What Is The “Look At This Photograph” Meme? Origin, Meaning & Why Nickelback Went Viral Again
The “Look at This Photograph” meme, born from Nickelback’s 2005 song “Photograph,” features Chad Kroeger holding a photo frame, now swapped with absurd or ironic images for comedic effect.
Starting as a YouTube parody in 2009, it exploded on TikTok and Reddit in the 2010s and 2020s, blending nostalgia with humor.
This article explores its origins, cultural impact, popular formats, and why it’s given Nickelback an unexpected revival.
1. What Is the “Look at This Photograph” Meme?
What Does the Meme Depict, and How Does It Function?
The “Look at This Photograph” meme comes from the famed freeze-frame of Nickelback’s 2005 music video for “Photograph,” their hit song.
In the video, lead singer Chad Kroeger holds up a framed picture, singing “Look at this photograph / Every time I do, it makes me laugh.”
Online, the “Look at This Photograph” meme has taken this pattern of original image replaced with absurd, unexpected, or ironic images to create humor.
Meme makers substitute the original image with things like a cursed image, a viral moment on the internet, or a random screenshot, which emphasizes the humorous juxtaposition of the original song’s nostalgia and sentimentality.
Is This the Most Unintentionally Funny Music Video Freeze of All-Time?
The meme’s success comes from the juxtaposition of the melodrama in the original music video and the absurd edits by fans.
Kroeger’s serious delivery and visuals like poorly edited Shrek face or hard-to-read and chaotic tweet turn a nostalgic ballad into an effective comedy piece.
The over-the-top seriousness of the scene makes parodies seem logical and is why it is one of the internet’s most unintentionally funny music video moments.
2. Where Did the Meme Come From?
The “Photograph” Music Video
The nostalgia rock ballad “Photograph” by Nickelback came out in 2005 on the band’s album All the Right Reasons.
In the music video, Chad Kroeger is holding a photo frame as he is singing the now-infamous line, “look at this photograph.”
The emotional depth of this scene was impactful, and Kroeger’s delivery was intense, making it memorable, but also an easy target for internet humor. Source: Billboard on “Photograph.”
When It Became a Meme
The meme started becoming popular in 2008 when YouTube subscribers began uploading parodies of the format that removed the original photo in Kroeger’s frame, but added funny sounds and pictures.
One example was a 2008 YouTube clip that changed the photo to a random object and added muffled audio for comedic effect.
The meme appeared again in 2015 on social media sites like Reddit and Vine, and in the 2020s it blew up on TikTok with users pairing the sound with quick-cut visuals.
3. What Does the Meme Mean Online?
Irony and Absurdity
The “Look at This Photograph” meme thrives on irony. The sentimentality of the song itself is enforced with absurd or irrelevant images, and nostalgia or overwrought sentimentality is being hijacked and mocked.
It is often employed to ridicule embarrassing or ridiculous memories that one has taken too seriously or held onto.
The humor comes primarily from the incongruity of Kroeger’s earnestness and the ridiculousness of the edited material.
Cultural Recontextualization
The result of this meme has taken a song that was overused and revamped it into a functional element of internet humor.
By taking a highly recognizable rock hit and re purposing it into the ironic humor of a generation, exemplifies how pop culture artifacts can resurface in online culture.
It shows the connection that Millennials hold towards Nickelback, as they were children exposed to the band, and Gen Z accepted the irony of the music, and they both collectively accepted the meme and made it a bridge between two internet sub-cultures.
4. Popular Formats and Meme Styles
Video Remix Examples
The meme’s video format often consists of simply changing the image in the framed photo to something unexpected, such as cursed images, chaotic screenshots, or viral moments from TikTok.
Some renditions will include sound effects such as airhorns, shouts, or even farting sounds to add to the ridiculousness.
A good example is the “Look at This Graph” remix, which substitutes the photo with an utterly incoherent chart that the viewer is supposed to process while mocking corporate presentations.
Static and GIF Templates
In addition to videos, there are a good deal of static images or GIFs of the meme, like you would find on Twitter and Discord.
In different settings, users will post a still image of Kroeger holding a framed photo of something highly bizarre like a poorly body-shopped meme or old throwback from the depths of a 2000s trend.
Oftentimes, the meme will be given as a post in a meme thread or application to react in r/memes or r/youtubehaiku on Reddit.
5. The Meme’s Role in Nickelback’s Reputation Shift
From Mockery to Meme Royalty
Nickelback has a reputation as a target for both music critics and internet users, mockingly recognized for having a generic sound, presumably the same reason that inspired them to make music in the first place.
The “Look at this photograph” meme has allowed Nickelback to be viewed as part of a nostalgia-filled self-aware moment as a part of internet culture.
By developing a meme-based strategy: “actively lean into memes, contribute with meme content, on every platform,” they’ve presented that new layer of likeability in a different genre and cultural frame of reference.
Did Memes Accidentally Give Nickelback a Comeback?
By leaning into the humor of the meme, such as the meme-based recognition and police in interviews and social media, they’ve moved the notion of mockery to cultural relevance.
The meme appeared to me to make the band’s music an internet humor touchstone, providing mainstream visibility and likeability that no one would have guessed would be possible.
Will the Meme Stay Relevant?
Use in Retro Edits, Gen Z Humor, and Ironic Throwbacks
The meme’s versatility guarantees its longevity and adaptability. The visual template (Kroeger holding the picture frame) with the audio gives way to retro edits, generation z ironic humor, and throwback content.
As long as nostalgia and absurdity remain the mainstays of internet culture, the meme will likely prolong itself indefinitely.
Cultural Ranking
“Look at this Photograph” is on a cultural level with the most-discussed memes in terms of longevity and memory, like Rickroll, Dragon Ball Z’s “it’s over 9000!”, and Mr. Brightside edits.
The meme’s longevity is rooted in its capacity to evolve based on various platforms/iterations and ease of access, keeping it relevant as a topical choice for meme creators.
Conclusion
The “Look at This Photograph” meme has transformed a 2009 Nickelback ballad into a cornerstone of internet humor.
From its origins in a nostalgic music video to its explosion on TikTok and Reddit, the meme’s blend of irony, absurdity, and versatility has made it a cultural touchstone.
By embracing the joke, Nickelback has turned mockery into a surprising revival, proving that even the most maligned bands can find new life in meme culture.
Whether you’re a Millennial reliving the 2000s or a Gen Z creator remixing it for TikTok, this meme’s legacy is far from fading.
