Fun with Stock Photos

Stock photos are everywhere in our business, and we source and research them all the time.

Rest assured, our designers know how to wade through the goop to find the good stuff, and constantly stumble on the cliche, bad-taste and “what-were-they-thinking” images that always (and the very least) make us chuckle.

You likely know what we mean… stuff like this:

The Handshake:

The Visible Workflow Charts:

Thumbs Up Dude:

“We’re-all-in-this-together” Hands All-in:

The Beautiful Call Centre People:

But what we really love is when we stumble on the cheesy beauties that make you spin in your chair and cry out “hey guys, you have got to take a look at this!”:

. . . . .

10 Examples of Photo Fromage:

Composition Checklist:

squishy pink ball? – check
matching banana-hammock? – check
proud white dude with no shame? – check

Anyone got a fix on the metaphor for this one?

“We’re beautiful, well-balanced and we fist pump.”

Oh dear…

Absolutely no idea what context this photo could ever be referred to as “worth consideration”.

Is she upset with the thumb ring? The ponytail? Probably just pissed about the wine/Ritz crackers combo.

Oh yes… for sure they know how to play those instruments.

There is no finish line…

Unfinished Business

Vince Vaugh (and others) poke fun at Stock Images as part of a movie promo.

To take advantage of a movie promotion for the Vince Vaughn film Unfinished Business, Getty Images helped produce some self-referential parodies of their own inventory using stars from the film.

But the images weren’t part of a photoshoot, they were all photoshopped from actual images sold through the Getty site, making the sting of the parody even that more delicious. Kudos to Getty for recognizing the degradation of the stuff they often sell.

Here’s an example of the edited and the original: