Getty Images Recently Made Thousands of Photos of Black People in the US and the UK Accessible to the Public
Getty Images' "Black History & Culture Collection" is a collection of 30,000 rarely seen images across the spectrum of colonialism in the UK and the US to raise awareness about Blackness in the UK.
The age-old adage that a “picture is worth a thousand words” can sometimes be an understatement. Beyond a scattering of words that may associate with certain images are the narratives that a perfectly-timed, well-framed photograph tends to capture. The glare in a subject’s eyes, the arrangement of nature in the background, and the freeze-framed expressions that give the viewer some idea of what the moment is documenting are often critical to assisting in the telling and re-telling of the history that was captured.
Photography from varying periods in history can also influence perceptions around what the dominant social narrative was at any given time. When we see images of white American housewives from the 1950s, the narrative of a subservient helpmate who is presumably happy with cooking, cleaning, and child-rearing can easily be ingrained into our psyche, regardless of how accurate that assessment might be. When we see images of free-loving/anti-war young white folks attending the original Woodstock Festival of 1969, we can conclude that, at least at the time, white youth were challenging the imperialist nature of the U.S. and the restrictions on gender and sexuality mainstream American society were attempting to place on their personhood. Photos that are considered iconic, that make the rounds in museum exhibitions, or are used throughout the media as evidence of what the pulse of a particular time period was, generally function as the “thousand words” observers walk away with to be able to articulate a history they may be unfamiliar with.
For several years, the imagery of the global Black experience has encapsulated tales of immense struggle, sprinkled with occasional moments of documented progress and joy. However, a recent announcement from Getty Images of their Black History and Culture Collection intends to pave the way “for a deeper understanding of Black History.”
According to Getty’s website, the collection was created “for non‑commercial use to build on existing educational materials.” Nearly 30,000 rare images dating back from the 19th century highlighting a wide range of the Black experience in the UK and the United States will now be available for free public consumption. The collection consists of more than 20 categories of images that give visuals of Black life that encompass politics, hair, education, female empowerment and LGBTQ+ identities.
Getty’s purpose in making this collection available to educators, content creators and researchers is driven by the idea that Black history should be recognized “beyond narratives of enslavement and colonization,”, especially in reference to the identities of 19th-century Black people in the Americas and the United Kingdom. Kwame Asiedu, the collection’s project manager, told The Guardian that the project initially began as a response to the murder of George Floyd. The historical implications for Asiedu became increasingly more important while working on the project, as it was beginning to fill holes in what had been previously available in the public sphere.
“This project is really important because it’s about access and education and empowerment. For so long, those three words – regardless of whether it’s an image collection – have been missing from a lot of Black communities around the world,” Asiedu told The Guardian.
As someone who has often spent a considerable amount of time scouring the internet, and Getty Images specifically, for imagery that aligns with pieces I’ve written on Black history and culture, this offering is a welcomed one. But beyond any personal benefit this collection serves me, is its availability for a rising generation of Black students to be able to see proof of Black life beyond the scope of how it’s been presented to past generations. The story of our journey has never been one-dimensional, nor has our history only been relegated to turmoil, momentary peace, or snail-paced advancement.
And now these images will be able to produce thousands upon thousands of words that can give context to all of where we’ve been and where we are going.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Donney Rose is a Writer, Organizer and Chief Content Editor at The North Star
Fantastic news! Wonderfully written Donney, absolutely agree ☺️
Fantastic!