Campbell Addy hasn’t come into this industry quietly. While his personal presence is nothing short of jovial, make no mistake, Addy means business. In his burgeoning career, that’s already meant setting up his own modelling agency – Niiagency – alongside an independent magazine – Niijournal – with the intentions of ensuring underrepresented faces gain their fair share of the spotlight.
Addy’s latest project sees him work with Getty Images to diversify stock photography. Enlisting a cast of his Niiagency men and women, the photographer offers 42 images titled “Portrait of young person holding ambiguous gaze” challenging a spectrum that is extremely white. Just type “young person stock photo” into Google to see how far behind we are. I’ll wait.
“When I think of diversity and what I want it to mean, it’s not just race, but also shape, size, able-bodied, disabled, age, looks” – Campbell Addy
Speaking with Dazed Digital last year, Addy expanded on his definition of the word ‘diversity’. “When I think of diversity and what I want it to mean, it’s not just race, but also shape, size, able-bodied, disabled, age, looks.” It seems this statement still rings true – with Addy’s Getty series providing a wide-range of appearances, from make-up to piercings and hair styles.
With a string of thought-provoking projects already under his belt – from creating his first-ever film, an ode to black masculinity, for a Dazed x Levi’s commissioned project earlier this year to shooting for editorials such as Riposte, where he explored the relationship between Islam and feminism – Addy shows no signs of slowing.
“It is my aim with the portraits I have created to highlight and celebrate diversity in society and ultimately drive positive change in visual language,” he explained about the Getty collab. “It’s something I’m really passionate about so it’s incredibly exciting to be taking action in partnership with Getty Images.”
See the full series here
