- 29 years later, Shakira has recreated the 1997 photograph that has become one of her most recognizable memes on the Internet.
Who knew that a photograph taken in 1997 of Shakira sitting in front of a computer would end up becoming one of her most recognizable memes on the Internet? Twentynine years later, the singer has re-recreated the scene as part of a campaign for Epson developed by the agency ISLA.
The new image retains some of the most recognizable elements of the original photo, with Shakira sitting in front of a desk, looking at the camera with a composition that immediately conjures up memories of the original. This time, however, the technology is updated with a working Epson printer, while the singer holds a freshly printed sheet.
Shakira posted the publication on her social networks with a nod to her fans in Spanish: “Me da la impresión de que ya he visto esto hace algún tiempo” (“I get the impression that I’ve seen this before.”) The reference was quickly recognized by its fans and generated a wave of reactions.
ISLA was behind the post, inspired by an image that already had a place in Internet meme culture, an idea that Epson could naturally integrate.
“We wanted to start with something that people would immediately recognize and have a genuine connection with Shakira. This photo had nostalgia, humor, technology and, above all, a story that its fans kept alive for years. The opportunity was to imagine what that same scene would look like 29 years later. We found a very natural space for Epson, updating the technology without losing what made the original image memorable,” says Mariano Serkin, CEO and founder of ISLA.
The original photograph was taken by photojournalist Óscar Berrocal during a visit by Shakira, then 20, to the newsroom of El Heraldo in Barranquilla, Colombia. The singer posed in front of a desktop computer for a youth section of the newspaper. Years later, the scene began to circulate massively on social media, becoming a meme.
For ISLA, the challenge was to update a cultural reference without losing what made it recognizable. Therefore, the campaign retains the visual essence of the 1997 scene and highlights the evolution of technology as its narrative.
“The interesting part was not overexplaining the idea. If you knew the photo, the reference had to work in seconds, and if you did not know it, it was still an image capable of arousing curiosity. When a brand manages to enter a cultural conversation that way, the audience recognizes, comments, shares and brings the story to life,” added Serkin.
The new execution is part of an ongoing collaborative effort between Shakira and Epson. The artist has been a brand ambassador for Latin America since 2023.
The collaboration is also part of “Let’s Create Together,” a campaign uniting creativity and technology to encourage people to transform their ideas into reality.
