Getty Images partnered with fiftyfifty (street magazine sold by homeless people), and worked with their homeless vendors as models for classic stock photography.

We filtered out the most in-demand motifs on Getty Images, and portrayed the homeless as common people in these different life and work situations. This way, we showed the possibilities of homeless people, and helped people to see the homeless as who they really are –– the same human beings as anyone of us.

The photos were uploaded to Getty Images and iStock. All profits from the downloads go directly to fiftyfifty to help purchase apartments and house the homeless.

More photographers worldwide are encouraged to join us, and create their own stock photo collection with their local homeless, which will also be integrated into the Getty Images database and generate donations for partnered local homeless NGOs. Like this, the project has turned into a global movement.

The launch of the photo collection online at the end of January, accompanied by our online films telling the story of the project and our homeless models, brought on the first round of media attention. It began with nationwide PR exposures, and soon the project was spread out to international media.

From traditional channels (TVC, print, cinema advertising), to social media posts, our promotions across platforms have also helped the project to gain more public attention and discussions.

Opened in April, the photo exhibition in the biggest Church of Düsseldorf at the town center then led to another round of wide media coverage for us.

The project started out as an initiative in Germany, but with more and more photographers and homeless NGOs worldwide joining us, it has already turned into a global movement.

Up until now, the project has generated over € 50K donations in total for fiftyfifty.

With 155 million reach, and € 1.4 million equivalent of earned media, we are driving a narrative of hope and possibilities for the homeless community. The shift of public perceptions, and the change in the way people talk about the homeless, have been evidently reflected in the media coverage and people’s online discussion about this project.

Furthermore, the awareness of Getty Images as a brand striving to shape perceptions and move the world with powerful imagery has also remarkably gone up among the general public.

The premise of the campaign is to shift the negative public perception of the homeless, and drive a narrative of hope and possibilities for this community. At the same time, the project also reinforced Getty Images as a brand striving to shape perceptions, promote unlimited possibilities, and move the world with powerful imagery.

The campaign speaks to all people holding biased perceptions of the homeless, with stock images as our communication media.

Stock photos are abundant with typical scenarios of common people, which we took advantage of, to help people “repicture” the homeless as the same human beings as anyone of us. This move could also make people realize that stock photos not only create but also can break stereotypes, and thus shoring up the brand of Getty Images.

When a big brand like Getty Images puts forth a different approach for a common charity cause, and strives to spur positive changes for the society with a disruptive use of their products, it easily catches the attention of the media and the public.

The target media ranges from news media (newspapers, broadcast stations, online news portals), to media outlets that specialize in advertising, creativity, design, photography and culture, to word-of-mouth on social media.

People always see homeless people as poor, desperate, and beyond help. Most existing homeless campaigns simply keep re-affirming such stereotypical images, and ask people to donate out of sympathy, which only marginalized this community even more.

Instead of following down the spiral of pity, this project is aimed to shift the negative public perceptions of the homeless, and drive a narrative of hope and possibilities, while raising funds for this community in a meaningful way.

On the other hand, this campaign also has the purpose of reshaping people’s impression of stock photos from “creating stereotypes” to “breaking stereotypes”, and shoring up Getty Images as a brand that strives to shift perceptions and spur changes with powerful imagery.