This year, the likes of Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, Cardi B, Shakira and Lil Nas X walked the red carpet at The Met Gala. And while the celebrities—in all their sartorial splendor—are, understandably, the focus of media coverage, I was curious about how Getty Images, the event’s official photographer, captures the red carpet glamour and all those candid shots from inside the party.

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Here, Kirstin Benson, Getty Images’ VP of global entertainment, takes Muse behind the scenes, revealing the immense amount of planning, coordination and teamwork that goes into covering fashion’s biggest night.

MUSE: How long has Getty been the official photographer of The Met Gala, and what does it mean to your team to cover such a culturally significant event?

Kirstin Benson: Getty Images has been capturing The Met Gala for decades and first officially partnered with the event in 2018. We now cover every aspect of the invitation-only event, including red carpet arrivals and departures and candid images from inside the party and live performances—intent on providing an intimate look at an unparalleled evening for the world to see. The event is unique in that it brings together so many different walks of life–designers, politicians, actors, models, musicians and athletes. Not to mention, it’s visually arresting with everyone dressed in theme. It’s no wonder it holds such cultural relevance around the globe.

How many photographers and videographers captured images and video from this year’s Gala?

This year, the Getty Images team comprised around 15 photographers and videographers, plus producers, technology support and operations pros, runners, and more than three dozen editors—both on-site and remote. Overall, we had more than 70 team members working in real time to produce and deliver content—both imagery and video—globally to our customers.

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How did you choose the team of photographers and videographers? Are these all people with experience shooting fashion and Hollywood events?

When formulating The Met Gala team each year, we take several things into consideration. First, we look to highlight our photographers and videographers’ strengths. Some thrive behind the line on red carpets. Others thrive in what we call “roaming” positions, where they pair talent up for photos or take more candid moments. And some specialize in performance or music photography. Another component is ensuring we have a diverse set of experiences and perspectives behind the camera. This includes a variety of factors, such as representation across our team of content producers and production staff, varied years of experience and different areas of expertise.

In addition to our staff creators, this was the first year that our two entertainment interns—Marleen Moise and Aliah Anderson—were able to shoot on the red carpet, too. We were delighted to feature seasoned creators alongside up-and-coming content pros and strengthen the quality of our coverage and storytelling from fresh perspectives.

How far in advance of this year’s Gala did you start organizing your team, and what kind of planning did you do?

We had our first meeting for the 2024 about three weeks after last year’s Met Gala. We recapped everything that happened and reviewed what we’d like to keep or change moving forward. The Met Gala is one of our biggest editorial events of the year and involves several cross-functional teams across Getty Images, including production and technology, photographers/videographers, assignment editors, still and video editors, and legal, to name a few. Everyone has a unique role to play to bring this night to life. In short, it takes a village.

Is there a dress code for the photographers you have covering this event?

The dress code for the Met Gala is formal/black tie. We expect the team on site to follow the dress code and wear “production black.”

How did things work the day/night of the event? How did you make sure there was always a photographer where one was needed?

Set-up is an all-day thing. We have members our team coming in from across the U.S. It’s a large operation to ensure the editing room is set up and technology for our photographers and videographers is in place. In the last two years, we introduced the use of remote cameras to capture the event. This allows us to put cameras in places where our creators can’t physically be. The cameras are set up the weekend prior to the event for testing and can’t be accessed until after the event. Remote cameras are typically used by our sports team on the catwalks, nets and roofs of venues and something we decided to incorporate for the red carpet to continue to innovate and find new ways to capture the event.

The red carpet begins around 5 p.m. and runs for several hours. Given there’s always a lot happening on the carpet, we have photographers and videographers in a variety of positions with different levels of access. They’re trained to capture everyone who walks in front of the lens. Since this is an invitation-only event, there’s so many surprises the night of the party—between the talent that shows up, what they’re wearing and who’s performing.

Our creators also have long-term relationships with talent, which plays to our advantage—especially inside the event or roaming on the red carpet. 

How fast were you able to get the images up on the Getty Images site? And what’s that process like?

We pride ourselves on speed to market and accuracy. Getty Images can send photos and videos from the center of the action on the red carpet to a publication in as little as 30 seconds. As soon as our creators shoot the content, the editors on-site and remote get to work editing and captioning in our proprietary software, before sending the content to our site and feeds in near real time.

We also capture high-quality video content. With our world becoming increasingly digital and highly visual, this footage is important for our customers in telling their stories, especially on social and online.

What makes the Met Gala especially challenging to cover? And how does it compare in size and scope to other events?

The hardest part is logistics. The museum is open to the public until the day prior to the event, so we wait to build out the infrastructure until the night before or the morning of the event, which takes a lot of pre-planning. It’s the biggest night of the year for fashion—and, from an event-photography perspective, it’s certainly on par with other entertainment tentpoles, like the Oscars or BAFTAs.

How did you feel/what did you do after this year’s coverage wrapped? I would think you might need a vacation.

This year, our team posted around 20,000 images and videos from the beginning to the end. The coverage reflects why our team is the best and a trusted source in the industry. I’m proud of the team always setting the bar high and ensuring we are delivering content that people won’t find anywhere else.

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Zendaya had my favorite looks of the night. She walked the red carpet twice and still managed to co-host the event! She looked striking in a custom Maison Margiela gown by John Galliano at the top of the night. Then, as the carpet was wrapping up, she surprised and delighted us all in a second—and even more dramatic look—wearing a vintage Givenchy dress by Galliano with a long black train and a headpiece filled with light-colored roses. She stayed in character for the entire carpet.

Following the event, our team was able to enjoy the city together and spend time with colleagues and partners we don’t always see. But there’s no rest for the weary! We had BAFTA TV & Film Awards this past Sunday, followed by Cannes Film Festival, which is starting this week.

Two years ago, at Cannes Lions, we at Getty Images heard many of the world’s leading brands and agencies make this pledge, marking a significant change to transform the way women are represented in media and advertising, across age, ability, gender expression, sexual orientation, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, religious beliefs and more. In conjunction, we launched Project #ShowUs, in partnership with Dove and Girlgaze, to provide a tangible resource for brands and agencies and ensure their pledges translated to real change. 

As the collection turns 2, we’re excited to celebrate how far the industry has come … and yet we must acknowledge—each of us—that we collectively have work to do. Momentum remains key, just as before.  

The progression of inclusivity and the impact of Project #ShowUs so far

I’m grateful to see how agencies and brands have fully embraced the collection over the last two years. Project #ShowUs images have been downloaded over 42,000 times by over 4,900 companies globally. Additionally, we’ve been lucky enough to see and support over 200 female-identifying and non-binary photographers in 41 countries who have contributed to this collection—including 85 new content creators and videographers since launch.

The collection has also had a broader impact on how our customers view the representation of women. Following launch of the collection, global customer searches on Getty Images increased for “real woman” (up 150 percent), “natural beauty” (up over 100 percent) and “body positive” (up over 470 percent), while new search terms appeared such as “unretouched” and “authentic woman.” 

Our most downloaded images of “woman” in 2020 also illustrate that the advertising industry is embracing more ethnically diverse portrayals of women, with the top-selling images including Asian, Black, Indian and white women.

A call to brands and agencies—we’ve still got work to do

While we’re on the right track, we still have a long way to go. In a 2020 survey conducted by Getty Images’ insights platform Visual GPS, 49 percent of women who reported feeling discriminated against said it’s because of their body shape or size, and 36 percent reported discrimination because of the way they look, dress or present themselves. The numbers don’t lie, and it’s clear that the advertising industry has an urgent responsibility and opportunity to impact change for the better. By portraying and normalizing what we see in real life, we can create momentum for tolerance and appreciation.

Covid-19 also presented a new barrier in our fight for inclusivity, as women worldwide have been greatly impacted by the ongoing global pandemic, and more negatively impacted than their male counterparts. According to recent analysis by McKinsey, female jobs are 19 percent more at risk than those of male counterparts because women are disproportionately represented in sectors negatively affected by Covid-19. While this indicates larger societal issues at play, it also further signals to brands the importance of representation—now more than ever.

On the bright side, we’ve seen brands rise to the challenge and begin communicating in more empathetic ways, bringing a new level of inclusivity to our visualization of the human experience. It’s time for this to become the new industry standard.

Answering the call from consumers

The ideals that Project #ShowUs champions—inclusivity and accurate representation—are also top of mind for consumers. Our unprecedented access to cameras is changing our visual landscape, creating an expectation that the visuals we see are factual and representative of real people and the world around us. This has a profound, sustained impact on consumer expectations of how brands tell their story, and they need to grasp that. According to our Visual GPS research, 44 percent of respondents still don’t feel that advertising does a good job of representing who they are. 

Our research also shows that 80 percent of respondents in the U.S. want to see companies showing people with all body shapes and types in their communications, and 68 percent said it’s important to them that the companies they buy from celebrate diversity of all kinds. You read that right—diversity of ALL kinds, across age, ability, gender expression, sexual orientation, ethnicity and religious beliefs. Furthemore, people want to see realness in the visuals that surround them, with 90 percent saying companies need to show people with all body shapes and types.

Many of the brands we work with have intentionally addressed these consumer preferences and we’re seeing that firsthand in terms of what content from the Project #ShowUs collection is gaining steam. It’s really promising to see not only how diverse the collection is as a whole, but to see so much diversity among the most popular images—they represent women of all ages from all cultures with disabilities, scars, diverse hair styles, different skin types and a range of body shapes and sizes. When I look at this content, I see real women with real stories, and I’m hopeful we’ll start to see even more of these women in advertising and media content for years to come. We all hold the keys to a future in which all women feel represented and it’s up to brands to proactively engage with female-identifying and non-binary individuals on a deeper, more satisfying level than ever before.

How do we do that, exactly? Well, for starters, say it with me…

The lone polar bear on the ice floe, smog billowing from smokestacks, forest fires devouring California—these visual icons, seen so often around us, have educated the public about the negative impacts of climate change. But when it comes to commercial imagery, consumers want to see a positive, hopeful message. Already, a new set of visual icons is emerging, such as hands holding a seedling, a green globe, a woman hugging a tree. While these icons are useful for bringing environmental issues instantly to mind, they also picture the issue as somewhat remote and even abstract. They lack an immediate call to action.

Which means there remains a genuine need to move the visual language forward. And to do that, we must center visuals on people, communities and action, clearly showing what companies and individuals can do to contribute to environmental sustainability, both now and in the years to come.

Last year, Greta Thunberg—now something of an icon herself—became the face of climate change activism, calling on businesses of all sizes to step up to the plate and do more to preserve our world for future generations. Her activism combined with popular sentiments might lead one to believe that environmental sustainability is most important to Gen Z consumers, but our Visual GPS research revealed that sustainability is actually important to consumers across generations. Baby boomers rank the most passionate, and Gen Z, surprisingly, the least. Across the globe, all four generations we surveyed—Gen Z, millennials, Gen X and baby boomers—were twice as likely to respond to visuals showing large-scale solutions such as renewable energy or reforestation, especially with a human touch. 

Our data shows that 81 percent of consumers expect companies to be environmentally aware in all of their visual communications—even when the visual storytelling is not directly related to the environment. Considering that nearly all (92 percent) consumers are concerned about the environment, sustainable lifestyle choices won’t always look the same for the everyone. What this suggests is people fold sustainable choices into their daily lives based on a number of factors, and our research shows that generational values are among them. 

Baby Boomers

While the solar panel icon tested well with everyone, the recycling symbol tested particularly well with baby boomers and Gen X, leaving younger generations less impressed. Our research shows that baby boomers tend to favor imagery showing the direct impact of environmental issues on people, animals and nature. They have more faith in individual actions such as recycling and eliminating single-use plastics, and in nonprofits and community groups. So it’s especially important to show these age groups directly involved in what we call personal environmental projects, including recycling, volunteering or using reusable products.

Gen X

Gen X is the most skeptical when it comes to any industry’s ability to truly do good for the environment, but they are also the generation most committed to sustainable investing. This group is currently in a life phase in which many have children and/or professional leadership responsibilities, which means they are in a position to somewhat influence the future of sustainability. There is also an opportunity to show Gen X in both sustainable lifestyle and business imagery, whether it involves leading a team of renewable energy workers, teaching a child how to garden, or eco-proofing their own home.

Millennials 

Although recycling may inspire older generations, our data shows sustainable business is more likely to strike a chord with millennials. A 2017 Shelton Group study confirms that while millennials are less likely than baby boomers to engage in small individual actions such as recycling, they are more likely to buy from companies and businesses that adopt environmentally sustainable practices—and historically, they have also been the main drivers of sustainable consumption. Visuals showing millennials as sustainable small-business owners and customers will not only reflect their lifestyle choices, but draw them in.

Gen Z

Gen Z prefers visuals that tell a story associated with the environment, have a global feel and capture real human emotions. They place more responsibility on the media and believe in technology’s potential to further encourage sustainable practices. They may not have as much spending power as the older generations, but they still see themselves as ethical influencers and catalysts for change. Protest signs are “fine and all,” but to capture this growing demographic, it’s also important to show the emotional gratification that this age group derives from coming together to do what they can for the environment.

Taken altogether, this suggests that while Covid-19 has not chased sustainability away, it has changed who cares most about it. The global pandemic and subsequent recession have hit younger generations particularly hard, and a Deloitte study confirms that although sustainability still matters a lot to them, older generations are currently leading the way as sustainable consumers. In our summer 2019 survey, Gen Z and millennials were the most passionate about sustainability, with more than half reporting that they only buy from eco-friendly brands. Our spring 2020 survey revealed the tables have turned: Now, baby boomers and Gen X are more passionate, and up to 10 percent more committed to buying from eco-friendly brands.

Assuming the economy will improve once the pandemic has subsided, it will be increasingly important to consider all generations when showing sustainability, as well as the visual icons which will resonate with each one.

It’s no secret that Pride this year looked different, with Black Lives Matter and Covid-19 dramatically shifting focus away from a time of pure celebration and instead toward reflection, action and protest. But even then, depictions of the LGBTQ+ community remained a significant topic of conversation worldwide—one which we’ve seen reflected in our search data at Getty Images. In the past 12 months alone, we’ve seen a 133 percent increase in the number of individuals searching for LGBTQ+ content on our site.  

Good news given that we now understand how visual representation of the LGBTQ+ community informs how accepting people outside of that community are of them. Procter & Gamble last month released a study in the U.S. revealing that people who have been exposed to LGBTQ+ people in the media say they are more accepting of LGBTQ+ people over the past few years, compared with respondents who had not recently seen LGBTQ+ people in media. 

What does that mean? The more we visualize LGBTQ+ people in the media we create and consume, the more we can boost acceptance—a win-win across the board. However, no matter how much visual content we create that represents this community, it’s up to brands to use it.

At Getty Images, we have long been invested in helping our customers authentically depict this nuanced, diverse community, seeing it as our responsibility to challenge stereotypes, tell stories that haven’t been told before and more specifically guide customers beyond Pride messaging and rainbows only one month out of the year. Authentic, inclusive representation is a 24/7/365 kind of goal. Anything short of that leaves room for improvement.

Progress in terms of depicting the LGBTQ+ community in advertising has been relatively slow and yet steady when I think through the last few years. Prior to 2015, we saw only a narrow interest in imagery depicting this community. However, it was after the landmark Supreme Court decision that same year which legalized gay marriage in the U.S. that we started to see a shift in portrayals of the community. Almost overnight, mainstream brands began to more broadly include this kind of imagery in their advertising and marketing. But these efforts require an asterisk, as depictions were primarily of the “L” and the “G” members, with a particular emphasis on gay couples and gay parents. One could argue brands were looking for a safe and, dare I say, more palatable way to depict the community without risking offense to more conservative customers. 

That’s not enough anymore. Our world has changed as consumers increasingly demand—it’s no longer appropriate to say they expect—brands to hold a firm point of view and take a stand on social issues, including queer rights. Brand values play into building brand loyalty and are intrinsically tied. Thankfully, the direction we see brands moving in now is more intersectional and nuanced, which is also reflected in our search data. For example, we saw a 1,000 percent increase in the search term “queer couple” and a 220 percent increase in “same-sex family” on Getty Images. Searches for “gay couple and Asian” were up 6,800 percent and “LGBTQ and senior” were up 1,425 percent on iStock, demonstrating a desire to depict the LGBTQ+ community more broadly.

Even then, the opportunity to do better exists. The LGBTQ+ experience is far from singular or one-note—it’s layered, diverse and, admittedly, as colorful as that rainbow symbolism so closely associated with it. Visualizing all of this variety remains integral, and we intentionally direct our photographers, filmmakers and illustrators to showcase the entirety of the experience—across all communities, ethnicities, family structure, ages and body shape. We’re currently working with GLAAD on a set of comprehensive guidelines which will include best practices for creating authentic and compelling images of the LGBTQ+ community, common terminology, clichés to avoid, as well as ways to create a safe and welcoming set. 

What we need is everyday imagery used in everyday advertising from social media posts to company newsletters. Imagery brands can use showing LGBTQ+ individuals participating in the same everyday tasks as everyone else—working, going to school, doing laundry, cooking, running errands, visiting family, going to the doctor, walking the dog, grabbing a coffee, planning a vacation (remember those?). Imagery that focuses on these everyday moments demonstrates that sexuality and gender-identity are only one aspect of your full identity. Once members of the LGBTQ+ community are depicted as everyone should be—namely, as dynamic, multidimensional, authentic and human—that’s when real progress is at hand. 

Until then, don’t let those rainbow hues fade. Hoist those flags up higher, and let’s get to work.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc globally, we’re checking in with the people in the creative industry to see how they’re doing. Here, we catch up with Tristen Norman of Getty Images.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the world, we’re checking in with folks in the creative industry to see how they’re doing. Here’s an update from Claudia Marks, senior art director at Getty Images.

Here are the facts: Adults 50 and up are living increasingly full lives. They’re working longer, starting businesses later, raising children of all ages and serving as caregivers themselves. They’re physically active and embrace technology, because—here’s the catch—age is a number, not a lifestyle. Everyone drinks coffee. Everyone spends time with friends. Everyone loves. Their lives are just as multidimensional as someone in their 30s or 40s. 

But you wouldn’t always know that from some of the imagery that surrounds us. Like the older man in his well-worn recliner, or the woman smiling, seated next to her grandchild. Both feature ageist stereotypes which couldn’t be further from the reality of aging today.

The good news? We’re moving away from that. Slowly but surely—both in terms of what we at Getty Images are making available and what’s in demand. In terms of the latter, a brief look at our top-selling images of “senior/s” over the past decade reveals a positive trend away from such stereotypes and toward real, authentic representations of aging. 

I’m referring to the fact that in 2008, the top-selling image of “seniors” on GettyImages.com was of a Caucasian couple looking fondly into the distance—a stereotypical, “go-to” retirement image, both in subject matter and in setting. But in 2018, our top-seller featured a group of senior female friends practicing yoga together—a group of older women socializing, demonstrating their physical fitness and also enjoying themselves. By tying into concepts related to friendship, activity, community and fun, we achieved something more relevant to a modern audience, and customers noticed and responded in kind.