One of the most enduring and endearing photos of Joe Biden taking office does not appear in the president at all. Rather, an image of Vermont independent senator Bernie Sanders has sparked waves on the Internet, prompting thousands of photoshopped memes on social media.
In the picture, Sanders puts on oversized gloves and a practical brown coat, sitting socially spaced on a folding chair with legs and arms crossed. It is this photo of the former Democratic presidential candidate that has been transposed through time and place, falling into historical moments, movie scenes, famous paintings and more.
Brendan Smialowski, a Washington-based photojournalist covering politics for Agence France-Presse, shot the image of Sanders.
“This image really isn’t that fantastic,” Smialowski told CNBC. “It’s not the most beautiful composition in the world.”
He had been watching prominent guests at the inauguration ceremony on Thursday, particularly Republicans Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, who have been criticized for their efforts to undo the results of the presidential election.
“I saw Senator Sanders come out of his other eyes with his gloves on. It was a good time when he crossed his legs and crossed his arms,” Smialowski said. “I threw him the camera.”
The rest is history. The photo was quickly opened via the Internet, combined with fun subtitles, then cut and pasted into different iterations.
Ashley Smalls, Ph.D. Penn State student shared the photo on Twitter writing, “It could be an email.” His tweet has more than 1.1 million likes and 139,700 retweets as of Saturday morning.
“When I saw Bernie’s photo, it reminded me of myself at the back of a meeting, waiting for it to end,” Smalls told CNBC. “Most of the comments were from people saying ‘it’s me’ or ‘mood’ and I’m glad we all relate.”
Smialowski didn’t immediately notice the uproar in his photo, but he started getting a few emails from his bosses saying people were having fun with the image. Later, when his email and social media notifications exploded, he learned that his image had gone viral.
“I don’t think any photojournalist is crazy for his work to become a meme,” Smialowski said. “But it’s nice to see that people are creative with something.”
The photojournalist said he liked to see versions of the meme placing Sanders in pictures, especially when it looks like the creator made an extra effort in Photoshop to integrate the senator into the art.
During an interview on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” on Thursday, Sanders said he had no idea his photo had become a sensation on the Internet.
“I was just sitting there trying to stay warm, trying to pay attention to what was going on,” he told Meyers.
Sanders credited Jen Ellis, a Vermont school teacher, with making the gloves she wore. Seconds Ellis, the gloves are created from reused wool sweaters and lined with fleece made from recycled plastic bottles.
The senator’s tent store launched a sweatshirt with the meme, with 100% of the proceeds going to Meals on Wheels Vermont. Since then, the rotating neck has run out.
When asked why he thinks Sanders ’photo resonated so strongly with people, Smialowski said,“ Senator Sanders has a very well-defined brand and image. He’s who he is and he feels comfortable in that. and it’s part of their policy. ” “
“It was a good part of life,” Smialowski said. “It’s just Bernie being Bernie.”