Alright, so let me tell you about this little adventure I had. Wasn’t looking for trouble, just trying to get something done for a gig. The brief was simple enough, or so I thought: find some solid visuals, real people, you know? And specifically, we were talking about what the title up there says.
The Big Online Dive
So, first things first, I hit the internet. Figured it’d be a piece of cake. How wrong can one guy be, eh? Typed in the keywords, all the usual jazz. And yeah, stuff came up. But it was like panning for gold in a river of… well, mostly mud.
You see a lot of the same faces, or the same kinda limited styles. It wasn’t the treasure trove I naively expected. More like a curated little display case in a giant, messy store. Took a lot of sifting, I can tell you that.
Trying Different Doors
Okay, plan B. Started poking around agency websites. Some claimed they were all about diversity. Words are cheap, right? Some were legit, had a good roster. Others? Felt like they just sprinkled a few diverse faces in to look good. You could just tell. It felt like checking boxes more than genuine effort.
- Social media was another beast. Lots of individuals out there, doing amazing things on their own. Real hustle, which I respect. You find incredible talent just putting themselves out there.
- But relying on that for something consistent for a professional project? Tricky. Very tricky. It’s a wild west, and finding the right fit and ensuring everything is above board takes time.
- And trying to find them through official channels, properly represented and easy to connect with? That was the real headache. It often felt like searching for needles in haystacks.
It was this weird mix. Like, the talent is definitely there. No doubt about it. But the system, the industry pipelines? Felt clunky, sometimes even a bit… reluctant. That’s the best word I can find for it. Things just didn’t seem to flow smoothly.
So, What’s the Real Story?
After banging my head against the wall for a bit, I kind of just sat there. All this talk about progress, about change. And yeah, I see some of it. But man, when you’re on the ground, trying to actually do something, it feels different. The practical reality can be a shock compared to the optimistic articles you read.
It’s not that you can’t find anyone. That’s not what I’m saying. There are fantastic people out there. But it’s the effort. The hoops you gotta jump through. It’s like the mainstream channels haven’t quite caught up with the conversation. Or maybe they just caught up with the words of the conversation, not the actual doing part. There’s a difference between saying you’re inclusive and making it easy to actually be inclusive in your work.
My big takeaway from this whole exercise? There’s still a gap. A big one. Between the talk and the walk. And it makes your job a heck of a lot harder when you’re just trying to reflect the world as it actually is, not some filtered version. Just my experience, anyway. Take it for what it’s worth. Food for thought, maybe.
