Getty joins Girlgaze and Dove to launch new beauty myth busting stock image library

With more than 70% of women saying they don’t feel represented in the images they see every day, Dove has partnered with Getty Images and Girlgaze to launch Project #ShowUs; a stock photo library that seeks to break stereotypes about beauty. 

A year in the making, the library of more than 5,000 images has been created for the media and advertising industries to view, license and use. Images in the library feature women from 39 countries and counting, including six Australian women who were photographed by women and non-binary individuals.

The project is the brainchild of personal care brand Dove, and was created in partnership with Getty Images and Girlgaze, a network of 200,000 female identifying and non-binary creatives from all around the world. Every image in the library was shot by one of 116 Girlgaze photographers.

Petra O’Halloran, Senior Creative Research Editor at Getty Images, says that the library is the result of changing search behaviour on the stock image platform. 

"In the last year, we have seen a sharp rise in media and advertising searches for positive female terms in Australia, showing a shift towards a more realistic, inclusive representation of women, but there is still a long way to go.

Project #ShowUs creates a platform for authentic representation of women in Australia and around the world.” 

According to Getty, the search term “real people” has increased +192% over the past year, “diverse women” by +168%, and “strong women” by +187%. The term “women leaders” is also up +202%. 

For the first time on Getty Images, every individual of the 179 photographed has personally defined her own search descriptions and tags for her images, allowing them to define their beauty on their own terms, ensuring they feel realistically represented.

Australian WNBA basketball player Liz Cambage says the platform marks a more realistic version of Australian women.

“Despite Australia being extremely multicultural, I always knew I was different growing up, especially coming in at 2.03 meters tall (“6’8”), never seeing girls like myself in magazines."