I had a similar experience when I designed a website for a security agency in Russia. I used a piece of stock photography (that was so fucking perfect), but the client nuked it because one of the guards in the picture was black. C'est la vie.
Speaking of stock photos... This might get some chuckles
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=stock_photos
Speaking of stock photos... This might get some chuckles
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=stock_photos