In a remarkably groundbreaking project, Celebrity Cruises has commissioned a photography project to address the lack of diversity in travel photography, commissioning pictures from world-renowned Annie Leibovitz and others.

The All-Inclusive Photo Project sees Australian photographer, filmmaker, creative director and Survivor contestant team up with photography royalty Leibovitz to create the world’s first diversity-focused open-source travel image library, which will be free for everyone to use.

The library aims to change the face of travel imagery and will include photographs of ethnic minorities, plus-size people, LGBTQIA+ individuals and people with a disability.

The photographs were captured in Australia and celebrate everyday Australians who have made a remarkable contribution to people’s lives including Ash Penfold, an Aboriginal man, youth worker and Indigenous culture consultant; Esther Onek a family domestic violence advocate and law student who was born in South Sudan and came to Australia as a refugee in 2003; Jaimen Hudson a wildlife photographer who turned his hobby into a career after a motorcycle accident left him a quadriplegic; and many more.

‘The All-Inclusive Photo Project’ aims to start a movement, calling on travel companies to help address the lack of diversity in travel marketing imagery.

The stunning new images are unveiled today and feature the work of acclaimed photographers including Giles Duley, an English documentary photographer and a triple amputee; Naima Green, a Black, queer New York-based photographer; and Jarrad Seng, an Australia-based photographer, filmmaker and creative director of Malaysian-Chinese descent. 

The collection features models, musicians, athletes, artists, activists, refugees and more, all change-makers in their own right from underrepresented groups, as they enjoy the varied offerings on Celebrity’s ships and within the destinations visited. 

Celebrity Cruises will make dozens of the images available via an open-source online library for other travel brands and companies to use to help kickstart their journeys towards more inclusive travel marketing.

“For far too long, ‘all-inclusive’ in the travel industry has meant everything on your vacation is included in one price. We set out to challenge this conventional thinking by imagining the phrase through the lens of others,” said Celebrity Cruises President and CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo. “What Annie and all of the talented artists involved in this project have captured so beautifully, is that for vacations to really live up to the marketing moniker ‘all-inclusive,’ then they should start by using images that are inclusive of all, not just a few.”

Lutoff-Perlo continued: “We want our marketing – as with everything we do as a cruise line –  to represent how the world looks, and what we experience on our ships daily, as guests and crew from all walks of life work and play together to create a really special onboard environment.”

Michael Scheiner, Celebrity Cruises’ Chief Marketing Officer said: “As global brands, we have a powerful platform to act as a catalyst of positive change. We know we have more work to do and we hope we inspire others to join us on this important journey. By leveraging our collective travel industry might, we can begin to make travel marketing truly ‘all-inclusive.” 

For more information on the photographers and talent featured in the AIPP campaign, consumers can visit celebritycruises.com/au/PhotoProject.

Travel brands and companies interested in accessing the AIPP library, which Celebrity Cruises will continue to add images to over time, should visit allinclusivephotoproject.com.