That's known as ASCII art.
For instance, here's an ASCII rendition of a photo of a high-school basketball star that appeared in the Anchorage Daily News, 1984:
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~~~~~~~~~~~~:::::::::::::,,::,:::::::,:::::::::::~:::~::~~~~~~~~===~===++++?????
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::::,,,::,,,,,,,,,,.:=8NNMDNMNNNDNDONNOO$ZNDD7ODN8O$O+87:,,:,:,,::::::~~==++++??
::,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.:IONDNNNMMMMMMMNNNMMMNDNNM8NMM88NNMIZ?~,,,,,,,::::::~==++++++
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It's just a pile of text, not an image.
SARAH!