One of the most enduring and captivating photos of Joe Biden’s inauguration does not present the president at all. Instead, an image of Vermont independent senator Bernie Sanders made waves across the Internet, generating thousands of photoshopped memes on social media.
In the photo, Sanders wears large gloves and a practical brown coat, sitting socially apart in a folding chair with legs and arms crossed. It is this photo of the former Democratic presidential candidate that was transposed through time and place, launched in historical moments, movie scenes, famous paintings and much more.
Brendan Smialowski, a Washington-based photojournalist who covers politics for the Agence France-Presse news agency, filmed Sanders’ image.
“This image is really not that good,” Smialowski told CNBC. “It is not the most beautiful composition in the world.”
He was eyeing prominent guests at the swearing-in ceremony on Thursday, especially the Republicans Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, who faced criticism for their efforts to overturn the presidential election results.
“I saw Senator Sanders with the other eye, kind of playing with his gloves. It was just a good time when he crossed his legs and arms,” said Smialowski. “I threw the camera at him.”
The rest is history. The photo quickly made its way across the Internet along with funny captions and then cut and pasted in different iterations.
Ashley Smalls, a Ph.D. student at Penn State, shared the photo on Twitter, writing, “It could have been an email.” His tweet has more than 1.1 million likes and 139,700 retweets on Saturday morning.
“When I saw Bernie’s picture, he just reminded me of myself at the end of a meeting, waiting for it to end,” Smalls told CNBC. “Most of the comments were from people saying ‘this is me’ or ‘humor’, and I’m happy that we all identify.”
Smialowski did not immediately notice the buzz around his photo, he said, but started receiving some 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 went viral.
“I don’t think any photojournalist is crazy about his work becoming a meme,” said Smialowski. “But it’s nice to see people being creative in something.”
The photojournalist said he liked to see versions of the meme putting Sanders in paintings, especially when it appears that the creator used some extra effort in Photoshop to integrate the senator into the art.
During an interview on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” Thursday, Sanders said he had no idea that his photo had become an internet sensation.
“I was sitting there trying to keep warm, trying to pay attention to what was going on,” he told Meyers.
Sanders gave credit to Jen Ellis, a Vermont teacher, for making the gloves he wore. According Ellis, the gloves are created with reused wool sweaters and lined with wool made from recycled plastic bottles.
The senator’s campaign store launched a sweatshirt with the meme, with 100% of the proceeds going to Meals on Wheels Vermont. Since then, the collar has worn 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 is who he is and he feels comfortable with that and that is part of of your policy. “
“It was a beautiful slice of life,” said Smialowski. “It’s just Bernie being Bernie.”