Search “women” on a stock photo site and you’ll be met with a sea of smooth faces, glossy hair, and legs that seem to go on longer than a tax return. But when it comes to finding authentic images of women over 40, the results dry up faster than last year’s New Year’s resolutions.

That’s the frustrating reality for the team behind Talented Ladies Club (TLC) — a thriving online hub for working mothers that publishes fresh content daily. Despite the wealth of free image libraries like Unsplash and Pexels, TLC’s editors say they’re hitting a brick wall when trying to find relatable, empowering photos of women over 40 actually living life — not fading into the background of it.

Their recent attempt to source an image for a menopause article says it all. Searching “middle-aged” brought up a mix of elderly women, confused men, and — bizarrely — castles. The phrase “middle-aged women” wasn’t much better, mostly producing shots of heavily airbrushed twenty-somethings posing as “mature.”

“It’s as if we disappear in decade four,” says TLC founder Hannah Martin. “Over the past few years I’ve become increasingly frustrated at how difficult it is to find photos of women over the age of 40 on free stock websites. There are millions of us out there living full lives, and yet we’re not reflected back in the media images we see. The reason this is so worrying, and wrong, is because it’s as if an entire segment of the population is under-represented and left behind because of their age.”

And she’s right. If much of today’s online media relies on free stock imagery — and that imagery erases women over 40 — what message does that send about who deserves to be seen?

Hannah adds: “When searching for photographs on them, it feels as if women are reduced to attractive young girls and haggard old ladies. There are so few positive images of vibrant, diverse women living full, interesting and successful lives in between these two extremes.”

But TLC isn’t just complaining — they’re challenging the status quo. Their recent campaign celebrates real women in all their glory, calling out the gaping hole in representation.

“I’d love to see more representation (and more BAME and disabled women too) on these sites,” says Hannah. “So that the media we consume honestly and accurately reflects the world we live in. And celebrates and empowers women throughout their lives.”

Body-positive coach Angela Corsini agrees — and she’s been raising the same question for years: where are all the real women? “For many years I’ve been asking why women over 40 are so invisible,” she says. “The reality is that if you want to be represented then you either need to be super young and perfect, or be over 50 with silver hair, but still beautiful. I recently took part in a body confidence event in Milan and only three out of the 40 women taking part were over 40. This invisibility needs to change. We’re a huge part of society and have a right to be seen, so let’s work together and get more photos of real women standing proud and doing their thing out there.”

It’s a call to arms that feels long overdue. The world is full of dynamic, intelligent, bold women over 40 building businesses, raising families, starting new careers, and ageing on their own terms. Yet you wouldn’t know it from the average image search.

The time has come to put real faces — and real women — back into the frame.

For the full feature and an inspiring gallery of women redefining visibility, visit Talented Ladies Club’s article.