The photo is, in fact, of then-US vice-president Al Gore, speaking at the hustings during the 2000 presidential campaign. The image was taken by photojournalist David Burnett, who was covering the campaign.

Most of his fellow pros were shooting on high-end Nikons or Canons or Leicas, serious cameras that cost thousands of dollars. Burnett was shooting with something a little different – a ‘toy camera’ with a plastic lens invented in the 1960s so that cash-strapped Chinese workers could take pictures.

The camera is called the Holga. A square brick of brittle plastic, the Holga first appeared in 1982. Amateur photography was in its infancy in communist China, where the 35mm film so popular and available in the West was very hard to get hold of. A designer called TM Lee built the camera to take 120 or medium format film, which is around six times the surface area of a frame of 35mm film.