Making Space for BIPOC photographers
At IKEA Canada, we celebrate and nurture diversity and inclusion throughout our business in many ways, whether it's through partnerships with advocacy groups, marking days of significance throughout the year, or supporting co-worker resource groups. It's because we want all our employees and customers to always feel welcomed and respected at IKEA.
While we have always prioritized inclusive storytelling at the heart of our marketing, we know that there are always opportunities to do more. So, when we recently learned that only 21% of photographers in Canada are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, or people of colour)**, we examined our role in promoting more diversity in front of, and behind the lens.
Every year, home furnishing retailers produce thousands of images. As one of the largest home furnishing companies in Canada, we have the power to give someone an opportunity that can help change their career. This led us to working with an entirely BIPOC photography team, and a diverse, multicultural crew to create our latest IKEA kitchen campaign.
This is the latest step in our renewed commitment to make space for underrepresented communities in our future advertisements and campaign work. We are committing to using our spaces to make space for diverse talent behind the lens.
Our commitment
At IKEA Canada, we believe every story deserves to be told by the people who live it. That’s why our marketing approach, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes, needs to reflect the true diversity of our country. We are bringing our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion strategy to life by using our spaces, to make space for others through:
- Paid internship opportunities for BIPOC creatives on all local productions. This has created valuable work experience and networking connections for approximately 10 BIPOC interns.
- Launching of IKEA Canada Culture Collective – our approach to inclusive marketing throughout our development process for all marketing initiatives, ensuring we have the right voices at the table every step of the way.
- Inclusive casting and partnerships with collaborators (both internal and external) that reflect the diversity of the Canadian communities we serve, enabling more authentic storytelling.
- Creation of opportunities for BIPOC and other underrepresented industry professionals across all marketing initiatives.
- Ongoing dialogue with community groups, industry organizations, educational institutions and underrepresented communities to continue to evolve our approach.
- Commitment to the POCAM (People of Colour in Advertising and Marketing) Call for Equity to drive lasting change in the industry.
Meet the team:
Jules Lee
Set photographer
Jules is a Filipino-Chinese-Canadian photographer and storyteller. She's based in Toronto and specializes in interior and product photography.
Rohan Dayal
Set photographer
Rohan is an Indian-Canadian commercial photographer with over a decade of experience shooting architecture, interiors, and automotive photography.
Lindsay Reid
Set photographer
Lindsay is a Métis photographer from Manitoba. She specializes in architectural exteriors, interiors, and landscape photography.
Charlie Lindsay
Campaign photographer
Charlie is a Tanzanian-Canadian commercial photographer and director. Born and raised in Toronto, he has worked with many global brands.
Kobi Ntiri
Campaign videographer
Kobi is a Ghanaian-Canadian writer and director, based out of Toronto. He specializes in documentary and commercial work for retail brands.
An interview with ...
Learn more about the Making Space photographers.
An interview with Rohan
An interview with Jules
An interview with Lindsay
An interview with Charlie
Rohan's kitchen
Jules' kitchen
Lindsay's kitchen
Join us!
We can't make change alone, so we're inviting other brands to join us by working with more BIPOC photographers and other artists to bring their campaigns to life. By using our spaces to make space together, we can foster more BIPOC talent to join, and to thrive in the industry.
**2021 Canadian Census data, as quoted by Hill Strategies (2023)