Beyond the obvious

Authentic and real imagery. Chocolate in Brugge. We're all rather cynical these days about advertising promises and can spot an image that's fake a mile away. What does this mean for brands and companies that want to advertise to us and the images they choose? And on the flip side what does the demand for real emotions and real imagery mean for photographers? Studies have shown that people are far more positive toward  an advert with an emotionally powerful and authentic image than one that looks like a set-up studio piece or standard stock image. Getty commissioned independent research from the agency Brainjuicer in the UK and used a sample of 600 people to test a set of three adverts. One advert used an image that was authentic and emotionally powerful, the second advert was a standard stock type commercial image and the third advert only contained text. The results show a far more positive attitude by the public toward authentic, emotionally powerful images. In o...