This Photo = The Future of Work?

The Story Behind The Photo

Ferran Traité has been a “photographer of humans, places and things around the globe” for 20+ years. From Barcelona, now living in Virginia.

In an era where AI-generated imagery may flood the market with synthetic content, photographers like Ferran represent the irreplaceable human eye, capturing real moments, people, and spaces. ​Ferran's work​ shows why authentic photography resonates more deeply than algorithmic options.

I DM'd Ferran on ​Instagram​ with a simple question: would he be willing to share the story behind the most widely-used, post-Covid workplace image?

To my delight, he said yes, and here is what I learned.

Origin: A Getty Event in Buenos Aires

In 2019, Ferran was invited to a Getty Images event in Buenos Aires. Getty had gathered photographers to create fresh content for their stock library, with specific guidance: make authentic workplace and office imagery.

His shoot location? A WeWork ​in Argentina​.

Ferran hired actors and spent hours getting the shot just right. The challenge wasn't technical—it was psychological. As he told me:

The hardest part of a photo shoot for stock photography is not making it look staged or cheesy smiles or nothing that doesn't really happen in real life.

As anyone who has been involved with architectural photo shoots knows, the motion blur is intentional and not artistic. It makes the people feel "authentic but anonymous," allowing viewers to project themselves into the scene while avoiding frozen-smile artificiality.

The Arc of Popularity

Here's where the story gets interesting. Ferran uploaded ​the photo​ in late 2019, calling it “commuters arriving to office lobby stock photo.” Not an instant hit, downloads flatlined when COVID hit and offices emptied.

But as RTO conversations heated up in 2021-22, demand exploded. The photo became visual shorthand for "the office debate"—downloaded and repurposed globally, from tech blogs to news and consulting reports.

Including mine. I first encountered this image when McKinsey editors used it for my workplace experience ​capability report​. Among a sea of corporate clichés, it was the only option presented that I felt comfortable with.

The Ironic Twist

The Buenos Aires WeWork where this photo was shot no longer exists. WeWork ​vacated​ Torre Bellini during their financial collapse, making this the strange case where our most popular image of work's future depicts a company and building that couldn't sustain their own.

The irony runs deeper than I initially realized. I just wrote about how ​WeWork's Chelsea HQ​ was "buried and forgotten," and now know that our most ubiquitous workplace image was shot in yet another failed WeWork. The photo outlived both the company's vision and physical space.

The Lifecycle of a Symbol

The photo illustrates a common pattern in how we simplify complex ideas:

Stage 1: Lazy Shorthand

Leaders, journalists, and consultants grab the same stock image because it's easy, recognizable, and safe. I first noticed this problem for the idea of a "modern office building" ​three years ago​.

Stage 2: Temporary Success

Once shorthand gains traction, it becomes symbolic. People stop seeing the photo itself and start associating it with larger debates about hybrid work, office culture, or productivity. This image works not because of what it shows, but because of what it could mean.

Stage 3: Outgrown Metaphor

Symbols can outlive their sources. The WeWork is gone, but the image still gets deployed as if it represents unlimited possibility. Future of work conversations have evolved through hybrid rhythms, frontline worker experience, AI integration, and space utilization metrics.

None of which this one photo can capture, but it's still gone stock-viral.

The implication? Organizations risk telling outdated, contradictory, or borrowed stories when they rely on generic stock imagery.

What Image Will You Choose?

Here's my challenge: pull up your last three presentations about workplace strategy, hybrid work, or employee experience. What images did you use?

Are they borrowed stock photos—the same everyone else is using—or visuals that actually reflect your people, your culture, your story?

I've been guilty of this too. It's easier to grab something from the web than to think critically about what story your imagery tells. But as I learned from tracking down Ferran and understanding this photo's journey, the images we choose reveal more about our thinking than we realize.

I've written before about the absurd disconnect between stock photos and workplace reality, e.g., articles dismissing office perks as "useless" while ​featuring images​ of professionals enthusiastically playing pool.

Consider these alternatives:

• Commission real photography of your actual employees and spaces, as Lauren Hasson from JLL ​suggested recently​
• Create original imagery that captures your unique narrative
• Use data visualizations that tell your specific transformation story
• Partner with local artists to represent your company's culture

For the truly bold: share live glimpses of your offices through social media or company updates. Nothing says "we're confident in our culture" more than showing it unfiltered.

The uncomfortable truth is that if we're all using the same visual language, we're probably thinking about work in the same limited ways.

If we want to build a better future of work, maybe we should start by choosing better pictures of it—ones that show the work we actually want to do, in spaces where we actually want to be.

Thanks again to Ferran Traité for sharing his time and insights. You can see more of his work ​on iStock​, and support independent photographers who capture the authentic moments that help us understand our world.