Two Vancouver art directors faced with using stock photography because their clients don’t want to pay for assignments have launched a blog called
Getty Critics which pokes light-hearted fun at some of the stock photos that can be found at
www.gettyimages.com.
Their tag line is: “Every stock image has a flaw. We’re here to point them out.” And they certainly have found a lot of poorly designed stock photos to criticize. These pictures may say something about Getty’s editing and quality control. After looking as some of them it also raises the question of whether photographers should be doing a better job of editing their work before they send images to a stock agency.
Getty Critics focuses on the “unrealistic world of stock photography,” but we all know that the unrealistic pictures with perfect sets and models sell very well. On the other hand photographers have been asked to produce pictures with more “real people” and “real situations” that don’t eliminate every little flaw. But some of this realism (not eliminating every little flaw) is what these art directors are complaining about.
I also wonder if they actually paid to use these images on their blog. If they did then the laugh may be on them. If they didn’t I hope Getty goes after them to collect for web use. At least the photographer will get something for their efforts. Just because you don’t like a picture is no reason not to pay for it if you intend to use it.
A look through this site may improve the quality of your editing and future offerings.