closeUP: The Photographer

The Photographer © Makbet666

closeUP: Woman in Red

Woman in Red © Brian Curnel

closeUP: One Becomes Three

one becomes three © joeeisner

closeUP: Hoodie

Hoodie! © Sir SR

closeUP: In the Moment

untitled © perkijl61

closeUP: The Runner

Nao © cdgpix

closeUP: Timeless

Forgotten Photos 01 © KBTimages.co.uk(uk_photo_art)

closeUP: Pearl

Pearl (8 of 49) © N. Clifford

closeUP: Lara Salome

Lara Salome © New Santos -Fotógrafo

Classroom Portraits: Photos of How Children Learn Around the World

Julian Germain, "Yemen, Manakha, Primary Year 2, Science Revision"

English photographer Julian Germain has been working on an ongoing photo series called "Classroom Portraits." The series, which is currently on view at Nederlands Fotomuseum in Rotterdam, consists of large format portraits of schoolchildren taken in classrooms in over 20 countries around the world---from USA to Argentina to Bangladesh.

There is a striking balance between formality and energy in Germain's photos. On the one hand, the children are posed and studious-looking, and on the other hand, of course, they're kids and teenagers whose spiritedness shines through even the most serious of looks.

Check out more shots on Germain's site. Some of the photos from the series have also been published in the book Classroom Portraits.

(Feature Shoot via Brain Pickings) 

Documentary Photography: Humans of New York

photo: Humans of New York

I can't get enough of the amazing photo project Humans of New York. Brandon Stanton, the photographer behind the site, has a colorful past (he's been arrested for taking photos inside Gianni Versace’s South Beach mansion and has been a bond trader in Chicago). He now finds himself in New York, where he photographs and tells stories about the strangers who make the city vibrant. Strangers of New York is a stunning collection of those 5,000 portraits and 50 stories.

(A Cup of Jo)

closeUP: Thiago Cardoso

Thiago Cardoso © New Santos -Fotógrafo

closeUP: Playing

untitled © Sir SR

Criticism of Photographer Behind U.S. Olympic Team Portraits

Photographer Joe Klamar has become the target of much scrutiny---and in some cases, ire---ever since the series of portraits he shot of U.S. Olympic team athletes was published by CBS News. The criticism is that the photographs fall short: they're underwhelming both visually and from a technical point of view, especially when you consider that the occasion they represent (the Olympic Games!) has likely been a lifelong dream for these athletes. Not that you can tell from these awkwardly lit and posed shots. Also, note the torn seamless paper.

Much of the aforementioned ire, as PetaPixel points out, comes from other photographers, who not surprisingly believe they could have produced better portraits. In Klamar's defense, he's not well-known for his portrait work but rather for taking action shots, and he shot this entire series during a likely hectic and rushed session at the 2012 Team USA Media Summit in Dallas last month. But as his critics have already expressed---and I tend to agree---no professional photographer, no matter his or her background, would feel comfortable publishing this quality of work. And, well, the biggest complaint against him is that no professional photographer worth his or her salt would even produce this kind of work.

What do you think? Are we all being too hard on Klamar, or are these photos truly sub-par? Is there an impossibly high expectation when it comes to capturing the essence of world class Olympic athletes, or are these just run of the mill poorly executed shots? See the whole CBS News gallery of Klamar's photographs here.

(photos: Joe Klamar)

(Solstice, via PetaPixel)

closeUP: Nao (2)

Nao © cdgpix

closeUP: Nao

Nao © cdgpix

closeUP: Eu

Eu © New Santos -Fotógrafo

closeUP: Dark Movements

Dark Movements © KBTimages.co.uk(uk_photo_art)

closeUP: Morning Lazing

Sunday Morning Lazing! © Sir SR

closeUP: Me

ME! © Sir SR