We talk to picture buyers daily, if not hourly, and we always like to ask what they’re working on at the moment and if there’s anything we can help with.

Usually we can. With hundreds of thousands on images on line, and the ability to understand our customers’ wishes without them having to semaphore their intentions to a call centre in Bangalore, we not only find the pictures the buyers need but also throw in some suggestions from left field to surprise them. Mostly they love it.

The requests, as I wrote in the last blog entry, are usually specific but sufficiently general to allow wide interpretation — cycling, Orang utans, haircuts, that sort of thing — but today we got one that really threw me.

A client wants pictures of “something in the wrong place at the wrong time”. What a great concept! What a terrific challenge!  The square peg in the round hole. I’m scratching my head. We have one picture with wrong place, wrong time in the keywords so that’s being offered, but how does one convey the concept so that one look tells the whole story?

Any ideas and suggestions gratefully received.