Photographer Joe Klamar has been at the receiving end of a constant barrage of internet insults due to set of US Olympic portraits he took last May.
The portraits, which show athletes like Michael Phelps, Natalie Coughlin, and Gabby Douglas, have been described as a “disgrace to the country and to photography.”
Yahoo reports that the photos were taken at the USOC media summit by Joe Klamar in May.
The photos recently popped up in a photography subreddit in on Reddit. Since then, the photos have made their way to sites like Buzzfeed, Twitter, and even Popular Photography Magazine where Klamar’s portraits have been ripped apart.
“It looks like he’s never worked with models before. Not to be harsh, but the shoots seem poorly planned for, are ill-conceived, and lack a cohesive concept. Also, the ones with the stars are downright tacky.”
Popular Photography Magazine explains that the photographers at the summit were each given a small space to shoot the athletes. Each photographer was able to adjust the lights and pose their athletes however they wanted.
Some of Klamar’s photos turned out great, but some of them turned out like this.
Pop Photo reports that Klamar typically shoots galas and press conferences and probably isn’t used to doing a rapid fire portrait session.
Some users are defending Klamar’s US Olympic Portraits saying that his photos stand apart from the rest. Unfortunately, it looks like they’re standing out for the wrong reasons.
Here are some more of Joe Klamar’s US Olympic Portraits. You can see the complete collection here.
What do you think of these US Olympic Portraits?
It's obvious that the images are the worst taken ever of olympic athletes. No one is asking the more important questions…how was he hired or allowed access? There are countless AMERICAN photographers…many are saying that the photographs are taken to expose the fragility of the subjects…they look like some Eastern European has a grudge against the US and wanted to submit his distaste for Americans through horrible photography.
Joe Klamar, you are one brilliant person! Ahaha hahaha ahhaha ahh haaa!
sorry.. really really poor. My nephew takes better portraits and stills and he's a buyer for a company not a photographer. The content is poor, the lightening is off, the cropping, etc, etc. really bad work for such an event. If these were my wedding photos, I'd be asking for my money back.
Hey Klamar…… What do you really do for a living?
Hey Klamar…… What do you really do for a living?