I once spent two days looking at stock photographs while I interned at an advertising agency.

It was awful, and I vowed never to look at stock images ever again (which is why I finish Google Image searches with “-stock”).

But other than the placid photographs of park benches set against serene landscapes, or those awkward business scenarios, there’s a disturbing amount of sinister options.

According to Dazed Digital, you can search terms like “kids doing coke” and “girl taking selfie with AK-47” and you will get results.

So Andy Kelly started a Twitter account under the handle @darkstockphotos which features all these curious finds – or, what he calls, “extremely fucked up stock photography”.

Dazed spoke to Andy, who listed his top finds along with a little commentary on each one – and here are our favourite WTF stock images (including the search phrase under which they were found):

“Group of teenage boys taking drugs at home”

“This kid is way ahead of his peers. While they knock back blue alcopops, he’s railing fat lines of coke off a CD case balanced on a beige leather sofa. I love this because despite the hedonism on display, it also has an air of suburban tedium. You just know this kid is captain of the soccer team when he’s not honking up gak.”

“Daddy and baby with cigarette”

“This raises so many questions. Who gave this child a gun? Why is he so devastated? And who forced him to wear those yellow pants? Imagining the photographer directing this shot makes it even funnier. ‘You’ve just killed your mother, OK?’ *click* ‘You’re filled with sadness and regret.’ *click* ‘Perfect!’”

“Drunk reckless woman drinking alcohol and holding her crying baby after return from night party”

And the winner? This one, of course, found under the search term “Fat man playing naughty Santa Claus”:

“I don’t think this would be as dark without the Santa hat. There’s something about bringing Christmas into this display of a man seductively tweaking his nipples that makes it drift into the arena of the disturbing. And the orgasmic expression and raggedy beard only add to the general ambience of unease.”

I do apologise if you have been scarred by any one of those.

But there’s more!

Other feeds inspired by stock photos are just as dark, and include a subreddit found under /r/youdontsurf which features stock photos and videos that are given a new narrative with “hilarious captions and M. Night Shyamalan twists”.

While we ponder the reason a legitimate photographer would think shooting children in such situations would be a viable income, you can follow Andy here for more.

[source:dazeddigital]