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One of the most enduring and endearing photos of Joe Biden’s inauguration doesn’t feature the president at all. On the contrary, an image of Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders made waves on the internet, sparking thousands of photoshopped memes on social media.
In the photo, Sanders dons oversized mittens and a practical brown coat, sitting socially distanced in a folding chair with his legs and arms crossed. It’s this photo of the former Democratic presidential candidate that has been transposed through time and space, shot into historical moments, movie scenes, famous paintings and more.
Brendan Smialowski, a Washington-based photojournalist who covers politics for the France-Presse agency, photographed the image of Sanders.
“This picture is really not that great,” Smialowski told CNBC. “It’s not the most beautiful composition in the world.”
He had kept an eye out for distinguished guests at Thursday’s inauguration ceremony, especially Republican Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, who were criticized for their efforts to overturn the presidential election results.
“I saw Senator Sanders come out of my other eye playing with his gloves on. It was just a nice moment when he crossed his legs and arms,” Smialowski said. “I threw the camera at him.”
The rest is history. The photo quickly caught on on the internet, paired with fun captions, then copied and pasted in various iterations.
Ashley Smalls, a Ph.D. student at Penn State, shared the photo on Twitter, writing: “It could have been an email.” His tweet had over 1.1 million likes and 139,700 retweets on Saturday morning.
“When I saw Bernie’s photo, he just reminded me of myself in the back of a meeting, waiting for it to be over,” Smalls told CNBC. “Most of the comments were from people saying ‘it’s me’ or ‘mood’, and I’m glad we all related.”
Smialowski didn’t immediately notice the buzz surrounding his photo, he said, 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 knew his photo had gone viral.
“I don’t think a photojournalist is crazy to see their work turn into a meme,” Smialowski said. “But it’s nice to see people get creative with something.”
The photojournalist said he enjoys seeing versions of the meme placing Sanders in paintings, especially when it looks like the creator has gone the extra mile on Photoshop to embed the Senator into the art.
During an interview on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” Thursday, Sanders said he had no idea the photo of him had become an internet sensation.
“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 schoolteacher from Vermont, for making the mittens he wore. According to Ellis, the mittens are created from recycled wool sweaters and lined with fleece made from recycled plastic bottles.
The Senator’s campaign store released a sweatshirt with the meme, with 100% of the proceeds going to Meals on Wheels Vermont. The round neck has since sold out.
When asked why he thought Sanders’ photo resonated so strongly with people, Smialowski said, “Senator Sanders has a very well defined brand and image. He is who he is and he’s comfortable in it and it’s really part of his policy. “
“It was a beautiful slice of life,” said Smialowski. “It’s just that Bernie is Bernie.”
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