# Stock Photography > Stock Photography is a 2011 meme phenomenon mining commercial stock libraries like Getty Images for absurdly staged images that became iconic templates like Hide the Pain Harold and Distracted Boyfriend. Stock photography, the commercial image licensing industry dominated by agencies like Getty Images and Shutterstock, became an unlikely goldmine for internet humor when users discovered the bizarre, staged, and often inexplicable images lurking in these libraries[1]. From the Distracted Boyfriend to Hide the Pain Harold, stock photos turned into some of the internet's most recognizable and endlessly remixable meme templates[4]. The trend of mining stock libraries for absurd content gained traction in the early 2010s, and dedicated communities like the Overly Specific Stock Photos Tumblr turned the practice into an art form[2]. ## Origin Stock photography has existed as a commercial industry since the mid-20th century, with agencies like Getty Images becoming major platforms for licensing royalty-free and rights-managed images[1]. The meme potential of these images was always latent, but it took the internet's collective attention to unlock it. The shift from commercial tool to meme source happened gradually in the late 2000s and early 2010s as users began sharing the strangest images they could find in stock libraries. Tumblr played a key role in organizing this trend, with blogs like Overly Specific Stock Photos curating collections of the most bizarre offerings, including gems like "Reindeer Man Rides Bike while Santa Woman Talks on Banana Phone and Rabbi Tosses a Football while Holding a Menorah"[2]. Blog posts cataloging "the worst stock photos" became a popular format. One such roundup from 2019 documented dozens of absurd images, from a man in XXXXL jeans pulled up to his shoulders to a poodle trimmed in Minecraft-style blocks[3]. These collections highlighted just how deep the well of weird stock content runs. - **Platform:** Stock photo agencies (source images), Tumblr / Reddit / Twitter (meme spread) - **Creator:** Unknown (community-created from commercial stock libraries); notable contributors include Antonio Guillem (Distracted Boyfriend photographer)[4] - **Date:** ~2011 (as a distinct meme genre) ## Overview Stock photography memes draw from the vast libraries of commercial image agencies where photographers stage generic scenarios for licensing. The images are meant to illustrate concepts like "teamwork," "success," or "family conflict" for use in advertisements, corporate presentations, and editorial content[1]. But the staged nature of these photos, combined with vague or overly literal visual metaphors, creates an uncanny quality that makes them perfect meme material. The genre covers a huge range: a man arguing on a banana phone in an office, a dog in a Santa suit wearing sunglasses, a woman wearing a dress made of lunch meat, someone riding a tiny tricycle in a business suit[3]. The disconnect between the artificial cheerfulness of stock imagery and the absurdity of the scenarios is what makes the whole category so memeable. Professional lighting and high production values applied to completely unhinged subject matter create a specific kind of comedy that the internet latched onto hard. ## How It Spread The stock photography meme genre spread across multiple platforms in distinct waves. Tumblr blogs dedicated to curating bizarre stock images attracted large followings in the early-to-mid 2010s[2]. Reddit communities like r/wtfstockphotos and r/youdontsurf turned stock images into exploitable templates, adding absurd or dark captions to the already strange visuals. The biggest individual breakout came with the Distracted Boyfriend meme. Photographer Antonio Guillem shot the original image in Girona, Spain in mid-2015 as part of a stock photo session about infidelity "in a playful and fun way"[4]. The image was uploaded to Shutterstock with the caption "Disloyal man walking with his girlfriend and looking amazed at another seductive girl"[4]. The first known meme use appeared in a Turkish progressive rock Facebook group in January 2017, labeling the man as Phil Collins being distracted from progressive rock by pop music[4]. The image went fully viral on August 19, 2017, when a Twitter user posted it with the man labeled "the youth" being distracted from "capitalism" by "socialism," a version that racked up over 35,000 retweets and nearly 100,000 likes[4]. Blog writers began producing roundups of ridiculous stock photography as standalone content. These collections, which documented everything from a business dog working on a laptop to a man being attacked by an oversized sneeze, drove further interest in the genre[3]. The blogger behind one such collection noted that stock photos "pertain to cheap business ads, spur-of-the-moment PSAs, and low-budget greeting cards" but contained images far too strange for any of those purposes[3]. ## How to Use Stock photography memes come in several formats: **Object Labeling (Distracted Boyfriend style):** Find a stock photo showing a clear dynamic between subjects. Label each person or object to represent abstract concepts, creating an analogy. The Distracted Boyfriend template, for example, typically uses the boyfriend as someone making a choice, the girlfriend as the responsible option, and the other woman as the tempting alternative[4]. **Captioned Absurdity:** Take a genuinely bizarre stock photo and add a caption that either explains the scene in deadpan terms or creates a fictional narrative. The humor comes from treating the staged insanity as completely normal. **"You vs. the guy she told you not to worry about":** Stock photos showing contrasting figures in the same frame get labeled to create comparison jokes. **Curated collections:** Compile the strangest stock photos into themed roundups, adding commentary to each. This format works well for blog posts and social media threads[3]. The key to stock photo memes is the tension between the photos' commercial polish and their bizarre content. The best examples find images that were clearly created to illustrate some vague concept but ended up looking completely unhinged. ## Cultural Impact Stock photography memes bridged the gap between commercial media and internet culture in ways few other meme genres managed. The Distracted Boyfriend image attracted coverage from The New Yorker, The Guardian, The Daily Dot, and The New York Times, which published the meme in its Business section in May 2019 to illustrate the proposed Renault-Fiat Chrysler merger[4]. Nathan Heller of The New Yorker wrote that "the delight of the Distracted Boyfriend meme was not unlike the perverse pleasure taken by Distracted Boyfriend himself: it allowed America to turn its attention away from much more important commitments"[4]. The meme was listed by Paper magazine as one that defined 2017[4]. The photographer Antonio Guillem told The Guardian in August 2017 that "I didn't even know what a meme is until recently. The models discovered the meme on social media and they told me about it"[4]. The models, known by their stage names "Mario" and "Laura," first learned about it when people started posting memes to their personal social media accounts[4]. Brands adopted stock photo memes quickly once they went viral. In November 2020, French clothing company Jules used the Distracted Boyfriend in a commercial[4]. The Hungarian government even used another stock photo of the same two models in a campaign to promote child birth, which prompted widespread ridicule[4]. The "Distracted Boyfriend" raised copyright questions as well. Guillem stated that his images "are subject to copyright laws and the license agreements of the microstock agencies" but acknowledged that most people using them as memes were "doing it in good faith"[4]. ## Fun Facts - The Distracted Boyfriend stock photo models "Laura" described how people laughed at them during the shoot because she had to maintain a serious expression while filming fake infidelity scenes in public in Girona[4]. - One roundup of bizarre stock photos includes an image of a man in the desert using a laptop with no apparent Wi-Fi signal, elephants riding bicycles and scooters, and a business dog checking stock prices on a laptop[3]. - The first known meme use of the Distracted Boyfriend had nothing to do with relationships. It was about Phil Collins abandoning progressive rock for pop music[4]. - Getty Images, one of the world's largest stock photo agencies, generates revenue from both the original commercial use AND the viral attention these images receive as memes[1]. - The New York Times Business section used the Distracted Boyfriend meme unironically to illustrate the Renault/Fiat Chrysler merger story in 2019[4]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is the stock photography meme? Stock photography memes are internet jokes created from commercial stock images, exploiting the staged, artificial, or absurd nature of photos meant for advertising and editorial use[3]. ### Where did stock photography memes come from? The trend of turning stock photos into memes grew on platforms like Tumblr and Reddit in the early 2010s, with dedicated communities curating the strangest images from agencies like Getty Images and Shutterstock[1][2]. ### What does the stock photography meme mean? Stock photo memes typically play on the disconnect between commercial polish and bizarre subject matter, or use the object-labeling format (as with Distracted Boyfriend) to create analogies about choices and priorities[4]. ### How do you use stock photography memes? Find an absurd or dynamic stock photo, then either label the subjects to represent abstract concepts or add a humorous caption that plays on the image's weirdness[3]. ### Is the stock photography meme still popular? Stock photo memes are a classic internet format. Individual templates like Distracted Boyfriend peaked in 2017-2018 but the broader genre of mining stock libraries for meme material is a well-established practice[4]. ### Who took the Distracted Boyfriend photo? Spanish photographer Antonio Guillem shot the image in Girona, Catalonia in mid-2015 as part of a planned stock photo session about infidelity[4]. ### Who are the people in the Distracted Boyfriend meme? The models go by their stage names "Mario" (the boyfriend) and "Laura" (the girlfriend). They first learned about the meme when people started posting it to their social media accounts[4]. ### When did the Distracted Boyfriend go viral? The image went viral on August 19, 2017, after a Twitter user posted it with political labels about youth choosing socialism over capitalism. The tweet received over 35,000 retweets[4]. ### Can you legally use stock photos as memes? Photographer Antonio Guillem stated his images are subject to copyright and licensing agreements, but acknowledged most meme users act "in good faith" and said he would not take action "except for the extreme cases"[4]. ### What is the Overly Specific Stock Photos blog? A Tumblr blog dedicated to curating and sharing the most absurdly detailed and bizarre stock photographs, with descriptions like "Reindeer Man Rides Bike while Santa Woman Talks on Banana Phone"[2]. ### Why are stock photos so weird? Stock photographers create images to illustrate vague concepts for commercial licensing, leading to staged scenarios that range from slightly off to completely surreal when viewed outside their intended context[3]. ## References 1. [Royalty-Free Stock Photos, Creative Images & Vectors | News, Fashion, and Entertainment imagery - Getty Images]() 2. [Overly Specific Stock Photos]() 3. [The World According to Stock Photography (Second Edition) | The Lone Girl in a Crowd]() 4. [Distracted boyfriend]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/stock-photography Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library