Representing Women Today Through Images

Blog excerpts below.
“Our faces and voices represent us, helping us be seen and heard.
Through images on the web we gain awareness and understanding of women’s experiences around the world, helping us understand lives outside our own.
With each new image posted to the web, we are creating a gallery of our time – shaping our perception of reality in the present, and creating a record of our time for the future.”
How can we celebrate the diversity of women?
“The way women identify and express themselves is important to represent because it is part of who they are. We need to recognize and embrace different identities and create safe spaces where people feel like they don’t need to change who they are for the people around them. The PICHA Stock Afrofemme collection is a great example of this because it is a celebration of the diversity of women. Scrolling through this gallery provides a gateway to discovering the collective experience of women today, to understanding their beauty, power, and influence.”
How can we fight the stereotypes that set women back?
“How do we fight against the damaging impact of these stereotypes? We can start by understanding them and examining how they present a threat to women.”
How can we challenge the status quo?
“Women are becoming part of every aspect of the workforce. While some cultures are further along than others, it’s clear that women are making progress here. The more images we see of women in male-dominated professions, the more we help women imagine themselves pursuing these career paths.”
Why is it important to describe images on the web?
“The way we describe images of women, and all images for that matter, is just as important as the images themselves.
The words we choose to describe images impact our perception and interpretation of our world and help organize the vast visual catalog of digital images on the web.
People who are blind/low vision rely on image descriptions (alt text) on the web.”
How do we describe the images we share?
- “Begin from a place of empathy.
- Think about the function of the image.
- Reflect on the context of the image.
- Focus on the subject of the image first.
- Provide all of the relevant visual details.
- Keep it short.
- Understand offensive language biases."
Publisher's Weekly: How Publishers Can Get Alt Text Right
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