Comments on: Both happy office workers punching the air AND kittens disguised as frogs

Both happy office workers punching the air AND kittens disguised as frogs

fearfulsymmetry — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:52:05 -0800

Adventures in Stock Photography - David Schwimmer's Secrets of Natural Posture, I smell Pulitzer, The simultaneous quadratic face nutrition delivery system, Scenes from the battleground of sexual selection #3,344, Nuffield the rubbish hypnotist, Doctors & Doctoring #1, A Cavalcade of Thumbs... What is Adventures in Stock Photography?

By: WickedPissah

WickedPissah — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:59:35 -0800

Thank you for this awesome-ness!

By: DU

DU — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:00:01 -0800

Yes.

By: never used baby shoes

never used baby shoes — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:15:53 -0800

If I was drawing a pie chart in mid-air, it would represent how much I like this post in seven different coloured ways.

By: mygothlaundry

mygothlaundry — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:19:17 -0800

This is good.

By: patricio

patricio — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:23:48 -0800

To be honest, it's a bit hit and miss. That said, "A Cavalcade of Thumbs" is a great expression and will have to be my next band name.

By: Jofus

Jofus — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:24:24 -0800

Approved!

By: katillathehun

katillathehun — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:28:44 -0800

This is what everyone who has to work with stock photography on a regular basis does. It's the only way to maintain one's sanity.

By: lattiboy

lattiboy — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:30:10 -0800

Wow, this is hilarious. Thanks!

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:30:37 -0800

Okay, I've SO wanted to make this website. So often when I've been doing stock photo searches I have ended up befuddled... I'll think to myself, "Is there really someone out there desperately looking for a photo of a tie plant that flowers with the head of a guy?" "WTF did this girl do to earn a lollipop the size of Texas from her doctor?" "When did Carrot Top become an admiral in the flying mermen viking army?" "Is this the heaviest plant in the world or is he just too lame to realize he can move it and quit being agitated?" I just have so many questions.

By: Dr-Baa

Dr-Baa — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:33:33 -0800

That's not the head. It's the blossom.

By: fuzzypantalones

fuzzypantalones — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:36:02 -0800

Corporate Minions of the Information Submariner!

By: fuzzypantalones

fuzzypantalones — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:37:10 -0800

Approved! posted by Jofus at 12:24 PM on June 25 [+] [!] wait, is it live yet? bc we just showed it to the client, and they have more changes.

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:44:28 -0800

great stuff. one of my guilty pleasures is trawling through collections of stock photography in a kind of morbid fascination at the hyperreal banality of the idealised lives, events & attitudes portrayed. but not with any comic intent. i just like seeing 400 variations on people shaking hands in front of graphs, or staring intently at laptops, or of tie plants flowering with guys' heads.

By: DU

DU — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:49:33 -0800

I thought all stock photography was banal. I didn't realize it also included random collections of objects. Seems like a lot of time and money could be saved by generating these as CGI from computer program.

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:55:14 -0800

nothing more recent than March 2008? in fact, Rob seems to have hit peak interest in month three of this eight month blog.

By: batmonkey

batmonkey — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:55:39 -0800

Great fun. The explosion of stock photography was crying out for this to exist.

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:57:05 -0800

woot.

By: Sys Rq

Sys Rq — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:58:42 -0800

I know a few stock photographers--all mid-twenties, it's-a-living kind of folks. Apparently, part of the fun of being a stock photographer is seeing how ridiculous and unusable a photo can get (see angel-wing/rubber gloves/apron/ninja knife guy; backwards typewriter/crazy expression dude) before it actually becomes unsaleable. And then there's the parody-of-stock-photography stock photography, where you see a lot of "several guys in underpants casually chatting and pointing beyond frame."

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:59:37 -0800

I once spent the better part of an afternoon looking for the "right" picture of a dog pretending to be a doctor.

By: Artw

Artw — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:01:31 -0800

I've worked at web development companies where the design team has gotten a bit too hung up on using a particular disk of stock photography for *everything*, which is probably part fo why I like this so much.

By: cortex

cortex — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:02:17 -0800

Man, I'm all kinds of approving this.

By: quin

quin — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:03:12 -0800

They are right, I am experiencing one of four emotions right now. This one must be sass. Also, the "jerkin" tag doesn't get used nearly enough around here.

By: thanotopsis

thanotopsis — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:08:25 -0800

wait, is it live yet? bc we just showed it to the client, and they have more changes. Speaking as the representative of all devs/designers/etc: Burn.

By: Artw

Artw — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:09:14 -0800

We actually want to go with the other design, but make it more like this design.

By: arcticwoman

arcticwoman — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:17:23 -0800

I love it.

By: paddysat

paddysat — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:21:20 -0800

"It's just lacking pizazz. You DO know what I mean by pizazz don't you? Yo know, that 'WOW!' factor. Yes, that's it. Add some wow and send me another proof." *sigh* Ahh...this is an awesome find. Thanks so much!

By: Artw

Artw — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:24:12 -0800

Needs more Web2.0, maybe you could make it Ajax?

By: delmoi

delmoi — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:29:55 -0800

I love the one in 'playing doctor' with the girl holding the syringe like a dagger. Of course the 'four injections' is pretty rad as well.

By: sveskemus

sveskemus — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:44:52 -0800

This is so great. Thanks, fearfulsymmetry.

By: rusty

rusty — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:07:40 -0800

Could you make it 20% more jazzy?* --- * This is an actual client quote.

By: porn in the woods

porn in the woods — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:26:13 -0800

I feel we should rastafy him by ... ten percent or so.

By: Stunt

Stunt — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:26:56 -0800

Oh yeah, this is good. I'm glad there are other people out there who's pantheon of time wasters includes ridiculing stock photography. And yet somehow my hobby is momentarily more efficient with this politely handing me ones to mock. I appreciate when the quality of my time wasting is more efficient; if I'm going to waste a whole day laughing at dogs in bee suits staring at powerpoint presentations I better not have to waste my valuable time looking at the other ones where that dog obviously doesn't fucking care and needs to start taking his job more seriously if he ever hopes to get promoted and make it out of middle management. Holy crap, if only this man could continue this grand project of his it would be like the Metafilter of my stock photography mockery.

By: OverlappingElvis

OverlappingElvis — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:48:16 -0800

Oh god, I had to go looking for some stock photography the other day, which really means wading through page after page of shitty stock imagery to find something that's not quite hackneyed and awful. Some funny pieces on this link, thanks!

By: rude.boy

rude.boy — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:11:45 -0800

also funny: if you're not logged in, this comments page is peppered with (context specific) google ads for various stock photography resources. heh.

By: rmless

rmless — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:21:39 -0800

We have a common abbreviation at my workplace that I, regrettably, have also put on art: JIU. (Jazz It Up)

By: seanmpuckett

seanmpuckett — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:19:11 -0800

Oh how I hate you all. (laughs some more.)

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:25:00 -0800

I am now in love with the Dance of the Information Submariner. It's far funnier if you read how he got the name "Information Submariner."

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:42:49 -0800

Is it even worth it to mention the anecdote wherein the client asked me to change the design, then when I did asked why it didn't more like it used to?

By: Mael Oui

Mael Oui — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:00:25 -0800

Memories of a Salad brought back some of my own precious memories. Great find!

By: Artw

Artw — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:56:27 -0800

Jazz hands!