The New York Times

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by

Trent
in

From Sex Object to Gritty Woman: The Evolution of Women in Stock Photos (Published 2017)

Generic images used in ads, billboards, magazines and blogs hold up a mirror to culture at a particular moment in time. But can they also subtly influence it?

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/upshot/from-sex-object-to-gritty-woman-the-evolution-of-women-in-stock-photos.html

In 2007, the top-selling image for the search term “woman” in Getty Image’s library of stock photography was a naked woman lying on a bed, gazing at the camera with a towel draped over her bottom half.

In 2017, it’s a woman hiking a rocky trail in Banff National Park, alone on the edge of a cliff high above a turquoise lake. She’s wearing a down jacket and wool hat, and her face isn’t visible.