Thoughts on being featured on Getty Images

Getty Images details: “SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – NOVEMBER 21: Carly Findlay attends the Marie Claire Women of the Year Awards 2023 at Museum of Contemporary Art on November 21, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)”

2023 was the year i started to get featured on Getty Images.

I don’t write this out of vanity, I write this because I believe it’s important that disabled people are featured everywhere – in ordinary and extraordinary ways,  where we are in control of our stories. No inspiration porn, limited medical details and settings, and showcasing the diversity of disability. 

Before social media, and even now to an extent, when people googled Ichthyosis,, they often found medicalised images, frightening stories and dehumanised headlines. This isn’t helpful to families who have a new baby diagnosed with Ichthyosis, or for teens and adults with Ichthyosis who want to find others with the condition. I am proud to be one of the many people changing that. When someone googles ichthyosis now, they’ll find me and a number of other adults and young people, living with ichthyosis – thriving with it even.

 So if my photos on Getty Images helps reduce the stigma around ichthyosis by showing me in non medical settings, enjoying life, succeeding and being invited to and included in mainstream events, then that’s great.

Thank you photographers. You can view my photos on Getty here.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 09: Carly FIndlay (R) attends opening night of & Juliet at the Regent Theatre on March 09, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Mackenzie Sweetnam/Getty Images for & Juliet Australia)MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – MAY 24: OAM Carly Findlay attends opening night of “The Rocky Horror Show” 50th Anniversary Tour at the Athenaeum Theatre Melbourne on May 24, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Sam Tabone/WireImage)

images: 1. Carly, a woman with a red face a short dark curly hair, wearing a long pouffy purple dress, on the Marie Claire Women of the Year Awards black carpet. 2. A close up photo of Carly and Danielle Binks, on the &Juliet red carpet. 3. Carly, wearing a green sequin dress, on a red carpet for Rocky Horror Picture Show. (I was given free tickets to both &Juliet and Rocky Horror.)

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