News UK launches ‘Studio PI’ – photography and illustration agency

Media owner News UK – home to the photo library News Licensing – has launched a photo and illustration agency called Studio PI.

‘It’s a photography and illustration agency that promotes equality and celebrates diversity, providing our nation with balanced visual content that is a true reflection of the society we live in. ‘

In June 2020 the UK Government’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for Creative Diversity confirmed that there are four groups of people significantly underrepresented in the creative industry. Women. People of colour. People living with disabilities. And people from working class origins. News UK created Studio PI to redress this imbalance.

Seeing Creative Directors, Art Directors and Picture Editors from across the spectrum join forces was a wonderful thing. The most humbling part of the process was knowing that it didn’t matter if you worked for a rival media organisation; there was a clear problem that needed to be addressed and we all knew that the only way to solve it was by actively coming together and being a part of a collaborative solution.

• Since launch, Studio PI has secured 65 commissions from clients including The Guardian and The Observer, Stylist Magazine, GQ, Time Out, Mr Porter, The Times & Sunday Times, Calvin Klein, Penguin, Samsung, Christian Louboutin, Adam & Eve DDB, Volvo, Sky, NatWest, The FA and Eastpak.

Founder and Managing Director Sachini Imbuldeniya falls into all four of these underrepresented groups and told PAN this morning: ‘I wanted to create an accessible platform that busy senior creatives could visit to help provide talented diverse artists with the exposure they deserved. As a junior creative, I struggled to make my voice heard in an industry that’s been blighted by nepotism for far too long. But when I became a creative director I wanted to do something that reshaped the industry and provided better opportunities for the future generations of creatives.’

But this isn’t just about promoting diversity of people working in our industry: it’s about creative diversity too. Brands will also benefit from a wider range of fresh voices bringing with them a new perspective to the content they produce. It isn’t just the right thing to do in terms of supporting the people in our industry; it makes our work better too.

Here are a couple of examples of client campaign shots – view more on their Instagram feed