I see this photo everywhere. It pops up in my RSS reader at least once or twice a week.

stock photo guy

Sometimes the blog post using it is about writing or being a writer. Sometimes it’s about productivity. Sometimes it’s about workplace issues of some sort or another.

Most stock photos are pretty generic. If a picture says a thousand words, the majority of stock photos are good for only 25 or 30. You can get what the photographer was going for quickly and easily. Subtext is not common.

But I’ve seen this so much I’ve begun genuinely wondering who this guy is and what his backstory is. Here’s the message the photo seems to be trying to convey:

A young developer at a startup with an open floor plan has taken his laptop, which is low on power, to one of the cafeteria-like booths it offers in its open floor plan office for when workers want to get away from their desks in order to fix a problem that’s frustrating him.

How am I putting that together?

  • He’s clearly no older than 30 and is probably closer to 25.
  • Laptop stickers for two different versions of HTML, Github and other tech-related resources.
  • The booths are colorful but clearly seperated, indicating a workspace that is usually open but where some personal time is still needed.
  • The guy’s casual wardrobe indicates there’s a relaxed dress code if there is one at all, which I’m associating with a tech company, probably a newer one.
  • He’s rubbing his head and looking wide-eyed at his computer, obviously trying to crack some problem that’s plaguing him.
  • His laptop is plugged in. Based on my experience, developers and designers don’t bring their power cords with them unless it’s absolutely necessary.

Those are assumptions based on my own personal experience and worldview. There are plenty of alternatives, of course.

He could be using his friend’s laptop at a Noodles & Co. to update his resume and just found out his significant other broke up with him because she changed her Facebook relationship status.

He could be a writer working out of a coworking space who just misspelled “mythology” for the fourth time in a row and is wondering whether they’re hiring at Peet’s because this clearly isn’t working out.

He could be reading news of a new iPhone coming out soon and is mad because he just upgraded two months ago.

You could write any number of stories about this or really any other photo. You can assign the person any number of motives or personality traits based on his posture and expression. You can put him in any number of situations based on his environment and the items he’s interacting with. The possibilities are plentiful.

If you wanted to you could concoct a whole life for this individual that’s lead to this moment and forecast what his future holds, using any number of potential choices to create endless possible outcomes.

For me, it’s become a game. Every time I see this photo pop up I’m going to imagine a whole different set of circumstances for him. If people are going to keep using it, I’m going to have some fun with it.

Chris Thilk is a freelance writer and content strategist who lives in the Chicago suburbs.

One thought on “Who Is This Stock Photo Guy?

  1. It’s also fun doing a reverse Google Image search with this photo. Here are the first 12:

    * 8 Tips for Writing a 210-Page Doctoral Dissertation In 8 Months
    * You need to stop learning – Hacker Noon
    * More international students than ever in Holland
    * News & Blog | The latest from IELTS Australia – IELTS New Zealand
    * An introduction to logging for programmers – freeCodeCamp
    * 61 Writing Prompts That’ll Lead You to Your Next Business Blog Post …
    * 5 valuable skills you get out of ESN | ESNblog
    * How to Supercharge your Learning of New Technologies – Hacker Noon
    * Looking for volunteering opportunities? | European Youth Portal
    * A fresh graduate on the programming diaspora – Tech in Asia
    * 3 Freelance Writing Nuggets of Wisdom for When You Feel Like Quitting
    * Startup Rule#1: Nobody Cares – Startups & Venture Capital

    My goodness, my comment looks like comment spam now.

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