A recent photograph of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden alongside former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter has folks on social media scratching their heads over whether the Bidens are giants, the Carters have shrunk, or something else is amiss.
What are the details?
The Bidens met with the Carters last week at the former first couple’s home in Georgia, where the picture was snapped.
The Carter Center tweeted out the image on Monday, writing, “We’re pleased to share this wonderful photo from the @POTUS and @FLOTUS visit to see the Carters in Plains, Ga.! Thank you President and Mrs. Biden!”
We’re pleased to share this wonderful photo from the @POTUS and @FLOTUS visit to see the Carters in Plains, Ga.!… https://t.co/oNUxv9P7TW
— The Carter Center (@The Carter Center)1620093890.0
But the picture left several people on Twitter wondering: “Dude what is with the size difference between these people what the hell is going on here?”
One person wrote, “Glad I’m not the only who noticed. I know it probably has something to do with the angle this photo was shot and that people do tend to shrink as they age, but the Bidens look gargantuan next to the Carters.”
Another added, “Regardless of it being edited or not it’s hilarious people are trying to defend a picture where the Bidens look like they showed up for a tea party in the Carters’ Barbie house.”
An expert for The Guardian explained that the Bidens are not, in reality, three times the size of the Carters, telling the outlet:
The image is possibly distorted by using a wide-angle lens. When taking photos in a smaller space you often don’t have room to move far enough back to get everyone in the frame, so you use a lens that can take it all in. Unfortunately, if you use a lens that is really wide, while also standing very close to the subjects, it will distort the photo, making those close to the camera appear giant while shrinking those further away.
Anything else?
The size distortions are not the only thing people noticed about the photo of the Democratic couples.
Many respondents noted that the Bidens — who still insist on wearing masks outdoors despite being fully vaccinated for months — were nonetheless comfortable ditching their masks to pose next to an elderly couple indoors.
“The comments on this distorted photo are hysterical,” one person wrote, “but the fact that President Biden wears a mask when he’s alone on a Zoom call with world leaders but he doesn’t when he’s sitting with the Carters, a couple in their 90s, only proves that post vaccine masks are pure theater.”
Another replied, “Where are the masks. Not social distanced. I noticed the Bidens donned theirs as they were leaving. More mixed messages.”