I just learned about a stock photography site called Colorstock (www.getcolorstock.com). It features a catalog of curated images featuring non-Caucasian models. Blacks seem to have the heaviest representation, but the site also wants to represent Asian, Latin/Hispanic, and other multicultural mixes that can be harder to find on the larger, more established stock photography sites.
In covering other stock photography sites in the past, I have noted the overwhelming weight given to American/Scandinavian/European white models in their catalogs, so this is a welcome and much-needed addition to your list of stock photography resources.
While I love the concept behind Colorstock, the site is still obviously in the early stages of development (as I write this in December of 2016). The catalog of images is much smaller than other sites that auto-accept almost any uploaded image. Colorstock attempts to verify images as being appropriate to the stated multi-ethnic focus before hosting them.
Searching is rudimentary. You have a choice of browsing nine categories, with distinctions that are sometimes arbitrary and non-specific. What am I likely to find listed under "Perfect for Bloggers" for instance? Or you can use a standard keyword search bar. But guessing what keywords might generate hits can be frustrating. I tried web conference, video conference, audio conference, webinar, audience, and lecture -- all returned zero results. Conference and meeting gave me results, but they are simply listed in a simple grid of 12 thumbnail images on a page. You cannot extend the number of images shown on a page, and you cannot filter your search by image orientation, number of models, or other criteria that we have become accustomed to on other stock photo sites.
As you start typing a search term, the page attempts to give a list of titles (with tiny accompanying thumbnails) that fit the letters typed so far. I was confused to see three suggestions when I typed "web"… It listed "College student walking on campus grounds" and "College student looking at phone." -- Not the kinds of results that I would have expected.
Pricing is different for each photo. You are presented with a price for a standard license or extended license. The price apparently tiers based on the resolution of the image, but there is no information about that resolution in DPI or pixel size before you purchase. Interestingly, you have the option to "retire the image" by paying more, in which case the image is removed from the online catalog and you can be secure in the knowledge that you won't see it used on a competitor's site.
Reading the licensing agreement page turns up some eyebrow-raising restrictions. All images are provided on an attribution basis. In other words, you are supposed to include a source attribution for every purchased image. You also may not use images in such a way as to imply that any model personally uses or endorses a product, service, political candidate, or "controversial opinion" (good luck fighting THAT terminology in court!) without explicitly stating that it is a model and the content is being used for illustrative purposes only.
So overall I'm keen on the idea of Colorstock and I look forward to seeing more search functionality and source images added to the catalog, along with better metadata information on image properties.
