Thank you for your interest in contributing to the ABA image library. This is an online, secure image library for ABA staff and volunteers to use in their work.
Images from the library are used for ABA's diverse range of projects and publications, so there is a need to regularly add new material to keep it relevant and current. ABA uses all types of images for breastfeeding education, promotion and resources.
Your contribution will help us to continue to support Australia's mums and families to reach their breastfeeding goals.
What to donate
We love to receive beautiful breastfeeding and family photographs, but we absolutely treasure the unusual, complicated and challenging ones.
We need photos of all sorts of :
- breasts and nipples of all shapes and sizes - lactating, leaking, full, empty, inverted, flat
- mastitis, squashed/cracked/damaged nipples, tongue-ties
- first poos, normal poos, coloured poos, cloth nappies
- different feeding positions, lying down to breastfeed
- expressed milk
- working, exercising, cooking and cleaning with your babies and children,
- baby wearing
- newborns
- first breastfeeds and last breastfeeds
- hospital stays
- baby-led food exploration
- special situations e.g. premature baby, baby with medical issues, mothers with physical challenges that may affect breastfeeding.
- the messy stuff as well as the beautiful stuff.
As well as breastfeeding images, we also love birth and family images and funny photos (like a big yawn that we can use for a ‘tired baby’ illustration). In short, if you love your photo and are happy to share, then we will be delighted to add it to our library.
Your photos do need to be in focus, but we can eliminate stuff from backgrounds and fix (most) lighting and weird colours.
We are always looking for short, well-lit videos, for example:
- baby latching
- breast crawl or self-attachment
- challenging attachment
- let-down happening
- finger feeding or cup feeding
- hand expressing
- pumping
- funny breastfeeding happenings.
Let us know if you can help to build our video resources.
We are building a gallery of artwork that has permission for ABA use. Please consider donating the use of some of your original art to us. We acknowledge the source each time it is used.
Occasionally we need specific images for projects (like a breast with mastitis, thrush on baby’s tongue or a baby being cup-fed) or we may need photographers and models for special projects.
We use a variety of ways to ask for the photos we need, such as our social media pages, ABA webpage, Talkabout newsletter to ABA volunteers or our regular email communication to members and/or volunteers.
Frequently asked questions
We need large .jpg files for the Image Library. Usually this means the original file size from your camera or phone, without making it smaller for emailing or sending.
Photo files are usually 1MB or bigger, but smaller files can be used for web articles and presentations, so please still contact us if you have a beautiful, but small image.
We may change your image a little. Our creative team can crop to a different size, make it black & white, smooth busy backgrounds, take away brand names, even change colours or add special effects sometimes. It depends on what we need the photo for.
We will treat your image with respect as it needs to reflect our ABA ethics and policies.
Every contributor/photographer must complete our ABA Image library consent form. It is assumed that you have permission to donate the image/video and that any person appearing in your image or video has given you their consent for it to be donated.
You may request that your image/video be acknowledged with your name or business.
You can either donate your images, videos or artwork for general use for any ABA purpose.
Or you can donate for a specific project. If you decide to do this, you can indicate this on the permission form. Your images will be stored in a separate place accessible only by those working on that project.
For professional photographers
- Your existing collection of images.
- New clients who are happy to share their birth, breastfeeding or family photos.
- Videos of babies seeking the breast after birth or later breastfeeding.
- ‘Special’ photo requests or commissioned photo shoots.
The consent of any people appearing in your images is your responsibility.
We acknowledge the photographer, if requested, as follows:
- Image courtesy of (your name) or
- Image courtesy of (your business name) if your business name is preferred.
If your work is published by a third party such as state health departments, media etc then it is acknowledged:
- Image courtesy of (your preferred acknowledgement) and the Australian Breastfeeding Association.
You may like to consider advertising with us. Contact our National Support Office Marketing team – email marketing@breastfeeding.asn.au for more details.
How to donate
Donating is easy.
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There's no need to rename your image files.
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Ensure you have permission to donate the items and that anyone appearing in your photograph/video has given you their consent.
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Complete the online form and upload your items or, in the case of larger files, provide a link to your cloud storage.