A care service lives on trust, and trust begins through the eyes. Before a relative reads a single sentence, their gaze has scanned the images of a website and formed a first judgement: does this look real and close, or slick and interchangeable? This is exactly where the care website that leads to a call parts ways with the one that gets clicked away. Eyetracking research by the Nielsen Norman Group shows that users study real photos of real people attentively, while they simply overlook generic stock images of smiling models: the gaze slides past them as if past decoration (Nielsen Norman Group). In a sector where around 5.7 million (Destatis) people in need of care and their families search for the right support, and 82 percent (Bitkom) research online before an important service decision, this is not an aesthetic detail but a competitive factor. This article shows two things: why real photos from everyday care work build considerably more trust, and how to use them in a legally sound way without violating the right to one's own image or the GDPR. How this translates into a convincing care website is one question; the legally sound implementation is the other.
Key takeaways
- In an eyetracking study, real portrait photos drew 10 percent (Nielsen Norman Group) more viewing time than the short biographies beside them, even though the text occupied 316 percent (Nielsen Norman Group) more space; stock images were tuned out as decoration.
- Stock images come with settled licence rights but are interchangeable: the same model appears on dozens of sites. With more than 15,000 (Destatis) home care services in Germany, distinctiveness decides the first impression.
- Six motif groups carry the imagery: team members with names and roles, vehicles, rooms, care situations, everyday routes, and close-ups of hands or documentation. The same team pictures also work as a recruiting argument.
- Recognisable staff photos require consent under Section 22 KunstUrhG: in writing, separate from the employment contract, without pressure, naming purpose, scope and duration. Consent can be withdrawn at any time (GDPR Art. 7), after which the photo is normally taken down.
- Photos of people in need of care touch health data (GDPR Art. 9) and need explicit, informed consent. Where capacity to consent is missing, for example through dementia, guardians must be involved; otherwise re-enacted scenes or anonymised details are the safer route.
- A planned photo session with a consistent visual language and decent lighting supplies the whole website at once. Alternative texts and compressed files belong to it, because more than 60 percent (Statista) of visits in the German web come from mobile devices.
Why Real Images Work: The Gaze Decides
The effect of real images is not a matter of feeling but measurable. In a widely cited eyetracking analysis by the Nielsen Norman Group, test participants on a team page spent 10 percent (Nielsen Norman Group) more time viewing the portrait photos than reading the short biographies next to them, even though the texts took up 316 percent (Nielsen Norman Group) more space. The gaze instinctively seeks the face. One detail was decisive: photos of real staff drew attention, while generic stock images were perceived as pure decoration and ignored (Nielsen Norman Group).
For a care service this effect is especially valuable, because choosing care is one of the most personal decisions there is. Relatives let strangers into the home of their parents or partner every day. A real photo of the care service lead, a glimpse into the actual rooms and the faces from the team answer the silent question in the relative's mind: who am I actually dealing with here? An interchangeable model photo does not answer that question, it dodges it. How real images interact with further trust signals is something we explore in our article on reviews and trust on the care website.
Authenticity Beats Perfection
Stock Image Versus Real Photo: The Subtle Difference
Stock images are not inherently bad. They are quickly available, cheap and legally uncomplicated, because the usage rights are settled with the licence. The problem is a different one: they are interchangeable. The same smiling model holding a senior's hand on your homepage very likely appears on dozens of other websites, sometimes in completely different sectors. As soon as a relative recognises this pattern, the effect flips: what was meant to show closeness becomes a signal of arbitrariness. With more than 15,000 (Destatis) home care services in Germany, it is precisely distinctiveness that decides the first impression.
| Aspect | Interchangeable Stock Image | Real Photo from Daily Care |
|---|---|---|
| Statement | Shows some model | Shows your real team |
| Effect | The gaze slides past | The gaze lingers on the face |
| Recognition | Identical on many sites | Only to be seen with you |
| Trust | Distance and arbitrariness | Closeness and recognition |
| Recruiting | No link to the employer | Applicants see their future team |
| Legal basis | Settled via licence | Consent required |
The last point makes the trade-off clear: real photos work more strongly but demand diligence. Anyone who shows real people must observe the right to one's own image and data protection. That is exactly why this article covers both sides. And it also shows that not every phone snapshot automatically convinces: what matters is a well-thought-out photo concept, not snapshots taken in passing.
What Really Belongs in the Picture
Real photos do not mean capturing every corner of the operation. It is about selected motifs that answer exactly the questions occupying relatives. Six groups of motifs carry an authentic care website. They can be spread across the homepage, the team page and the service pages without overloading the site. Which content belongs here is something we also place in context in our article on content for relatives.
Team and Faces
Care service lead and staff with names and roles. The strongest trust signal of all, because relatives see who comes into the home.
Vehicles and Fleet
The care vehicles outside the front door are a familiar sight in the neighbourhood. They show presence and reliability within your own service area.
Rooms and Facilities
The care station, day care or counselling room in reality. Relatives get a feel for the place instead of having to imagine an anonymous address.
Care Situations
Genuine scenes from everyday life, created with consent. They show attitude and closeness but demand particular data protection diligence.
Everyday Work and Routes
The team out and about, in the service car, at the front door. Such moments tell the story of home care more credibly than any symbolic image.
Details and Hands
Close-ups of hands, documentation or care aids. They feel calm and dignified without showing individual people recognisably.
A visible team works twice over: outwardly as a trust signal for relatives and inwardly as an argument in the competition for skilled staff. Someone looking for a position checks how an employer talks about its people and whether it shows them. How the same images can be used for recruiting is something we describe in our article on recruiting via the care website.
Right to One's Own Image: The Consent of Staff
As soon as a person is recognisable in a photo, the right to one's own image applies. Under Section 22 of the German Art Copyright Act, portraits may only be distributed or publicly displayed with the consent of the person depicted (KunstUrhG Section 22). The law does know a presumption that consent has been given if someone received payment for the picture (KunstUrhG Section 22), but for staff photos on a website you should not rely on that. The safe path is a separate, written consent that clearly names the purpose, the scope and the duration of the publication.
Alongside the Art Copyright Act, the General Data Protection Regulation applies. A photo that shows a person recognisably is personal data (GDPR Art. 4), and its publication is a form of processing. Consent must be freely given and can be withdrawn at any time (GDPR Art. 7). Freely given is delicate in the employment relationship, because there is a power imbalance between employer and staff. The photo consent should therefore be obtained separately from the employment contract, without pressure and with a clear note that a refusal has no disadvantages. The exceptions of Section 23 KunstUrhG, for example for portraits from the sphere of contemporary history, generally do not apply to ordinary staff photos.
- Obtain written consent from every person depicted
- Name the purpose, scope and duration of use concretely
- Obtain consent separately from the employment contract and without pressure
- Point out the right to withdraw at any time explicitly
- Regulate what happens to the photo when an employee leaves
- Document and keep recordings and consents cleanly
Why Diligence Pays Off
The departure of staff also needs to be considered. If a former care worker withdraws their consent, the photo generally has to be removed, provided the withdrawal is not an abuse of rights. Those who regulate from the outset how such cases are handled save themselves disputes later. How to implement these and other mandatory details in a legally sound way is something we explore in our article on legally sound mandatory details on the care website.
Photos of People in Need of Care: Particular Diligence
Even more sensitive are photos of people in need of care. Such recordings almost always touch health data, and these belong to the special categories of personal data that enjoy heightened protection (GDPR Art. 9). The mere fact that someone is seen in a care facility or a care situation reveals information about their state of health. Casual approval is not enough here: what is required is explicit, informed consent that precisely explains what the image is used for.
There is also the question of the capacity to consent. If a person in need of care is unable to grasp the implications because of an illness such as dementia, they cannot give valid consent. Then legal guardians or authorised representatives must be involved, and even then the dignity of the person remains the yardstick. In practice it is often the better path to re-enact care situations with your own team, to show anonymised details or to place elements such as hands in the foreground that allow no attribution to a specific person.
An image from care must never cost the dignity of the person it shows. What is meant to build trust must itself have been created in a trustworthy way.
Those who take this diligence seriously lose nothing in effect. On the contrary: a dignified, calm visual language that does not chase effect fits precisely the trust a care service wants to build. How the handling of sensitive data can be organised overall without letting the effort spiral is something we show in our article on data protection for forms and data in care.
From Snapshot to Photo Concept
Real photos only work if they are created with care. A blurry, dark phone photo against the light can create the opposite impression and sow doubts about professionalism. It takes no glossy studio, but a well-thought-out photo concept: a shared visual language, decent lighting, a consistent colour world and a calm selection. A planned photo session with your own team delivers material for the whole website in a few hours, instead of collecting mismatched individual images over months that do not fit together.
The photo concept also includes the technical side. Photos need meaningful alternative texts so that they are understandable for people with visual impairments and for search engines. They have to be compressed so the page loads quickly, because more than 60 percent (Statista) of website visits in the German web come from mobile devices, and slow images cost visitors there. How to embed images accessibly is something we describe on the page about the accessible care website and in detail in our article on the practical implementation of accessibility.
For the images to unfold their effect, they must be embedded in a clear page structure. A real team photo right next to the phone number, a glimpse into the rooms on the matching service page, a motif from everyday work exactly where a relative makes a decision: this is how individual pictures become a coherent whole. How such a structure comes about is something we show in our article on building a care service website and on an about page, where the team and attitude can be bundled.
From more than 50 projects (project experience) in the care and service sector we know: it is not the most elaborate motif that wins, but the most honest one. We develop a photo concept with you that fits your service, accompany the photo session and implement the authentic presentation on your website in a legally sound way. We are happy to show possible approaches and areas of competence in our references and in our services.
Sources and Studies