There is of course one hint. The image the INQ licenses is from Getty Images, a website that sells stock images to the whole world. I first fired a search on Google, though, to find out more about her.

Three websites came up with information relative to our Everywhere Girl. Like the INQ, they have painstakingly brought together occurences of EG from various websites. They are The Stock Photo Girl, Dell/Gateway Girl returns and finally More stock footage? Samsung joins Dell and Gateway. One of them provided the name of the photographer and the actual link to a whole page of Everywhere girl photos.

The photographer's name is Doug Menuez, otherwise known as Douglas, and he has a website at menuez.com. I tried to contact his UK agent, no luck. They gave me a number in the US for his NY agent, no luck again. Could this have been the Everywhere Girl curse? After having phoned his sister and his personal assistant - both very courteous but ultimately unhelpful. I managed to grab the man himself. Doug Menuez was kind enough to send me an email which sorted out everything and sadly brought an end to our quest. It also casts a darker portrait on the world of photography. It is not as glamorous as some of us would like to think.

Dear Desire,

I've seen your site and followed this crazy story. It used to be paramount for companies to shoot original art to maintain their identities, now it's all about saving money. To survive the loss of assignment work, most photographers need to supplement income by shooting stock. Stock sales have exploded in the last decade as more companies cut back on commissioning original assignment photography. This situation therefore was inevitable. You have picked up on the exact reason why using stock instead of unique work is risky for companies trying to save money, and that is multiple use of the same picture.

Original work is expensive. Stock is cheap. I can't complain about this image being used a lot, it helps my income. At the same time, I do think it would better serve the marketing plans of these clients if they did assign fresh work to be done.

And I'm sorry I can't be more helpful, but I do not have the name or any info on the talent. I did not produce the shoot, therefore I have no paperwork on this. I can't even remember when we did this. I don't even have the film on this. We shoot two or three shoots a month, for the last twenty years, worldwide. Hard to keep track. But thanks for asking and sorry again.

Best
Doug

The finale though is that the Everywhere Girl's name seems to be lost for good now. But someone, somewhere must know her, and know who she is. And if they do, get her to drop us a line at the INQ. Because our plan is to invite her to London, all expenses paid, to come to the INQ's fifth birthday party. µ