The New York Times on Thursday printed a special section featuring portraits of nearly every member of the record number of female lawmakers in Congress.
A viral Twitter thread from the Times’ design editor, Josh Crutchmer, includes a video of the covers the night before publication that has been viewed over 320,000 times as of Thursday morning.
The photos, which were taken on Capitol Hill over five days by Times photographers Elizabeth D. Herman and Celeste Sloman, are meant as “a testament to what power looks like in 2019,” according to the paper.
“Like the work of Kehinde Wiley, who painted Barack Obama Barack Hussein ObamaChina, Russia, Iran rise in Latin America as US retreats Castro wants to follow Obama's lead on balancing presidency with fatherhood Trump's regulatory rollback boosts odds of a financial crisis MORE’s official presidential portrait, these photographs evoke the imagery we are used to seeing in the halls of power, but place people not previously seen as powerful starkly in the frames,” the feature reads.
There are 131 women serving in the House and Senate this term, a record class that includes a number of other “firsts,” including the youngest woman elected to the House, the first two female Muslim lawmakers, and the first two Native American female lawmakers. “Redefining Representation” features 130 portraits – Rep. Liz Cheney Elizabeth (Liz) Lynn CheneyRep. Cheney: Socialism 'driving the agenda of the Democratic Party' Dem lawmaker offers tool for 'filling in the blanks' of Green New Deal Judd Gregg: In praise of Mike Enzi MORE (R-Wyo.) was not available, according to the Times.