【2014 Archives】

One year ago014 Archives on Global Disability Awareness Day, Getty Images launched a compilation of 50 stock photographs that depicted people with disabilities as human beings with full, gratifying lives.

Dubbed "The Disability Collection," the pictures set out to dispel stereotypes which often cast those with a disability as either "heroic" or "pitiful," defined by any physical, intellectual, or developmental limitations. Now that collection has more than 1,200 images which thoughtfully portray disability as just one part of a person's complex identity. The models come from diverse backgrounds and show a range of disabilities, a conscious effort to reflect the world as it is rather than how it's been filtered through one photographer's idea of what normal looks like.

Credit: Getty Images/Hero Images

The collection features smiling parents playing with children who happen to have a developmental or intellectual disability. A gay couple lounges on their bed looking at a tablet, and one partner's prosthetic leg is barely noticeable in the background. A musician sits in his wheelchair while working in a recording studio.

SEE ALSO: Sex ed video for teens shatters myths about sexuality and disability

The collection's rapid growth over the past year heartens Jordan Nicholson, a photographer commissioned by Getty Images, Verizon Media, and the National Disability Leadership Alliance to help launch and contribute to the collection.

"I think it’s amazing, and I think it’s sort of representative of what people want," says Nicholson. "That demand is there, it’s just a matter of getting the images created."

Mashable Trend Report Decode what’s viral, what’s next, and what it all means. Sign up for Mashable’s weekly Trend Report newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Indeed, Getty Images' research found that searches for "disability icons" and "physical disability" increased by 269 percent and 162 percent, respectively, between 2017 and 2018.

Credit: SOLstock / Getty Images a young intern gets training on the computer in a busy office Credit: sturti / Getty Images

Nicholson, who has a rare genetic condition called TAR syndrome characterized by the absence of bone in the forearm, says that contributing to the collection has been personally rewarding.

"I connect with the whole mission of it just 'cause growing up I never really saw people who looked like me, or different kinds of bodies in general," he says. "I think I'm just realizing how powerful it is when you actually start making these kinds of efforts."

The collection launched with a comprehensive guide for photographers interested in contributing their own images. The guidelines urge photographers to emphasize concepts like dignity, inclusion, independence, price, power, success, and mobility in their images.

Smiling woman with one arm moving into boat pose during hot yoga class in fitness studio Credit: Thomas Barwick / Getty Images Credit: Pranav Kukreja / EyeEm / getty images

They discourage depictions that portray disability as something that needs to be "cured" or "fixed," and highlight how disability is intersectional and should be represented across ethnicity, class, religion, culture, and sexual orientation. They also include a list of best practices for photographing people with disabilities. Getty considers the guide a living document to be updated as necessary.

Credit: MASKOT / getty images A photo of confident business people against window. Portrait of creative team at workplace. They are in brightly lit creative office. Credit: portra / Getty Images

"I think it’s about just representing people who are different but representing them in a way [where] that’s not their only identity," says Nicholson. "I don't go through my life feeling that way. I have a disability, but I am so much more than just my disability. It’s really about making images that showcase that."

---

Featured Video For You

---

'Breaking Bad' star RJ Mitte and ‘bionic actress’ Angel Giuffria are on a mission to change disability representation in Hollywood

---

Topics Activism Social Good

• Science
• Shopping
• Social Good
• Deals
• Tech
• Digital Culture
• Entertainment
• Games

• Your 'wrong person' texts may be linked to Myanmar warlord
• Petite pro fighter shows us how to defend yourself
• George R.R. Martin on Donald Trump win: 'Winter is coming'
• Lady Gaga heads straight to Trump Tower to stage a protest
• Best portable power station deal: Save 44% on the Jackery Explorer 100 v2
• Twitter's revenue guru and chief nice guy is out
• Let this NBA mascot strip
• Vladimir Putin says Donald Trump's victory gives him 'hope'
• The Sound and the “Furious”
• How the 'L.A. Times' poll was the only one to predict a Trump win

• Researchers once again hack a Tesla Model S key fob
• Trump's POTUS Twitter account had an image from Obama's inauguration in 2009
• Presenting the ultimate late '90s R&B songs about cheating
• Facebook clamps down on political advertisers ahead of 2020 elections
• Fall movie preview 2019: Awards contenders to watch
• People who swear more may be more honest? Get the F*ck out of here
• Yes, Trump watched the Women's Marches, and yes, he tweeted about it
• Hurricane Dorian expected to intensify into a powerful, major storm
• 7 worst tech commercials and instructional videos of the '90s
• Twitter roasts Trump aide for calling lies 'alternative facts'

• The best day to book your flight, according to Google
• MashReads Podcast: 'The Underground Railroad' is a must
• Distraught Hillary supporters refuse to give up on their candidate
• Relax! There's no GPS chip in new Rs 2,000 notes
• NYT Strands hints, answers for April 23
• Snapchat provided the rawest look at election night 2016
• Let this NBA mascot strip
• Donald Trump will be the only climate
• What's Thermal Throttling and How to Prevent It
• This letter proves the Nixons saw Trump's victory coming

• Mary Shows Up
• George R.R. Martin on Donald Trump win: 'Winter is coming'
• Distraught Hillary supporters refuse to give up on their candidate
• Thanks NASA! We've never needed livestreaming space views like we do today
• Big-League Bluster
• This is how the world leaders reacted to Trump's election
• J.K. Rowling keeps her cool during election, calmly destroys Twitter trolls
• Facebook made a new Snapchat clone for Brazil because why not
• One of Android's Easter Eggs is a Flappy Bird
• Donald Trump has just updated his Twitter bio