She got the job in 2008... My point is, if you were to get a job at xyz company, wouldn't one of your initial moves be to find out who the major players were at your new job were/looked-like? What the environment/culture is? Some research would have suggested that she might expect this kind of behavior from a certain individual? I don't have to number the many reasons WHY you would want to do some research, or care to. Why is that absurd?
Knowing somebody's bio photo may not help you when they cut in front of you in the lunch line. Recognition cues there are very different.
Also, recognition is a lot about context. When you see him in a black turtleneck on stage, you're primed.
I was once visiting a pal Google and ran across Eric Schmidt. Turns out his office was right next to a development team. I could have easily picked him out of a set of photos, but I wasn't expecting him to walk out of a small office in a random part of the building. It wasn't until he was walking away that I said, "Wait a minute. Was that..." And that was seeing his face, rather than the back of his head.
