{"id":112349,"date":"2025-07-18T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.adorama.com\/alc\/?p=112349"},"modified":"2025-07-15T10:26:48","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T14:26:48","slug":"building-community-shaping-visual-culture-with-create-by-getty-images","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adorama.com\/alc\/building-community-shaping-visual-culture-with-create-by-getty-images\/","title":{"rendered":"Building Community & Shaping Visual Culture with Create by Getty Images"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

During the weekend of June 7\u20138, Getty Images<\/a> brought its Create by Getty Images<\/em> interactive event series to Atlanta, spotlighting Getty Images and iStock’s creative talent. All this while responding to the growing demand for fresh, authentic visual content that reflects today’s evolving world, particularly the modern workplace. This intimate, hands-on event wasn’t just about making images. It was about building community, empowering creators, and producing content shaped by deep research and regional insight. It was also an opportunity for creators to connect, learn from Getty Images experts, and produce high-quality content for their portfolios and Getty Images platforms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We caught up with Tristen Norman, Director and Head of Creative Insights and Curation for the Americas, and Renata Simoes de Aguiar, Director and Head of Creative Content for the Americas, to learn how this event\u2014and the larger Create<\/em><\/a> initiative\u2014bridges Getty Images and iStock\u2019s commitment to both creators and customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Brief History: Evolving the \u201cCreate by Getty Images\u201d Series<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Photos by Getty Images Creative Staff from Create Atlanta 2025 Event<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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The Create<\/em> series originally launched in 2005 but underwent a rebrand following the COVID-19 pandemic. Since its return, Getty Images has hosted Create <\/em>events in Houston, Sydney, the Middle East (Dubai and Riyadh), Japan, Paris, and New York. Atlanta is the latest stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEach event is about deepening our connection with local creator communities while producing content aligned with what our customers need\u2014regionally and globally,\u201d Renata explains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor Atlanta, our focus was the South,\u201d adds Tristen, \u201cIt’s a region full of creative potential that has historically been under-tapped, even though many of our biggest clients are based there\u2014Delta, Coca-Cola, and ISG. There’s incredible diversity and a distinctive Southern character that we wanted to capture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In comparison, the Houston event, which took place in May 2024, focused on everything from local Houstonian life and culture to everyday sustainability and life milestones. There were featured presentations, interactive workshops, portfolio reviews, and shoots that focused on capturing local Houstonian life and culture, with an emphasis on everyday sustainability, as well as family celebrations, local travel, small business shopping, coworking spaces, and more. Creators also had the opportunity to self-arrange shoots throughout the city to capture relevant local content. And like Create Atlanta<\/em>, the Houston event aimed its focus on development, connection, and inspiration, resulting in unique content for Getty Images and iStock platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Collaborative Approach to Content Creation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Photos by Getty Images Creative Staff from Create Atlanta 2025 Event<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Unlike open call events, Create by Getty Images<\/em> events are an immersive experience for the company\u2019s exclusive creators. For the Atlanta gathering, 11 selected creators attended a collaborative weekend designed to upskill, inspire, and execute their ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Renata and Tristen explain that at Create Atlanta<\/em>, “We had a mix of creators who did both still photography and video, or one or the other. We also captured video that complemented the entire Sunday shoot. This included establishing shots and immersive street POVs of people commuting to work on their bikes (one of our creators rode his skateboard while filming a model riding her bike to work). These are perspectives that are not possible when shooting only stills. We also had a scene focused on women\u2019s leadership and a conference, where capturing people\u2019s emotions and reactions on video complemented the key moments shot in stills.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Demand for Video Content<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Photos by Getty Images Creative Staff from Create Atlanta 2025 Event<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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The visionary team continues: \u201cThe demand for video content continues to grow rapidly across industries. Upskilling our creators in video ensures we consistently produce high-quality, relevant content that meets evolving client needs and keeps Getty Images at the forefront of visual storytelling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preparation began weeks before. \u201cWe held a pre-event Zoom call where we explained the why behind the event,\u201d Renata explains. \u201cTristen\u2019s team walked everyone through the VisualGPS research and insights, helping them understand what types of imagery our customers are asking for and why. Then we shared casting choices, location previews, styling, and shot lists\u2014plus gave the creators some homework to plan their visual approach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Saturday, June 7, creators scouted the location, met with Getty Images’ creative team, and collaborated on shoot plans. By Sunday, they were ready. “We produced 22 shoots that day, all centered around the changing dynamics of the modern workplace,” says Renata. \u201cThat included hybrid meetings, flexible dress codes, intergenerational colleagues, and remote work dynamics\u2014scenarios we see playing out in real life, every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adds Tristen, \u201cWorkplaces look so different now. Some companies are back in the office; others never returned. Zoom meetings are often hybrid\u2014some employees are in the room while others are remote. Dress codes have relaxed, and Gen Z is well established in the workforce. We wanted to explore all of that visually.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not Just Business as Usual<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Photos by Getty Images Creative Staff from Create Atlanta 2025 Event<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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While the focus was on workplace culture at the Atlanta event, Getty Images also produced four additional shoots that weekend on key content pillars: caregiving at home, small business ownership, and experiential travel for people aged 50 and older.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getty Images\u2019 team led the production efforts\u2014scouting locations, hiring 17 models, coordinating shoots\u2014but the main creative direction came from the collaboration between creators and Getty Images’ experts. “Our goal is to teach creators how to replicate this high-quality content at home,” says Renata. “We focused on natural light, real environments, and casting authentic people, not actors playing roles.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Typically, once the shoots are complete, the creators select and edit their images with guidance from Getty Images\u2019 team. Tristen\u2019s curation team then steps in to highlight the best of those images within Getty Images\u2019 library and customer-facing collections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meeting Two Needs at Once: Pre-shot and Custom Content<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Photos by Getty Images Creative Staff from Create Atlanta 2025 Event<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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One unique aspect of the Atlanta event was that Getty Images\u2019 custom content team was also on-site. \u201cThere are two main ways clients work with us,\u201d says Tristen. “They either license pre-shot content from our library or they work with our custom content team to create bespoke visuals for their brand.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Atlanta, Getty Images did both. While exclusive creators shot imagery for Getty Images\u2019 library based on existing briefs, the custom team executed a campaign for a major consumer goods brand, turning the weekend into a hybrid model of education, community, and real-time production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supporting Creators Year-Round<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Create By Getty Images is just one way the visual media company nurtures its creative community. \u201cWe host monthly Zoom \u2018Hangouts\u2019 to present new briefs, brainstorm with creators, and talk through things like casting, styling, and production tips,\u201d says Renata. \u201cWe\u2019ve also built our own Learning Management System (LMS), which offers modules on everything from shooting video to using color palettes effectively. It\u2019s about giving creators the tools to shoot authentically\u2014and make money doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getty Images\u2019 commitment to authenticity extends to its work with advocacy organizations. \u201cWe\u2019ve partnered with groups like GLAAD to develop guidelines for inclusive sets and to ensure our photographers are representing communities respectfully and accurately,\u201d says Tristen. \u201cThis kind of investment is core to how we operate. It\u2019s not just about what brands want to see\u2014it\u2019s about what people want to see. And what people deserve to see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s Next?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Photos by Getty Images Creative Staff from Create Atlanta 2025 Event<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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With Atlanta wrapped, Getty Images is now preparing for its next Create event in Mexico City\u2014a return that was delayed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event is slated for the second half of this year, with two more planned in the Americas for 2026, as well as others scheduled in locations throughout Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Tristen puts it, \u201cWe are not a passive marketplace. Every image in our library has a story, intention, and a real person behind it. We\u2019re constantly asking: What does the world need to see right now? Our goal is to determine how we can help creators deliver that in the most powerful, authentic way possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below are links to several of the Getty Images collections, as well as the link to its VisualGPS research platform. This research fuels Getty Images\u2019 content creation\/development, and a few areas that help power the <\/em>VisualGPS<\/em><\/a> platform are proprietary search and download data from Getty Images\u2019 platforms (Getty Images and iStock), consumer survey data and insights, the expertise and analysis of the Creative team, and image testing. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n