This Hillary Clinton campaign photo brilliantly sums up 2016

But first, let me take a selfie.
 By 
Nicole Gallucci
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

UPDATE: Sept. 26, 2016, 10:30 a.m. EDT Included comments from Hillary Clinton's campaign photographer Barbara Kinney.

Welcome to the 2016 presidential election.

Here we have a photograph of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton standing before a crowd full of excited young supporters at a campaign event in Orlando... except the group of "millennials" greeted Clinton by literally turning their backs to her.


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You're probably asking yourself what could possibly be more important than looking directly at the potential first female president of the United States. A selfie, of course.

The iconic photograph, captured by Barbara Kinney — a former White House photographer for Bill Clinton who is currently working full time for the Hillary Clinton campaign — perfectly highlights the essence of this generation's technological priorities in 2016.

Kinney told Mashable that the massive group selfie session was in fact requested by Clinton herself. The candidate is no stranger to the art of selfie taking, and stopped by the overflow room at her campaign rally in Orlando to ensure supporters got a chance to see her in person.

"Usually when we do something like that the fire marshall cuts off the number of people that can come in. They’ll send people to an overflow room and her speech will somehow be pipped in there by a tv monitor or at least they can listen to it," Kinney said.

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The photographer explained that after her speeches, Clinton sometimes goes to the overflow room to briefly say hello to an excited crowd.

Kinney said Clinton stood up on the podium and said, "Okay everybody, turn around and we’ll do a group selfie," before making the staffers standing next to her move out of the way so each side of the room could take an aesthetically pleasing photo.

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Kinney was one of four White House photographers during Bill Clinton's time in office, and since then has kept in touch with the family, covering Clinton’s 2008 campaign and even shooting her daughter Chelsea’s wedding. If Clinton is elected president this year, Kinney hopes to return as a White House photographer.

Though Kinney is familiar with photographing the presidential campaign, this election, she noted, "When we’re working the crowds and working the lines after Clinton's speeches people just want to take selfies with her over and over." Kinney said Clinton often grabs the camera takes pictures of herself. "It’s kind of funny."

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

What a time to be alive.

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Nicole Gallucci

Nicole is a Senior Editor at Mashable. She primarily covers entertainment and digital culture trends, and in her free time she can be found watching TV, sending voice notes, or going viral on Twitter for admiring knitwear. You can follow her on Twitter @nicolemichele5.

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