Are you stuck in corporate stock photo hell? Emelia Clarke to the rescue..
Okay, this may not be the answer to all of your stock photo woes, however it should at least give you some light entertainment on a rainy Wednesday, especially if you are a fan of The Office (I mean the real UK version with everybody’s 9to5 hero, David Brent).
Spoiler warning, if you haven’t seen the final series of Game of Thrones, I would stop here.
If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past decade, there is a good chance that you will at least recognise Emelia Clarke as one of the leading stars of Game of Thrones (or to get it right, Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, First of Her Name, the Unburnt, Queen of the Andals and the First Men ,Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, and Mother of Dragons). And now that her GOT gig (watch) is over, it appears that Emelia is moving to a new realm.
The actress who is famous for at least one controversial ‘heel turn’ is at it again by moving to the dark side of corporate stock photography. Early signs are positive, it appears that she is a pro. With the help of Vanity Fair, Emelia has recreated (with tongue firmly in cheek) some of the more recognisable and cringe-worthy stock photography scenes from the annals of history.
Prepare yourselves for power poses, firm handshakes, corporate back-patting and communal loitering around a laptop screen. Seriously, can these good people not afford to have their own desks?
Now I suppose it’s confession time. When I first saw this video I acknowledge the fact that I sniggered scornfully and wondered ‘who in their right mind would consider using any of these photos for client projects?’. I also admit that I have selected memory when it comes to being a designer; personal pride has been known to cloud our memory of dubious decisions made in the past. I have indeed created web layouts with stock photography that looks eerily similar to some of these dutiful re-enactments. In my defence it has been a good few years and we thankfully have a greater range to choose from when we turn our attention to stock photo libraries.
Every time I trawl through the pages of Adobe Stock (my current stock photo library of choice), I get a chilling reminder from the ghosts of projects past. Thanks to Emelia Clarke and Vanity Fair, our dirty little secret is now back in the open. So on the behalf of all designers with nearly two decades of service to their name, thanks a bunch Emelia!
