
▪ Slides Carnival
https://www.slidescarnival.com/
▪ Tetra Images
https://www.tetraimages.com/
▪ TONL — Culturally Diverse Stock Photos
https://tonl.co/
▪ UK Black Tech
https://ukblacktech.com/stockphotos/
▪ Unsplash
https://unsplash.com/
▪ Unsplash LGBTQ+
https://pixabay.com/photos/search/lgbt/
▪ Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
▪ WOCinTech
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wocintechchat/albums
“Plant the seed of possibility!” — Lupita Nyong’o
