Adding diversity to stock photos

NEW YORK - Four years ago, Karen Okonkwo and Joshua Kissi co-founded the stock image company TONL as a resource for websites to depict black people as the fathers, mothers, wives, husbands, sons, and daughters they are and, Okonkwo and Kissi felt, they so often weren't shown as, if shown at all.

"Stock photography's one of those pinpoints that companies, brands, press and all types of people see and use," Kissi said.

But Kissi, the photographer, never wanted to shoot stock photos. "It's uninspiring," he said. "It's like super vapid."

Okonkwo ran a beauty, health, and wellness blog which a black friend pointed out rarely posted images of black people.  

"I thought to myself: 'How could I purposely not be putting black people on there? Of course, I had black people on there,'" Okonkwo said.  

Okonkwo not only discovered she hadn't but also found the Internet lacked stock photos of people of color, which led her to reach out to Kissi, who only recognized the need for a fresh, representative library of images after the police killings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling.

"The images we saw when it came to Philando Castile and Alton Sterling were all to prove that they weren't good people, their deaths were justifiable," Kissi said. "It wasn't necessarily trending. It was just a need."

In June of 2020, the disparity between black people and white people in this country and how the media represents them is now trending.

"You can say things like: 'White supremacy' or 'white privilege' or 'white fragility,'" Kissi said. "I think three or four years ago people weren't ready to hear those words or act on it."

With the help of partners offering and suggesting subjects and models, Okonkwo and Kissi sought to create a catalog of images that each tell a story.

"Not corny," Kissi said. "Not theatric."

With these pictures and their narratives, TONL gives people of color an opportunity to see people they recognize -- instead of the white, European standards of beauty and acceptance in the mainstream since forever and likely only enforcing so many of the systemic inequalities prevalent near everywhere in our society.

"Only seeing people who look like you constantly also affects your psyche as well," Okonkwo said.

TONL plans to continue expanding and diversifying its catalog to represent even more of the people in this world and wants partners to help it do so.