VisualGPS Creative Trends Culture Redefining Luxury Living in LA

Our Create by Getty Images Regional events are in‑person experiences designed for our Exclusive creators. Through educational workshops, inspiring talks, hands‑on shoots, and collaborative creative sessions, these immersive events help creators expand their portfolios, strengthen their skills, and produce premium content for our pre‑shot library. At our recent Create by Getty Images LA event, creators based in the region gathered in Los Angeles to learn, connect, and collaborate with fellow creators and our Creative staff. With real‑time guidance and support, participants produced high‑quality images and video, capturing a fresh perspective on a growing opportunity in our collection: Modern luxury living at home.

Informed by customer demand and visual insights, we chose luxury lifestyle as the event theme, focusing on visuals that authentically reflect how today’s affluent consumers live, work, connect, and unwind.

Interest in affluent, luxury lifestyle visuals continues to rise, particularly among U.S. brands and finance‑sector customers. According to Getty Images' VisualGPS research, luxury‑related visuals continue to be in demand, with searches for luxury homes up 250% year over year respectively. A majority of consumers increasingly prefer realistic, modern depictions of everyday life over traditional aspirational imagery in finance visuals, yet much of the available luxury content still centers on travel or conventional symbols of wealth. Create by Getty Images LA provided an opportunity to develop content that better reflects how affluent consumers live today.

Also, today’s high‑net‑worth and ultra‑high‑net‑worth individuals are increasingly younger and more diverse, with 62% of UHNWIs now self‑made rather than having partially or fully inherited their wealth.¹ As a result, modern luxury living is defined less by traditional status symbols and more by thoughtful design, individuality, rich textures, and personal expression.

Our goal was clear: Create content that presents luxury as it is lived today; sophisticated but personal, elevated yet authentic.

To develop our luxury‑themed shoot, we sought models who represented the changing face of affluence, including millennials, women, and people from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds. Styling emphasized sophistication and individuality rather than overt displays of wealth, helping create a more contemporary and relatable portrayal of luxury living. For the location, we selected a beautifully designed home with elevated interiors, architectural character, and premium finishes that felt aspirational without appearing inaccessible.

While Getty Images' Creative team provided on‑set guidance and support to help bring our vision to life, the creators captured 15 distinct scenarios focused primarily on video‑first storytelling. To represent the many facets of modern luxury living, the scenes included preparing for work and social engagements to pursuing personal interests, working out, working from home, relaxing at home, and spending time with friends and family.  

We aimed to evoke a feeling of quiet luxury with quality over quantity and authentic connection over transactional encounters, all hallmarks of modern affluence. Gathering the diverse and multigenerational cast into the right settings, we explored the idea of the luxury of time and having the time to curate intimate and meaningful social interactions over shared meals, pool time revelry, and quiet drinks as the sun sets.  

Adding to the authentic, lived‑in feel of the content, the homeowners' dogs, who weren't originally part of the shoot, quickly and endearingly earned their place in several scenes.

The 11‑hour shoot day with six creators, eight models, seven Getty Images Creative staff, and seven production staff resulted in a contemporary collection of premium visuals that redefine what luxury looks like today: Diverse, personal, design‑driven, and deeply connected to everyday life..

Sources
[1]  Altrata