Artsy: It’s practically inevitable. Strike up a conversation with a stranger, and you’ll eventually wind up at the same question: “Where are you from?” For writer Taiye Selasi, however, there is no easy answer. Born in England, raised in the United States, and with family ties to Ghana and Nigeria, she’s “from” a lot of places. So, in a 2014 TED Talk, Selasi suggested redefining the question itself. Instead of “Where are you from?” why not ask “Where are you a local?” Selasi concluded that she could be best described as “multilocal”—that is, defined by the various cities she’s personally experienced, rather than the borders of an entire country.
6 comments:
I think all of us have looked at a stock photo and thought, "why in the world did Adobe think I wanted this?". Stock photo is a mystery, but this article provides a lot of insight. Turns out, they look at google search trends quite a lot, so it is all our own fault that these things exist I guess. I am incredibly glad that Adobe is thinking of new ways to create stock photos though, because they are not very culturally sensitive. Stock, in and of itself, is all about stereotypes because it is a collection of photos that can and will be applied to hundreds upon hundreds of different projects. Stock photos save money and time, but they are inherently problematic and it is great that this is being recognized now. I think outsourcing is a great approach to become more "authentic" and culturally sensitive so echo chambers of people who have no idea what they are talking about are not formed.
I’ve truly never thought about where stock photos come from or who uses them. In my mind, stock photos are the “heavily produced, shiny, polished-looking images.” They often look incredibly staged and fake, used typically in powerpoints as something intentionally (and often laughably) bad. It’s interesting to actually think of stock photos as a business, as an industry. I think it’s great that they are aware of the stigma stock photos have, the stereotype of being kind of terrible and fake. It’s important to be faithfully representing each and every culture truthfully, particularly if sources that are both meant to be reliable (like the Huffington Post) or meant to influence (like Airbnb or the Gap). I also appreciate the step beyond in not only being culturally respectful but temporally relevant and focusing on the true to life, relatable content that more people can connect to in this media driven era.
I’ve always found stock images frustrating. They seem to come in endless varieties, but if I’m looking for something specific it is rare that I can find something that does not feel manufactured and which is not the most basic, stereotypical portrayal of the subject. I am glad to hear that Adobe and the rest of the stock industry is moving away from those tendencies, even if it is a slow process. It was not entirely clear to me from the article what specific steps Adobe is taking to increase their realism and social conscientiousness in their stock photography, but it is encouraging even if the total of the efforts is simply being mindful of the problems. Mindfulness can go quite a long way. If Adobe can effectively improve their photos, that could go a long way towards changing people’s subliminal perceptions and stereotypes- stock photos are so ubiquitous that small changes could significantly change the media saturation that people experience.
Stock photographs happen to look very staged or pictures of cities in all of their glory which means night time looks. So consciously, I have never paid attention to the effect that they have on people or our view of things except when I need them for an assignment. Knowing this and recently learning about bias in class and how images can reinforce or teach them, I am happy that Adobe is realizing that change needs to be made and are looking for ways to make those changes. Having real authenticity in their photographs like they want allows for the different sides of peoples cultures and people to be seen and people can relate more to them. It is also going helps in changing the biases that have been created and perpetuated over time. It also gives a different perspective on the way different cultures, traditions and people are seen.
I can’t say I’ve ever looked at a stock photo and been impacted by it. Even ones that include people in various situations or stereotypes. I’ve just always seen them as the highly produced, posed, and fake; nothing more. I never really considered the fact that other people might actually look at them and get affected by them. Reading through the article I could see how people could take these things personally or get annoyed by the fact they help enforce certain stereotypes. I’m glad to hear that they’re starting to shift from the heavily produced and stereotypical photos to ones that are much more accurate to people’s cultures. Especially with how fast social media is growing nowadays. I think it’s beneficial for them to show off how different people actually look and live, so that we can better understand them and not further our skewed and inaccurate perceptions. Take images from real people in real settings, not just the types of things people just immediately assume they should see.
Like many other users have noted, stock photos are such an obscure breed. As Adobe noticed a spike in searches relating to travel calls for the company to think more about how their company’s portrayal of different places and people effects perception. It is interesting how even stock photos have been playing into stereotypes; the article brings up how East Asians are usually shown playing the doctor stereotype. This subconsciously affects how people regard certain groups. I think it is important that Adobe has recognized how what their company puts out into the world may be affecting society and how it may be insensitive. Stock photos are a large part of the images we see online, and the initiative Adobe has taken hopefully will spread to other companies. As awareness about cultural appropriation and respectful and appropriate representation rises, I can only hope the large companies follow along.
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