Elki Boerdam | Image Research
Description: Sad Men collective is an ongoing research on the abyss that is (retro) stock photography.
research (8551) amsterdam (3656) image (3229) stock photography (493) image research (4) elki boerdam (2) io cooman (1)
SAD MEN Collective is a zine series and an ongoing research into the abbys that is retro stock photography. SAD MEN Collective publishes zines, merchandise and research. Sign up for a zine subscription and you will get 4 zines a year sent to you by mail!
This project is about Stock Photography, a form of photography that seems shapeless and objective, waiting for a context to be put in. Stock images are defined by our western visual culture and can be seen as a reflection of our society. With the rise of image banks since 1920, photography was vigorously transformed into a commodity. Since then stock images are a big part of a picture market that directly reflects what is desired.
SAD MEN Collective are Io Cooman and Elki Boerdam . The collective was born out of curiosity, wonder and simply because we are working as photo-editors and we have acces to many image banks. By working with these image databases on a daily basis we have developed a broad and critical view on functional photography and (stock) photography. With our zines, we add and subtract meaning and have a laugh by juggling images around in a playful, accessible, experimental and visceral way.
Elki Boerdam | Image Research