Free Photography Tips Tutorials Reviews and Wordpress Themes > Photography Inspiration > Controversial US Olympic Photos Critically Debated
Advertisement

Controversial US Olympic Photos Critically Debated

July 2, 2012 - Article by joe fotosiamo

Over the weekend, CBS News released a collection of photos of the London Olympic atheletes taken by sports photographer Joe Klamar (AFP/GettyImages) during the 2012 Team USA Media Summit on May 14, 2012 in Dallas, Texas.

There has been a storm of controversy among the general public and photographers alike in regards to the quality of these images. Technical mistakes, questionable creative decisions, and other oversights such as torn seamless paper and lighting setups are among the talking points.

Let me start out by saying that these are not the only photos from the summit, these are just photos from one single photographer which happened to be cleared by Getty Images and CBS News to represent the US Olympic Atheletes. There are many photographers that are invited to these events. Each is given a space and a limited amount of time (generally under 5 minutes, and sometimes only 30 seconds) to get a few portraits.

I am sure there are a lot of factors that contributed to the quality of these images, from time constraints to equipment constraints. It is tough to say, especially since Mr. Klamar’s past work is quite exceptional, and quick search on Google Images shows that he has shot at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

I am also curious to see the other shots from this session. I am sure there were some great shots in there, yet they were not included of course in the “viral bashing” that has ensued. While you can criticize the photographer, I feel like we all take bad photos, we just don’t show them. The real problem here lies with what was actually released to the public, which is why I feel the blame lies with Getty Images and CBS.

What do you all think about the subject?


Shot putter Jillian Camarena-Williams

Shot putter Jillian Camarena-Williams


Swimmer Michael Phelps

Swimmer Michael Phelps


Gymnast Nastia Liukin

Gymnast Nastia Liukin


Gymnast Jonathan Horton

Gymnast Jonathan Horton



Sailing Team Debbie Capozzi

Sailing Team Debbie Capozzi

Weightlifter Sarah Robles

Weightlifter Sarah Robles



Here are more of his images on CBS News.

Related posts:

  1. How the Fury of Social Media Took Down a Wedding Photographer Faker Overnight
  2. When Cops & Cameras Clash: 1st amendment issue
  3. Business – Presenting LESS Not More
  4. Techniques – 10 Characteristics of Great Photos
  5. Top Five Reasons You MUST Get Dropbox!

About the author

About joe fotosiamo
Joe is a rising fashion and commercial photographer based in Los Angeles, CA. He blends creativity and edge with a strong style of lighting and emotion in his photographs. Be sure to check out his work at www.fotosiamo.com and connect with him on Google Plus and on Facebook
Advertisement
  • Me

    Pathetic. Total Amateur shots.

  • Ahmed Roberson

    I think those shots are terrible, and give us “Professional” Photographers a black eye.

    They are inexcusable.

    I’ve seen amatuer photographers with amatuer models end with much better portraits.

    His lighting, whether experimental or not is terrible.

    I experiment just like the rest of us, and would never submit such an image.

    Too many established professionals get away with photographic murder like this everyday, and I am glad Joe has been questioned about his work.

    Deadline or not. Lack of equipment or not, I would never take, or submit any work like this….ever.

    Terrible.

    This job should have been given to ANYONE else if lack of time/equipment was a factor.

    • http://www.facebook.com/mvanec Matthew Vanecek

      It wasn’t a job. It was a media summit to which a bunch of photographers were invited and given slim opportunity, 4 minutes per athlete, and minimal space, to take some snapshots. Doesn’t anybody ever research these stories before casting such wide ridicule?

    • http://www.facebook.com/mvanec Matthew Vanecek

      It wasn’t a job. It was a media summit to which a bunch of photographers were invited and given slim opportunity, 4 minutes per athlete, and minimal space, to take some snapshots. Doesn’t anybody ever research these stories before casting such wide ridicule?

  • http://about.me/manishparekh Manish

    Seriously? Is it April 1st anywhere in the universe?

  • EddFirm

    These truly suck.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=753105335 Joe Reimer

    Yeah, the lighting and some of the poses are terrible… not too much you can do about that after the fact. But as for the ripped paper… seriously… ever heard of the clone stamp tool?!

  • http://www.facebook.com/defraince.photo SAmuel OneBad PhotoMan Lecesen

    Simply bad!! ripped paper.. – come on… Ill re do them for FREE just for the honor of taking photos of such great athletes!! .

  • http://www.facebook.com/IRActing Robert Fitzgerald

    Considering the good works that the photographer has done in the past, I find them surprising. Somebody got lazy here. The photographer was obviously drunk, the retouch person must have been in middle school and the person who’s final decision it was to release these horrible files is a “disgruntled former employee” want to be.

  • DavidWilson

    Even the Russian judges are laughing at us.

  • DavidWilson

    Even the Russian judges are laughing at us.

  • Stealther

    Was any work done in post! I do more work for pictures of the kids at the park. The “professional” photographer should have never released these and the PR person receiving them should have rejected them as well. Embarassing!

  • Stealther

    Was any work done in post! I do more work for pictures of the kids at the park. The “professional” photographer should have never released these and the PR person receiving them should have rejected them as well. Embarassing!

  • http://www.facebook.com/TimGray4 Timothy Gray

    I really want to know what he was trying to do, because these look like the portraits that a person who just bought their first DSLR from Best Buy would shoot. Release a reason behind the style, Like shooting with a toy camera, he is seasoned enough to know better so it means a specific look was the target. I want to hear from the artist.

    • Oh_deer

      I was thinking the same. It’s almost as he is making fun of his subjects. I found them kind of comical..

  • http://www.facebook.com/TimGray4 Timothy Gray

    I really want to know what he was trying to do, because these look like the portraits that a person who just bought their first DSLR from Best Buy would shoot. Release a reason behind the style, Like shooting with a toy camera, he is seasoned enough to know better so it means a specific look was the target. I want to hear from the artist.

  • http://www.facebook.com/mvanec Matthew Vanecek

    I’m wondering if anybody knows anything about the event at which these were taken? It sounds like, no. And nobody knows how the images were selected for CBS’ gallery, do they? I take bad pictures all the time, trying this or that angle or lighting based on stuff I’ve practiced. Nobody sees those. But perhaps this was a shoot-and-dump event and Joe didn’t get a say in what CBS posted. *shrug* Nobody here knows, and those that do know haven’t thought the “issue” important enough to speak up.

    Momma always said, if you can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything (except about politicians). These aren’t official Olympics photographs, and none of us know the story behind them.

    If you would care to see a little background on the event, instead of casting condemnation around willy-nilly, here’s a local photog’s blog about it: http://photographyblog.dallasnews.com/2012/05/photographing-over-100-olypmic.html/

    Oh, and that CBS gallery had shots from a variety of photographers from the event; not just Joe. Some were pretty nice, too.

    • Pye

      They actually are from an official photographer, however, they are not the only set of images. These were the images uploaded to Getty, which is why it is so strange. However, we are writing a new post with images from other official photographers for the event.

      • http://www.facebook.com/mvanec Matthew Vanecek

        Joe Klamar is a Getty/AFP photographer. The event was a media summit, giving media access to some of the potential Olympians. Not an official Olympics portrait shoot. Joe Klamar may or may not be an official Olympics photographer (don’t know, don’t care), but it’s not like he was hired by the Olympics to take those photos. And surely as chief photographer for AFP in central Europe he had better images on his cards. Houston Chronicle posted some decent ones from Getty attributed to Klamar. I would tend to write this off as a card dump with absolutely no culling done; perhaps an inexperienced assistant.

        I’m more curious why a foreign photographer was given a spot that could have been given to an American photographer. But, I tend to be pretty nationalistic. Not saying Klamar was deliberately careless with the competing country’s athletes or anything; THAT would be stretching conspiracy theory a bit too far! Maybe… ;)

      • http://www.facebook.com/mvanec Matthew Vanecek

        Joe Klamar is a Getty/AFP photographer. The event was a media summit, giving media access to some of the potential Olympians. Not an official Olympics portrait shoot. Joe Klamar may or may not be an official Olympics photographer (don’t know, don’t care), but it’s not like he was hired by the Olympics to take those photos. And surely as chief photographer for AFP in central Europe he had better images on his cards. Houston Chronicle posted some decent ones from Getty attributed to Klamar. I would tend to write this off as a card dump with absolutely no culling done; perhaps an inexperienced assistant.

        I’m more curious why a foreign photographer was given a spot that could have been given to an American photographer. But, I tend to be pretty nationalistic. Not saying Klamar was deliberately careless with the competing country’s athletes or anything; THAT would be stretching conspiracy theory a bit too far! Maybe… ;)

    • Pye

      They actually are from an official photographer, however, they are not the only set of images. These were the images uploaded to Getty, which is why it is so strange. However, we are writing a new post with images from other official photographers for the event.

  • http://www.facebook.com/mvanec Matthew Vanecek

    I’m wondering if anybody knows anything about the event at which these were taken? It sounds like, no. And nobody knows how the images were selected for CBS’ gallery, do they? I take bad pictures all the time, trying this or that angle or lighting based on stuff I’ve practiced. Nobody sees those. But perhaps this was a shoot-and-dump event and Joe didn’t get a say in what CBS posted. *shrug* Nobody here knows, and those that do know haven’t thought the “issue” important enough to speak up.

    Momma always said, if you can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything (except about politicians). These aren’t official Olympics photographs, and none of us know the story behind them.

    If you would care to see a little background on the event, instead of casting condemnation around willy-nilly, here’s a local photog’s blog about it: http://photographyblog.dallasnews.com/2012/05/photographing-over-100-olypmic.html/

    Oh, and that CBS gallery had shots from a variety of photographers from the event; not just Joe. Some were pretty nice, too.

  • Sheryl

    In a sad way these photos make me feel better as an upcoming photographer, it reminds me that true we all take bad photos its just most of the time no one else sees it. However, as a professional, I’m sure he knows to edit them before handing the product over to the client. It’s pretty obvious what the flaws are here.

  • Pingback: Photographer Joe Klamar Explains His Controversial Olympic Photos tutorial

  • Amoxtli

    But, he’s…

    PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR – JOE KLAMAR

    Just goes to show you how meaningful that title is.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1646012720 Dennis Clark

    I guess I’m not a photographer, other than the torn paper I don’t see anything wrong with the photos.

slr lounge store

  • Engagement Photography Natural Light Couples Photography DVD
  • Camera Raw Presets Camera Raw Presets | Amazing in a Few Clicks
  • Lightroom 4 Tutorials HDR Photography | a Comprehensive Guide
  • Lightroom 4 Tutorials Lightroom 4 Workshop Collection | All 3 DVDs
  • Lightroom 4 Presets | Powerful & Intuitive
  • Lightroom 4 Workflow System | Speed Up Your Process
  • Lightroom 4 Tutorials A-Z Guide
  • Advanced Lightroom 3 Editing DVD

    • slr lounge original series

  • Photography Tutorials How We Shot It
  • Photographer Interviews Photographer Interviews
  • Lightroom 4 Tutorials Weekly Lightroom Edit
  • Gear Review Software and Gear Reviews
  • Gear Review Path to Pro with AJ Coots
  • photographer Tuesdays With Lauri

    • sponsors

    newsletter

    Read previous post:
    Choosing-Photography-Niches-Splash
    Are You Choosing The Wrong Photography Niche?

    Jack of all trades, master of none. While you can get your feet wet in a variety of photography genres,...

    Close