Explore a quarter-century of cultural moments, the biggest events, and all the images and videos that continue to move the world.
Preserving the past
With 130 million images dating back to the beginning of photography, from the 1800s to the 1990s, the Getty Images archive is one of the largest and oldest privately held archives in the world. Throughout our history, we’ve partnered with the LIFE Picture Collection, Gamma-Rapho, Paris Match, Condé Nast, and dozens more, to bring history’s most important content to light.
Over the last 25 years, we’ve pioneered some of the most significant innovations in photography, including being the first company to license an image on the internet.
1995 Getty Images is founded by Mark Getty and Jonathan Klein
1997 The work of Slim Aarons is acquired
1998 The first company to deliver video digitally
2000 Getty Images becomes the Official Photographic Agency for the International Olympic Committee for the first time
2001 The first company to license imagery online
2004 The Getty Images Grants program is introduced
2006 Getty Images acquires iStock
2009 The Flickr Collection is launched as Getty Images’ first crowd-sourced image collection
Capturing the present
Capturing the present
Our industry-leading photographers, videographers, and art directors bring the very best to creative and commercial content. Bolstered by trend-forward creative research, underscored by visual analysts, and easily unearthed by AI-powered search, our hand-curated content gives our customers the exact asset they need for their creative work, when they need it.
The last 25 years have seen countless cultural moments and world movements, and Getty Images has been there the whole time, striving to capture it all. Covering 40,000 news events every year, Getty Images’ multi-award-winning photographers and contributors bring the headlines to life by producing thoughtful features and outlining crucial stories. From Chris Hondros’ infamous image of a Liberian militia commander firing a rocket-propelled grenade to John Moore’s Crying Girl at the Border, our contributors’ work has helped to impact and shape the way these stories play out and are received.
From awards ceremonies and film festivals all the way to fashion weeks, our photographers’ and contributors’ coverage of around 70,000 entertainment events each year has given us A-list status. This has led to partnerships with the best in the business including the Met Gala, amfAR, Sundance Film Festival, Fashion for Relief, and countless others. Our content is proudly displayed by partners like Walt Disney Television, NBC Universal, CBS, FOX Network, and The Hollywood Reporter.
From game-changing moments on the field to human interest coverage that goes beyond the sidelines, Getty Images is there to capture all the drama that global athletes have to offer. As the official photographer or photographic partner to over 80 of the world’s leading sports, governing bodies, leagues, and clubs, we’re proud of the access we’ve earned and the trust we’ve established with the best in the game.
2012 Getty Images’ watermark is launched
2014 The LeanIn Collection, celebrating female empowerment and leadership, is launched in partnership with LeanIn.org
2014 The on-site Embed function is launched, making 35 million images available for non-commercial use
2017 Getty Images and MuslimGirl.com partner to launch a collection authentically depicting Muslim women
2018 Getty Images becomes the official photographer of the Met Gala for the first time
2019 Getty Images’ Creative collection goes royalty-free
How our vision comes to life
Impacting the future
As we bring a quarter-century’s worth of creative experience and world-moving content to the modern day, our eyes (and our lenses) have never been more focused on the future.
Whether it’s our efforts to better represent real, authentic subjects through our Repicture collections or our endeavor to stay ahead of the curve and quantify what drives consumer behavior through our new initiative VisualGPS, our next 25 years will no doubt be our proudest and most exciting yet.
Reclaiming representation through Repicture
As one of the most recent Repicture collections, Project #ShowUs aims to more accurately depict beauty, featuring content from female, female-identifying, and non-binary photographers
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Moving the world with grants and stances
Our goal is to move the world, but we also strive to be part of how it’s changing. Through coverage, philanthropy, and even grants, we’re always striving to affect positive reform from the climate crisis to important political movements.
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Stay on the cutting edge with VisualGPS
Combining both our creative expertise in trends and our depth of experience in the visual landscape, Visual GPS leverages custom market research to show what’s important to today’s consumer and what kind of imagery drives and engages them.
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