Stock photography research

Title

What’s Behind Those “Happy Diversity” Smiles? A Social Semiotic Analysis of Representations of “Diversity” In Stock Photography

Purpose

Examining the common photography practices for depicting “diversity” in organizational and diversity management contexts

Description

Researchers have identified patterns in the “diversity rhetoric” organizations use to discuss the importance of diversity. While similarly criticized, there has been less critical attention to the photographs used to illustrate support. This critical social semiotic analysis draws on Critical Race Semiotics, visual rhetoric, and past examinations of stock photography to examine popular representations of “diversity” in stock photography to demonstrate how they support problematic ideologies, practices, and expectations. It concludes with recommendations for application in the doing and teaching of public relations.

Research type

Mixed methods research, visual analysis, content analysis, semiotics

Research format

Presented as a poster at the University of Oregon’s Graduate Student Research Forum (May 10, 2024)

References

Ahmed, S. (2012). On being included: Racism and diversity in institutional life. Duke University Press.
Aiello, G., Thurlow, C., & Portmann, L. (2023). Desocializing social media: The visual and media ideologies of stock photography. Social Media + Society, 9(1), 1–14.
Akinola, M. (2016). Diversity isn’t what it used to be: The consequences of broad diversity definitions [Speech]. 2016 Gender & Work Symposium: Talking the Walk, Harvard Business School.
Benschop, Y., & Meihuizen, H. E. (2002). Representations of gender in financial and social annual reports. In I. Aaltio-Marjosola & A. J. Mills (Eds.), Gender, identity, and the culture of organizations (pp. 160–184). Routledge.
Biswas, M., & Bland, D. (2024). Diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies: Learning from journalism and mass communication programs with professional impact. Rowman & Littlefield.
Edelman, L. B., Fuller, S. R., & Mara‐Drita, I. (2001). Diversity rhetoric and the managerialization of law. American Journal of Sociology, 106(6), 1589–1641.
Ernst, E. R. (2016). The price of progressive politics: The welfare rights movement in an era of colorblind racism. New York University Press.
Gatrell, C., & Swan, E. (2008). Gender and diversity in management: A concise introduction. SAGE.
Georgeac, O. A. M., & Rattan, A. (2023). The business case for diversity backfires: Detrimental effects of organizations’ instrumental diversity rhetoric for underrepresented group members’ sense of belonging. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 124(1), 69–108.
Henry, A. (2024). Collaborators for change: Research on the relationship between communications and diversity executives. Institute for Public Relations.
Kress, G. R., & van Leeuwen, T. (2021). Reading images: The grammar of visual design (Third edition). Routledge.
Kvåle, G. (2023). Critical literacy and digital stock images: The interests of the uninteresting images. Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy, 18(3), 173–185.
Lawrence, S., & Hylton, K. (2022). Critical race theory, methodology, and semiotics: The analytical utility of a “race” conscious approach for visual qualitative research. Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies, 22(3), 255–265.
Logan, N., Place, K. R., Fussell Sisco, H., Vasquez, R., George, A., Terdik, M., & Rai, R. (2023). Diversity, equity, and inclusion in public relations: Moving beyond the status quo. In E. L. Toth & P. G. Bourland-Davis (Eds.), Navigating change: Recommendations for advancing undergraduate public relations education (pp. 82–93). Commission on Public Relations Education.
Machin, D. (2004). Building the world’s visual language: The increasing global importance of image banks in corporate media. Visual Communication, 3(3), 316–336.
Machin, D., & van Leeuwen, T. (2007). Global media discourse: A critical introduction. Routledge.
Liu, H. (2021). Diversity beyond whiteness: The possibilities for anti-racist diversity research. In S. Nørholm Just, A. Risberg, & F. Villesèche (Eds.), Routledge companion to organizational diversity research methods (pp. 24–35). Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Liu, H., & Pechenkina, E. (2016). Staying quiet or rocking the boat? An autoethnography of organisational visual white supremacy. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 35(3), 186–204.
Logan, N., Place, K. R., Fussell Sisco, H., Vasquez, R., George, A., Terdik, M., & Rai, R. (2023). Diversity, equity, and inclusion in public relations: Moving beyond the status quo. In E. L. Toth & P. G. Bourland-Davis (Eds.), Navigating change: Recommendations for advancing undergraduate public relations education (pp. 82–93). Commission on Public Relations Education.
Machin, D. (2004). Building the world’s visual language: The increasing global importance of image banks in corporate media. Visual Communication, 3(3), 316–336.
Swan, E. (2010). Commodity diversity: Smiling faces as a strategy of containment. Organization, 17(1), 77–100.
Thomas, K. D., Johnson, G. D., & Grier, S. A. (2023). Perspectives: Race and advertising: Conceptualizing a way forward through aesthetics. International Journal of Advertising, 42(3), 617–637.
Thurlow, C., Aiello, G., & Portmann, L. (2020). Visualizing teens and technology: A social semiotic analysis of stock photography and news media imagery. New Media & Society, 22(3), 528–549.
Machin, D., & van Leeuwen, T. (2007). Global media discourse: A critical introduction. Routledge.
Voisin, K. (2023, July 5). Trending image searches on Shutterstock 2023. Shutterstock.
Wilton, L. S., Bell, A. N., Vahradyan, M., & Kaiser, C. R. (2020). Show don’t tell: Diversity dishonesty harms racial/ethnic minorities at work. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 46(8), 1171–1185.
Zheng, L. (2023). DEI deconstructed: Your no-nonsense guide to doing the work and doing it right (First edition). BK Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
All images purchased from Shutterstock except photographer image by Allef Vinicius on Unsplash.