These stock photos will serve as your potent dose of humor or oddity — we’ll let you take your pick.
We’re no strangers to the fact that Reddit is a repository of all things weird and wonderful. We’ve seen our fair share of the wonderful of late, so today’s find is all about the weird (or the wonderfully weird side of the Interwebs, as we think some of you may find it). Whether you’re in the stock photography business or are starting to grow an interest in it, we bring you the strangest collection of snaps that have ever been submitted — or sneaked — into some of the leading stock photography websites out there.
By its name alone — WTF Stock Photos — the subreddit mentioned gives us a clue into what’s in store for those who make the fortunate mistake of browsing around. Stock photography is all about catering to a need for marketing or editorial visuals to either help communicate or illustrate a message better. But the images you’re about to see…well, we don’t understand what’s happening in these, but it’s hilarious.
We’ve taken the liberty of sharing 25 of the most entertaining, bizarre, and ridiculous posts from the subreddit’s top posts of all time. The photos are crazy and hilarious, guaranteed to incite thoughts ranging from straight up “WTF,” and, “What was going on in their brains?!” to, “I wonder if there will ever be some use to these?” The captions by the Redditors are just as good, so we decided to include them here as well!
It’s especially perplexing how all these made it in well-known stock photo platforms like Getty Images, Shutterstock, and Alamy. Because of that, it may be easier to dismiss them as fakes or troll posts. We did a bit of sleuthing to satisfy our curiosity (and most likely yours as well), and we were very surprised to find that some of the ones we picked are still there. Woman giving birth to an adult man? Check. Robbery in bakery? Check. Evil male punk holding a goldfish in a bag with holes poked in it and the water leaking isolated on white background? Check. Yellow rubber glove and lemon with tongue? Check. A centaur has met the wrong half — he was very puzzled. Yes, we were, too, upon meeting the photo. It’s safe to say a good number of these priceless photos are real, and are still around — whether for our entertainment or someone’s strange visual requirements.
So, what do we get out of these? First, the human mind is a wonderful repository of ideas: whether those work or not is another thing altogether. Also, it takes some mad Photoshop skills to bring even some of the most inconceivable ideas to life. Lastly, if you’re in serious need of any of these stock photos or can make something worthwhile out of these, we’d like to be your friend.
Can’t get enough? Why not also check out Humans of Stock Photography as well?
All hilarity aside, it’s definitely challenging to come up with something original, eye-catching, and relevant to the demands and requirements of the stock photography market today. That’s where the creative trends , predictions, and shot lists provided by stock photography platforms for the year come in handy. If you’re new to the craft, these are great places to start.