And when you say "the need for more diversity in stock content" is diversity as in the current diversity i.e. people of color LGBTQI, etc or just a better mix of photos styles and subjects 

No its not, Swiss Chocolate wants to abide by family values which stood the test of time for over a million years.  It's not backward thinking it is the basis of human society with out which we would not be here.

As to the "diversity" trend its has little to do with real diversity and more to do with
corporations trying to appear "woke" and huge amounts of money being thrown at minority interest groups who shout the loudest and have their own "bigoted" agenda for their own political ends.

"Traditional" maybe is the word you are looking for @SwissChocolate.

Thank god we've made enough progress that your husband / father / brother allows you have a job so we can all hear your enlightened views in here.

I'm not a native English speaker, but in microstock "Diversity in stock" means one and only thing:

here is a title of one of 10000000000 articles nowadays all around:

"Gaining A Competitive Edge: Seven Ways To Build Diversity And Inclusion In The Tech Workplace" (Forbes)

Since stock sites aim to serve all those big customers which have their own agenda mixed with political propoganda, we have what we have: constant reminder to shoot something that "has to be" popular by all means.

And this is why they don't get those topics "organically" - nobody is interested in shooting something that does not exist in real world.

4% of population who are LGBTYERKKDHJ or other people with psychiatric conditions, and socially accepted deviations aren't a "community" - they are just people living lives with their issues like everyone else, but we are forced to believe that at least 50% of people are like that and this is a norm and as a result there are mothers who change genger to their 3 y.o children (!!!) because a boy suddenly wants to wear a skirt.

Sorry, I'm not going to take part in these activities. If Adobe and others want to be responsible for the insanity it causes, good for them. Money making machine has no human feelings nor values anyway.

I'm out.

I apologize for the last minute notification. Unfortunately we need to cancel the webinar scheduled for today. I'll reschedule as soon as possible and will let you know.

Best regards,

Mat Hayward

Quote from: Brightontl on May 23, 2019, 13:43

Why people see politics everywhere these days?

Social media.

Martha, like you I mostly shoot nature (and travel), so I'll probably give the webinar a miss too...(loved the last one Mat)

Quote from: Brightontl on May 23, 2019, 13:43

Why people see politics everywhere these days?

Social media.

In the past year I became a grandmother and also gained 4 new great-nieces and nephews,. I am white as are my 3 siblings, my husband & his 3 siblings and all our nieces and nephews, but out of the 6 children in this newest generation (one who is three years old in addition to the 5 new babies), 3 are children of color or mixed race (one Asian, 2 African/Caucasian), and to me, that is so heartening, that despite so much bigotry still existent, this generation of Millennials are marrying for love without any prejudices, and our families are so much the richer for it.

Quote from: gillian vann on May 24, 2019, 06:26

Quote from: wordplanet on May 24, 2019, 00:17

In the past year I became a grandmother and also gained 4 new great-nieces and nephews,. I am white as are my 3 siblings, my husband & his 3 siblings and all our nieces and nephews, but out of the 6 children in this newest generation (one who is three years old in addition to the 5 new babies), 3 are children of color or mixed race (one Asian, 2 African/Caucasian), and to me, that is so heartening, that despite so much bigotry still existent, this generation of Millennials are marrying for love without any prejudices, and our families are so much the richer for it.

I'm sorry, but you are sounding as though you think your families are better (my synonym for "richer") than others because of your "diversity".

Gillian, I'm sorry if I sounded that way. I don't think my family is any better than anyone else's. With all the bigotry that has come to the fore here in the US since the new administration, and which has made me very sad and embarrassed to be an American, I'm heartened that I also see positive changes especially in this new generation. I live in a country where when I was a child, down south African-Americans were hung simply for being black. And up here in New York and out in California, even in the 1980's, when I was the age my daughter and nieces are now, they were also killed simply for being in the wrong neighborhood. That's a horrible legacy.

So, being a literal person who likes to give examples, I shared the changes in my family that have come about quite suddenly with weddings and babies in the past few years simply to show that in fact diverse families are a reality - at least they are for my family here on the East Coast, but also out in Tennessee where one of my nieces her new family lives.

That doesn't make us better or worse than anyone else. I shared it simply to show that "diverse families" are not a myth. But I also realize that they are also not the norm here. My grandson has blonde hair and blue eyes ... and ethnicity from across Europe - Italian, Irish, Latvian, German and Polish, and that doesn't make my immediate family any less or more than those whose children are descendent from those across different continents. That wasn't my point at all.

When I was growing up in the 1960's & 70's being of Italian heritage sometimes meant that I was discriminated against even though I was born here as were my parents and one of my grandparents, so I have seen many changes. And despite those changes, I recognize that what American corporations would like to portray as a happy reality, while not a myth, is still not what most families look like. It's marketing.

I'm conflicted myself. There is a part of me that knows that if I asked to photograph my beautiful nieces, their handsome husbands and adorable babies for stock, those photos would sell well, but it also feels almost like exploitation.

Race is a very fraught issue here in America, but diversity is a goal that I personally feel we should strive for, not because you need to have a blended family to be tolerant, but because acceptance and tolerance are goals that make life better for everyone. Honestly, it is appalling that terms such as "blended family" roll off the tongue here. They are just a family, pure and simple.

I also did not mean to disrespect swisschocolates' or anyone else's having taken offense at feeling pressure to shoot images that were outside her comfort zone and I apologize for calling you a bigot. I think that trying to discuss how we feel in a civil manner is the only way to move forward. Growing up my church taught me the views that you also hold, but living with good people whose sexual orientation was different than mine led me to believe that those teachings were wrong. Neither of us should force our ideas of what is moral upon each other.

I recognize that foisting our American culture on the rest of the world is not something to be proud of. Your cultures did not enslave people and treat them like chattel as our country did, or send their native population to live in the desert. America has been a bully for a long time. And while many of my compatriots may think they are better than others, I do not. That's why I took so much offense at the "deviant" comment. IMHO, we are all God's children and all entitled to live our lives as we choose providing that we do not hurt others in our pursuit of happiness.

But that also means that I don't have the right to force my opinions on you, only the right to discuss how I feel and to reiterate that I am as cynical as you are about the pressure to shoot diverse images, because it is just a marketing ploy. On the other hand, I also think that showing diversity helps to make it more commonplace in people's minds and perhaps helps to make people less likely to see the world as "'us" and "them."

My decision not to attend Mat and Briana's webinar had nothing to do with disapproval of "diversity" but simply because it doesn't apply to the subjects I choose to photograph.

But if they want this unrealistic stuff - they can hire, pay and get it. Instead of shaming people who don't want to invest their resources into some staged "realities" someone wants to believe in.

So do you only ever see smiley, happy caucasian people? I see smiley, happy african-americans, and asians, and females, and males, blonde hair, brown hair, no hair, and all kinds of other people. You know, people. Yet the images depicted in stock are mostly smiley, happy, white, blonde, pretty people. I thought that was what was meant by diversity. People. All people. Regular people.


If you don�t want to shoot diversity, don�t go to the webinar. If you do, go see what�s up.

"That time you didn't want to understand what the market wants"

I'm talking about fake reality and lack of emotional diversity. How many people turn up at their doctors in extreme body pain looking perfectly healthy with a big smile on their face?

Quote from: Trippy on May 25, 2019, 16:08

I'm talking about fake reality and lack of emotional diversity. How many people turn up at their doctors in extreme body pain looking perfectly healthy with a big smile on their face?

Yes, I understand it is true
but I tried to explain another "fake reality"

I understand lack of emotional diversity because we are still in business of marketing... And "happy smile" brings sales.

But is microstock really used only by "global"=(american) corporations who need this specific kind of "diversity"?
And never by local companies worldwide?

Or those markets aren't that important? I won't be surprised if not (and even would understand why).

Just would be great to know that here is one and only "client" we all work for... And make decisions based on this knowledge then.

So are you saying that the US is the only country that would ever buy images showing diverse people? No other country in the world concerns themselves with wanting their local customers/employees/whatever to know they sell their product/deal with everyone and anyone, regardless of race, or religion, or whatever? Hmm.

If you look at American adds for big pharma there is a complete disconnect between audio and visual.
"This product will destroy your liver and possibly kill you." Big smile.

Just take a look at the Adobe 'Recent Top Sellers'. Fake realities and big smiles everywhere.

It's sad but it sells.

Diversity is great but we need more reality. imho

We only see what we want to see; we only hear what we want to hear. Our belief system is just like a mirror that only shows us what we believe.

I live in Europe and see all kinds of races everywhere, every day.

Any place considered a city really. It can be different in smaller towns and countryside, but that's the case everywhere.

I live in Europe and see all kinds of races everywhere, every day.

"Any place considered a city really. It can be different in smaller towns and countryside, but that's the case everywhere."

Population of United States is approx. 327 mln. Population of the planet is more than 7 bln.

The United States is slightly more than 4% of the whole world population.

Sorry, you can't be a "global" company, if you reflect the views, values and issues of just 4% and ignore 96%!

It would be great to have local "Heads of Content" too, who understand the whole picture and interact with each other. It will be better for business in the long run, if you want to sell to more than 4%...

And although the US is only 4% of the population, a disproportionately large proportion of my micro sales (iS) is to the US, even though I have very little US content and no 'styled' images.
Whether the US making the lion's share of micro sales, probably overall, is chicken and egg or not, I couldn't possibly say.

maybe they were going to say that not all images should be styled for the US market.