What you can learn about work from stock photos

We spend a lot of time looking at stock photos around here and have come to the conclusion that the average stock photographer has never actually worked at a real job – ever.

How else to you explain this depiction of “telecommute”?

He is totally gonna ruin his computer. Also, how did he even get there? Did a boat drop him off? Or did he drop from a helicopter? The description reads “Young Businessman Relaxing with Laptop Working Floating in Tropical Water.” But I feel like that raises more questions than it answers.

Here are a few more things stock photographers seem to believe about the office based on the frequency which with these images, or variations thereupon, appear in response to our daily queries.

“Working moms” and people who “work from home” work with their babies on their laps sitting on white couches because this is obviously the most effective way of doing things. Either that or they just let the baby do the work for them.

 
At the “office”, blue shirts are the mode du jour.

 
Blue shirts are AWESOME when you’re part of a “team.”

 
People get very angry during “office conflict” and it gets REAL – with hair pulling and umbrellas.

 
During “office conflict” people also yell at each other a lot with megaphones. Offices are very loud places.

 
A “powerful woman” wears boxing gloves.

 
Young people in a “hip office” like to wear hats.

 
“Technology” is mostly about touching words like “solution,” “innovation,” and the seemingly redundant “technology” that float in the air.

 
“Physics” mostly involves little kids writing “E=MC2” on blackboards.

 
Even though he’s working from home and nobody can see him, a “cyber criminal” wears a mask.

 
At the end of the day, even with all the hair pulling, umbrella fights, and shouting with megaphones, being part of a “team” is just like being one of the Three Musketeers.

All for one, and one for all!