Jeff Sessions Time Cover

2018Reaction image / photoshop exploitabledead

Also known as: Creepy Sessions Photo · The Trials of Jeff Sessions

Jeff Sessions Time Cover is a 2018 reaction image meme born from a Time Magazine cover photo by Philip Montgomery, featuring unflattering dramatic lighting that sparked comparisons to horror movie imagery.

The Jeff Sessions Time Cover is a series of jokes and parodies that sprung up around the March 2018 cover of Time Magazine, which featured a close-up photograph of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions with dramatic, unflattering lighting. The cover photo, shot by photographer Philip Montgomery, drew immediate comparisons to horror movie imagery and sparked widespread mockery on social media1.

political satire memesviral photo memes2018 memessarcasm memestrump memes

Overview

The Jeff Sessions Time Cover meme centers on the cover photograph for Time Magazine's issue titled "The Trials of Jeff Sessions." The image shows Sessions staring directly into the camera with harsh, shadowy lighting that gave him an eerie, almost villainous appearance1. Online reactions focused almost entirely on how unsettling the photograph looked rather than the substance of the accompanying article. People compared the photo to horror film characters, classic paintings, and cartoon villains, turning the cover into a brief but widespread joke format3.

On March 29, 2018, Time Magazine posted the cover for their upcoming issue on Twitter3. The photograph was taken by Philip Montgomery, who publicly expressed enthusiasm about the assignment, writing that he was "excited to have photographed the cover of @TIME"1. The issue itself focused on Sessions' increasingly strained relationship with President Trump and shifts happening within the Justice Department. But online, nobody cared about the article. The lighting in the photograph bore a striking resemblance to the Ivan Albright painting "A Face from Georgia," and social media users immediately zeroed in on how unnervingly the cover was lit1. Time's original tweet picked up over 130 retweets and 200 likes within 24 hours3.

Origin & Background

Platform
Twitter (Time Magazine's official tweet)
Key People
Philip Montgomery, Time Magazine
Date
2018

On March 29, 2018, Time Magazine posted the cover for their upcoming issue on Twitter. The photograph was taken by Philip Montgomery, who publicly expressed enthusiasm about the assignment, writing that he was "excited to have photographed the cover of @TIME". The issue itself focused on Sessions' increasingly strained relationship with President Trump and shifts happening within the Justice Department. But online, nobody cared about the article. The lighting in the photograph bore a striking resemblance to the Ivan Albright painting "A Face from Georgia," and social media users immediately zeroed in on how unnervingly the cover was lit. Time's original tweet picked up over 130 retweets and 200 likes within 24 hours.

How It Spread

The jokes rolled in fast. Upworthy writer Parker Molloy tweeted the cover next to the DVD box set for the Leprechaun horror film series, captioning it: "They've got Sessions lit like he's on the cover of the box set for the Leprechaun movies." That post pulled in over 1,700 retweets and 8,700 likes in a single day. Writer Scott Tobias paired the cover with a Simpsons screenshot of Mr. Burns saying "We did 20 takes, and that was the best one," earning 75 retweets and 650 likes.

The political angle also played a role. An MSNBC producer pointed out that Trump had reportedly been annoyed when Steve Bannon landed a Time cover the previous year, adding a layer of Beltway gossip to the pile-on. That tweet grabbed over 1,000 retweets and 2,200 likes.

Media commentator Bernard Goldberg wrote a detailed analysis comparing the Sessions cover to Time's 2014 treatment of Attorney General Eric Holder, who received a far more flattering portrait for the magazine's "100 Most Influential People" issue. Goldberg argued the photo represented political bias in editorial photography, comparing it to earlier examples like Newsweek's widely criticized "crazy-eyed" cover of Michele Bachmann.

Several outlets covered the reaction, including Fox News, Uproxx, and The Daily Dot.

How to Use This Meme

The Jeff Sessions Time Cover works as a comparison joke. Users typically place the Sessions photo alongside an image of a horror character, painting, or villain to highlight the resemblance. Common approaches include:

1

Find a horror movie poster, creepy painting, or sinister cartoon character

2

Place it side by side with the Time cover

3

Add a caption pointing out the similarity or implying Time chose the photo deliberately

Cultural Impact

The cover sparked a brief conversation about how magazines use photography to editorially frame political figures. Goldberg's analysis connected it to a pattern stretching back to CNN's treatment of Bob Turner in 2011 and ABC News' contrasting photos of Obama and McCain in 2008. The incident also hit during a period when Time Magazine was already drawing criticism. Weeks earlier, the magazine had faced backlash for its Parkland school shooting cover, which featured anti-gun student activists but excluded their pro-Second Amendment classmates.

Fun Facts

Photographer Philip Montgomery publicly celebrated the cover on Twitter, seemingly unaware of (or unbothered by) the online mockery.

The lighting in the photograph was compared to the Ivan Albright painting "A Face from Georgia," a notoriously unflattering portrait style.

Goldberg compared the photo to images of Freddy Krueger and the villain from the horror film Phantasm.

The meme had an added political dimension because Trump was reportedly irritated when Bannon appeared on a Time cover in 2017.

Frequently Asked Questions

Jeff Sessions Time Cover

2018Reaction image / photoshop exploitabledead

Also known as: Creepy Sessions Photo · The Trials of Jeff Sessions

Jeff Sessions Time Cover is a 2018 reaction image meme born from a Time Magazine cover photo by Philip Montgomery, featuring unflattering dramatic lighting that sparked comparisons to horror movie imagery.

The Jeff Sessions Time Cover is a series of jokes and parodies that sprung up around the March 2018 cover of Time Magazine, which featured a close-up photograph of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions with dramatic, unflattering lighting. The cover photo, shot by photographer Philip Montgomery, drew immediate comparisons to horror movie imagery and sparked widespread mockery on social media.

political satire memes viral photo memes 2018 memes sarcasm memes trump memes

Overview

The Jeff Sessions Time Cover meme centers on the cover photograph for Time Magazine's issue titled "The Trials of Jeff Sessions." The image shows Sessions staring directly into the camera with harsh, shadowy lighting that gave him an eerie, almost villainous appearance. Online reactions focused almost entirely on how unsettling the photograph looked rather than the substance of the accompanying article. People compared the photo to horror film characters, classic paintings, and cartoon villains, turning the cover into a brief but widespread joke format.

On March 29, 2018, Time Magazine posted the cover for their upcoming issue on Twitter. The photograph was taken by Philip Montgomery, who publicly expressed enthusiasm about the assignment, writing that he was "excited to have photographed the cover of @TIME". The issue itself focused on Sessions' increasingly strained relationship with President Trump and shifts happening within the Justice Department. But online, nobody cared about the article. The lighting in the photograph bore a striking resemblance to the Ivan Albright painting "A Face from Georgia," and social media users immediately zeroed in on how unnervingly the cover was lit. Time's original tweet picked up over 130 retweets and 200 likes within 24 hours.

Origin & Background

Platform
Twitter (Time Magazine's official tweet)
Key People
Philip Montgomery, Time Magazine
Date
2018

On March 29, 2018, Time Magazine posted the cover for their upcoming issue on Twitter. The photograph was taken by Philip Montgomery, who publicly expressed enthusiasm about the assignment, writing that he was "excited to have photographed the cover of @TIME". The issue itself focused on Sessions' increasingly strained relationship with President Trump and shifts happening within the Justice Department. But online, nobody cared about the article. The lighting in the photograph bore a striking resemblance to the Ivan Albright painting "A Face from Georgia," and social media users immediately zeroed in on how unnervingly the cover was lit. Time's original tweet picked up over 130 retweets and 200 likes within 24 hours.

How It Spread

The jokes rolled in fast. Upworthy writer Parker Molloy tweeted the cover next to the DVD box set for the Leprechaun horror film series, captioning it: "They've got Sessions lit like he's on the cover of the box set for the Leprechaun movies." That post pulled in over 1,700 retweets and 8,700 likes in a single day. Writer Scott Tobias paired the cover with a Simpsons screenshot of Mr. Burns saying "We did 20 takes, and that was the best one," earning 75 retweets and 650 likes.

The political angle also played a role. An MSNBC producer pointed out that Trump had reportedly been annoyed when Steve Bannon landed a Time cover the previous year, adding a layer of Beltway gossip to the pile-on. That tweet grabbed over 1,000 retweets and 2,200 likes.

Media commentator Bernard Goldberg wrote a detailed analysis comparing the Sessions cover to Time's 2014 treatment of Attorney General Eric Holder, who received a far more flattering portrait for the magazine's "100 Most Influential People" issue. Goldberg argued the photo represented political bias in editorial photography, comparing it to earlier examples like Newsweek's widely criticized "crazy-eyed" cover of Michele Bachmann.

Several outlets covered the reaction, including Fox News, Uproxx, and The Daily Dot.

How to Use This Meme

The Jeff Sessions Time Cover works as a comparison joke. Users typically place the Sessions photo alongside an image of a horror character, painting, or villain to highlight the resemblance. Common approaches include:

1

Find a horror movie poster, creepy painting, or sinister cartoon character

2

Place it side by side with the Time cover

3

Add a caption pointing out the similarity or implying Time chose the photo deliberately

Cultural Impact

The cover sparked a brief conversation about how magazines use photography to editorially frame political figures. Goldberg's analysis connected it to a pattern stretching back to CNN's treatment of Bob Turner in 2011 and ABC News' contrasting photos of Obama and McCain in 2008. The incident also hit during a period when Time Magazine was already drawing criticism. Weeks earlier, the magazine had faced backlash for its Parkland school shooting cover, which featured anti-gun student activists but excluded their pro-Second Amendment classmates.

Fun Facts

Photographer Philip Montgomery publicly celebrated the cover on Twitter, seemingly unaware of (or unbothered by) the online mockery.

The lighting in the photograph was compared to the Ivan Albright painting "A Face from Georgia," a notoriously unflattering portrait style.

Goldberg compared the photo to images of Freddy Krueger and the villain from the horror film Phantasm.

The meme had an added political dimension because Trump was reportedly irritated when Bannon appeared on a Time cover in 2017.

Frequently Asked Questions