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Freedom251 › Blog › Adobe Stock

Best Ways to Find Authentic, Diverse Stock Photos

By Freedom251 Team · · 4 min read

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To find authentic, diverse stock photos, search by both the people and the real situation you need to show, then judge each image for context, agency and believable detail. Start with identity-focused collections such as Adobe Stock’s People & Diversity hub or Getty Images’ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Toolkit. Before publishing, check the asset’s license and whether its portrayal fits your story.

Where to look for inclusive stock photos

Adobe Stock: browse by people and theme

Adobe Stock’s People & Diversity hub groups assets around themes including multicultural people, inclusive workplaces, community, representation and diverse teams. It includes photos, video and other asset types, and Adobe says assets can be licensed on its site or through Creative Cloud applications. Use the hub to narrow your search, then describe the specific activity and setting you need.

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Getty Images: use identity-focused guidance

Getty Images’ DEI Toolkit connects visual guidance and collections with identity dimensions such as race and ethnicity, gender, disability, body type, age, sexual orientation and religion. Its guidance also stresses regional context and the ways identities intersect. That can help when a brief needs more than a broad label such as “diverse.”

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Unsplash: understand what its free license covers

Unsplash’s license says images may be used for commercial and non-commercial purposes without permission or required attribution. It prohibits selling images without significant modification and compiling Unsplash content to reproduce a competing service. The license explains usage terms; it does not guarantee that a particular search will produce the right people, setting or range of representation.

Search for the scene, not just the identity

Combine the activity, setting and relevant identity details in your search. For example, try “older Black woman working with colleagues,” “wheelchair user at a neighborhood market with a friend,” or “Latinx family cooking together at home.” These are query examples, not a promise that any one library will return suitable results.

Searching this way makes it easier to compare images that tell the right story, rather than choosing a photo simply because someone from a target group appears in it. Browse with the audience, location and subject of your content in mind; the relevant dimensions of representation will vary with the story.

How to judge whether an image feels authentic

Look at role, agency and relationships

Ask what each person is doing and whether they have a meaningful role in the scene. Does the activity look plausible? Do people appear to be participating, making decisions or relating to one another, rather than serving as a token visual symbol? Getty’s guidance distinguishes the presence of identities from how people are represented.

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For disability, look beyond medical or inspirational tropes

Adobe Stock’s guidance on disability representation recommends showing disabled people in everyday settings such as school, work, home and social life. A narrow focus on medical care, helplessness or “overcoming” disability can make a limited set of stories stand in for many different lives.

Check practical details, too. A non-disabled model pretending to be disabled or an implausible mobility aid can undermine an image’s credibility. Adobe advises bringing disabled co-creators, consultants, editors and models into production early so they can help shape scenes and flag inaccuracies. The same principle is useful when assessing stock: prefer images that portray disabled people as full participants in ordinary life.

Andraéa LaVant, President and Chief Inclusion Specialist at LaVant Consulting, describes authentic representation as “depicting disabled people fully and wholly as human beings with rich, complicated, and valuable lives.”

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Compare stock-photo sources against your needs

Source Discovery and guidance License information established here
Adobe Stock People & Diversity hub with themes such as inclusive workplaces, representation and diverse teams; includes multiple asset types. Review the current license for the individual asset and planned use.
Getty Images Identity-oriented toolkit and collections, with attention to regional and intersectional context. Review Getty’s current license terms and the terms for the selected asset.
Unsplash License page establishes usage terms; no particular range of search results is guaranteed. Free for commercial and non-commercial use without required permission or attribution, subject to license restrictions including limits on unmodified resale and competing services.

Catalogs and licenses are not interchangeable. Check the current terms for your chosen image, intended publication and use. Where relevant, consider image-specific release requirements and restrictions; a broad library license alone does not resolve every rights question.

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Use a final editorial and rights checklist

  1. Define the story. Note the activity, setting, audience and identities that matter; avoid treating “diverse” as one fixed category.
  2. Search in context. Pair a concrete scene with relevant identity details, then compare results across suitable collections.
  3. Assess the portrayal. Check role, agency, relationships, plausible details and whether the image relies on stereotypes or tokenism.
  4. Check the license. Confirm the selected asset’s current terms and any image-specific requirements for the planned use.
  5. Get informed review when needed. For sensitive or easily misrepresented subjects, seek input from people with relevant lived experience.

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Adobe StockGetty Imagesinclusive imagerystock photosUnsplashvisual representation

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