Canon and Getty's new stock library collection sheds different light on disabilities

Getty and Canon Australia have partnered with disability inclusion not-for-profit Starting With Julius to co-create a new series of images that authentically represent Australian people with disability.

The collaboration seeks to more accurately portray individuals with disability, with the images being added to the existing This Is Australia Getty and Canon collection, launched with the intention of portraying the Australian population more authentically.

Australian Bureau of Statistics research reveal over four million people in Australia experience some form of disability, with Getty Images seeing an increase in searches for disability-related images on its website. The term “disabled adult” increased 79% year on year. Additionally, searches for ‘developmental disability’ was up 77%, ‘happy disabled’ increased 93%, and ‘disability employment’ was up 83%.

Petra O’Halloran, Creative Research Project Manager, Getty Images, says the industry needs to take stereotyping and misrepresentation more seriously and work more consciously to include representations of Australia’s diverse population.

“When one in five Australians experience disability, it shouldn’t be rare for advertising and marketing to include them. We believe it’s a brand’s responsibility to encourage greater diversity and authenticity – so we are taking steps to do so.

"The collection intentionally depicts people with disabilities in the full spectrum of human experiences that make up daily life; includes a diverse range of socioeconomic status, age, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality; and portrays real people, rather than actors portraying disability. Importantly, it also was designed to avoid only representing the stereotypical narrative of “overcoming” disability and instead accurately pictures disability as one aspect of a person’s identity.

You can view the new disability collection here.