Stock photos are professional photos used to complement print and online publications. Yet some stock photos have a particular look; a weird, posey cheesiness often blended with ludicrously bad editing that instantly makes them recognizable. The moment you see a stock photo, you know it’s a stock photo. Since these images were designed primarily for sale, it’s unlikely anyone would choose them, even if they were free stock photos.
Why stock Photos are so weird
One of the reasons for these strange stock photos is that people’s interests are changing, or in more specific terms, becoming weirder. A picture of a smiley office worker holding a coffee cup might have sold a company’s product a decade ago, but to this day, it brings nothing to your page. More than ever before, social media users are sharing their everyday lives on the platform. Additionally, consumers disengage from generic advertising and prefer a more tailored experience in their interactions with brands. Often, stock photo buyers have very specific requirements and will choose something that stands out among the rest over high quality by any other standard. Increasingly, brands and consumers are looking for unique content over the uniform, bizarre over formulaic.
From a woman throwing spaghetti in the forest with her supernatural hands to a man drowning a disabled lady after proposing to her, these hilariously weird stock photos require explanation and motive behind the creativity.
