Diverse Images Are Finally Getting Year-Round Attention
Credit Potter and Potter Auctions
Gado Images originally launched out of an effort to make minority history more accessible. In 2010, we began working to digitize the archives of the Afro-American newspapers in Baltimore. Since then, we’ve continued to work to make available the history of a wide range of historically underrepresented groups. Preserving and sharing these kinds of unique diverse histories is a big part of our DNA.
It’s No Longer Just Special Months
It used to be that our diverse history content would do okay for most of the year, and then receive a big bump during Black History Month (or Women’s History Month, or Pride Month). Thankfully, that’s beginning to change. Starting around 2019—when the histories of communities of color, members of the LGBTQI+ community, women’s history, and more began to get more much-deserved national attention—we saw demand for diverse history content both rise and become a year-round phenomenon.
We still see more interest in this content during Black History Month and other dedicated months, but that interest is also now much more evenly spread throughout the year.
That’s a wonderful change—it indicates that the world is focused on underrepresented communities and untold stories year-round. Dedicated months become a chance to focus on conversations about specific communities. But increasingly, those conversations are also taking place all the time.
A Webinar (That May be Free For You)
To dig deeper into these changes—and to explore the value of monetizing diverse history—I’ll be participating in a webinar from the Digital Media Licensing Association (DMLA) on Friday, February 25th, 2022 at 1pm EST.
Best Practices For Managing (and Monetizing) Diverse Media will be a lively discussion of the growth of diverse media, and best practices for making this important media available more broadly, while generating revenue for stakeholder communities. I’ll be joined by Eileen Flanagan of Warner Media (who will share buyers’ perspectives), Margaret Vincent of Stocksy United, and my co-moderator, Josiane Faubert of Picha Stock.
If your company is a DMLA member (that includes everyone at Getty Images, Shutterstock, and Adobe, among others), you can join the webinar for free. For non-members, it’s $59.99. I hope you’ll join me and the DMLA for this important discussion on Friday.
Spotlight on the Afro-American Newspapers
The Afro-American newspapers have been one of our key partners for nearly a decade. They have one of the best Black History archives in the world. To learn more about their materials and how we worked with the paper to digitize them, check out my article about digitizing the paper’s history on the Gado Images blog.
You can also see (and license) the paper’s images here.
New Black History Materials to Explore
We’re always working to build our collections of diverse historical materials. This year, we’ve added some wonderful new Black History content.
More photos from the Afro Newspapers, focusing specifically on everyday life
A brand new and growing collection from Potter and Potter auctions
More photos from the personal archive of the late Clarence Gatson
We’ll be here to explore diverse histories during special months like Black History Month, but also throughout the year. Stay tuned here on the Gado Images blog for more.