UK Black Pride
Image credit: Getty Images

Visual communications firm Getty Images and UK Black Pride, Europe’s largest celebration for African, Asian, Middle Eastern, Latin American and Caribbean-heritage LGBTQI+ people, have joined forces to take UK Black Pride’s 2021 virtual pride celebration – Love and Rage – to a broader audience than ever before.

The partnership will see Getty Images making the video and imagery it captures during the event free of charge for media; to encourage editorial coverage of the celebration. It will also see UK Black Pride leverage Getty Images’ editorial talent and owned channels to amplify the voices of its community. The partnership will allow Black Pride leveraging Getty Images’ global platform and channels to reach broader audience than ever before, said the company.

Getty Images will be sending its expert team of photographers and videographers to cover the programme of events during UK Black Pride’s virtual event; taking place this weekend from 2-4 July 2021 at the Roundhouse in London. Coverage will include video and images from the live performances; behind the scenes and portrait studio imagery; and sound bites and interviews with the organisers. All visual and audio assets will be free for UK Black Pride to use in perpetuity; and will be distributed across Getty Images’ global wire service. Images will be available via its website to media free of charge to encourage reporting on the event.

CAPTURING UK BLACK PRIDE

 “Each year, we put on our stages a selection of some of the best and brightest talent across our communities and this year will be no different,” explained Lady Phyll, Co-founder and Executive Director of UK Black Pride. “The support of Getty Images in capturing UK Black Pride 2021 means the vibrancy, talent and passion of the communities we represent will be immortalised and easily-accessible for journalists who are increasingly interested in LGBTQI+ communities of colour, and our contributions to the modern LGBTQI+ movement.” 

Getty Images will also be showcasing the event across a variety of its owned channels; including a UK Black Pride takeover of the global @gettyimages Instagram handle during the event and feature interview published on its website. “We are incredibly proud to partner with UK Black Pride and support them in amplifying the voices of their community via our global platforms,” stated Lisa Marie Rae, Senior Director Entertainment at Getty Images. “This partnership is one more important action against the commitment we have made to support underrepresented storytellers and communities. We are excited to capture the celebrations as they unfold.”

The partnership follows other recent work Getty Images has done to support representation of the LGBTQI+ community; such as partnering with US LGBTQI+ organisation GLAAD to launch guidelines for authentically depicting the LGBTQI+ community, as reported. “Our Visual GPS research tells us that only 22% of people in the UK see LGBTQI+ people represented regularly, and when they do, the representations remain narrow and stereotypical,” added Rae. “That is a big issue the media and advertising industries need to address; and we are committed to supporting them in doing this by creating and distributing more representative imagery of this community.”

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