The 2020 Democratic primaries are taking place next year, but the contest to be the presidential nominee is already throwing up some unforgettable images.

We’ve already seen Beto O’Rourke standing on things, Elizabeth Warren cracking open a beer, and Bernie Sanders shouting and pointing, but step aside, all of you, because now, we have a mind-boggling photo of “Mayor Pete” Buttigieg meeting the Rev Al Sharpton in front of every single photographer in New York City.

Buttigieg dined with Sharpton, the longtime civil rights activist and founder of the National Action Network, at Sylvia’s restaurant in Harlem on Tuesday.

The meal and chat, as Buttigieg seeks to further boost his campaign, spawned an image that scans like a postmodern take on privacy and politics in the modern era: dozens of journalists straining for a glimpse from outside a window as Sharpton and Buttigieg have a nominally private conversation.

Both men are pretending to be oblivious to the scrum of photographers. An earnest-looking Buttigieg animatedly gestures and smiles at an utterly impassive Sharpton, the scene bringing to mind an eager sales rep trying to foist a new line of faucets on a department store owner.

If the setting looks familiar, well, it should. Silvia’s is Sharpton’s go-to place to fix Democratic presidential hopefuls with his inscrutable gaze.

The California senator Kamala Harris met Sharpton in the same restaurant, and sat in the exact same spot, just last week. Sharpton again looked as though he was taking part in a staring contest.

Sharpton dined with Kamala Harris at Sylvia’s in February. Photograph: Bebeto Matthews/AFP/Getty Images

Back in 2016, Sharpton was staring at Bernie Sanders – although on that occasion at least both men seemed equally skeptical of each other – and Sharpton met Obama at Sylvia’s there in 2007, peering at the eventual president as Obama crammed a chicken wing into his mouth.

Buttigieg was in New York as he attempts to bolster his support among African Americans, after surging in Iowa and New Hampshire polls.

It’s unclear if his effort will be successful, and unclear if Buttigieg can sustain his meteoric rise.

One thing, though, is certain: he won’t be the last candidate to be stared at by Sharpton in Harlem.