Photos Not in the Database (Yet?) But the Kind of Thing I'd Love to Have
As part of my seva (selfless service) efforts, I’ve decided to start a new project: the Diversity in Yoga Photo Database. In collaboration with Jivana, I’m going to put together a database of photos of diverse people doing yoga to show the world that yoga is truly for everyone. The photos in this database will be available for free (or for an optional donation to Accessible Yoga) and in the public domain so anyone can use them however they like. After all, if we want to make yoga more inclusive, we need to get photos out there of people of color, people of all body types, people with disabilities, and obviously older people all doing yoga so people can see themselves reflected in the media.Want to help me get started? The first thing I’m going to do is to start collecting photos, which I’m considering to be donations. I’m looking for quality photos by amateurs and professionals alike for which the photographer gives explicit permission that the photo can be used and reproduced freely by anyone. The photos can’t have captions but they can have watermarks on them (to give you free PR).For content, I’m looking for high-quality photos of people of color, people with a variety of body types, people with disabilities, and obviously older people doing any kind of yoga pose (or meditating) with or without props. If you (or your subject) don’t fit into any of those categories, you can donate a photo of a someone doing some kind of accessible yoga pose. All photographs should meet the following criteria:1. Be a digital photograph (or scan) in a reasonably high resolution and in focus.
2. Have a reasonably attractive physical surrounding (either outside or inside). Urban environments are as good as nature shots.
3. No messy rooms, even if we sometimes do yoga in messy rooms. So put away the plastic water bottles, extra yoga props, etc. before taking the shot. These distract from the subject of the photo. (Mobility aids of any kind, of course, are fine, as our pets or children.)
4. If the photo is a single person doing a yoga pose, the alignment must be one that I consider to be healthy.
5. Have the person or people doing yoga be the main subject of the photo rather than the background (so no tiny people in front of large mountains, etc.). And no body parts can be cropped off, unless in an artistic fashion.
6. Be well lit and aesthetically pleasing.If you have already sent me a photo of yourself that I’ve used on Facebook or on the blog, you can resend the same photo to me to include in the database but you need to explicitly “donate” it to this project in your email as described below. To donate a photo, send it to me via email at nina at wanderingmind dot com with one of the two following permissions to include it in the DIY photo database. Please copy the exact statement from this post. Thanks!
"I, your name here, affirm that I own the rights to this photo and that I will permanently give up those rights to allow this photo to be shared and used freely by the public. I also affirm that I have received permission from the subject(s) of this photo to do so."
