Portrait photography and photojournalism are two potentially intense and powerful art forms that don't always get the recognition they deserve, so we thought we should show you some of the most powerful and diverse portraits of people around the world that we've ever seen.
Both the faces of the people in these photos and their contexts speak volumes about the people pictured and the worlds they live in. Some can be unimaginably and even horrifically different from ours, while other once-exotic worlds seem to grow closer and more interconnected with our own. Though they are only photos, looking into their eyes can still give us a feeling of connection.
If you have a powerful portrait that you think should be added to this collection, please don't hesitate to add it and vote for your favorites as well.
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Yezidi Girl Carries An Assault Rifle To Protect Her Family Against ISIS
Somayeh Mehri (29) And Her Daughter Rana Afghanipour (3) Give Each Other A Kiss. After Being Disfigured In An Acid Attack, They Say Others Don’t Like To Kiss Them
A Boy Rescues His Sister From Underneath The Rubble Of Their Home In Syria
Heart Surgeon After 23-Hour-Long (Successful) Heart Transplant. His Assistant Is Sleeping
Diego Frazão Torquato, A 12-Year-Old Brazilian, Playing Violin At His Teacher’s Funeral
Little Guarani Girl Holds On Tight To A Dead Rat
Egyptian Woman Kisses A Policeman That Refused To Fire On Protestors
Happy Couple In Thailand
This Girl Survived 11 Days In A Siberian Forest
Black Baby Holding An Albino Baby
Boy From Sao Paulo
A 13-Year-Old Eagle Huntress In Mongolia
Unknown Soldier On Duty In South Vietnam, 1965
Two Women Who Were Finally Able To Marry After 72 Years Together
Blind Albino Students Stand In A Dorm At The Vivekananda Mission School In India
Shaolin Monks Training
Rwandan Boy Left Scarred After Being Liberated From A Death Camp
Girl And Baobabs In Madagascar
A 106-Year-Old Armenian Woman Guards Her Home
A Chinese Paramilitary Police Recruit Breaks Into Tears Before Shipping Off For Service
Omayra Trapped Under The Fallen Debris Of Her House. She Died Just Hours After This Photo Was Taken
The Migrant Mother - An Iconic Image Of The Great Depression
Chief Of A Village In Brazil
A Malnourished Mother And Child At An Emergency Feeding Center In Tahoua, Niger
Siberian Family Meal
A Miner Takes A Break Inside An Unregulated Coalmine In Sabinas, Mexico
The Eyes That Speak - A Muslim Woman Wearing A Hijab
Geisha In Subway
A Woman With Ambras Syndrome. In The Middle Ages, These People Were Called Werewolves
A Coal Miner Smokes A Cigarette After Finishing His Shift On The Outskirts Of Changzhi
Ethiopian Girl From The Hamer Tribe
A Girl From The Minority Yazidi Sect Rests At The Iraqi-Syrian Border
Boy From The Suri Tribe
A Girl Covered In Traditional Body Paint Holds Her Puppy
A Final Embrace: The Most Haunting Photograph From Bangladesh
Stilt Fishermen
Rabari Shepherd
A Man Cries While Flipping Through A Family Album He Found In The Rubble Of His Old House
Portrait Photographer in Afghanistan
Tea Time In Yamal, Russia
Cuban Woman Smoking A Cigar And Holding A Ring Flash
An 18 Year Old IDF Soldier Pauses After A Long Run In Full Gear And Battle Paint
Rabari Tribal Elder, India
Toshimana, A Maiko In Kyoto, Japan
Papua New Guinea Woman During A Singsing Celebration In Mount Hagen
Village Elder In Sapa, Vietnam
One Of The Last Four White Rhino's In The World (kenya)
A Girl Holds A Rifle As Fighters Of Al-quds Brigades, The Military Wing Of Islamic Jihad, Gather In Gaza City
India
Peace
Minority Village Girls Selling Their Works, Sa Pa, Vietnam
Woman In Traditional Costume, Maramures, Romania
A Man Pouring Tea In The Middle Of Desert, Jordany,
Homeless Man On The Day Of The Summer Festival, Tirana, Albania.
Syrian Refugee At Turkey
Abdwla Ojalan
An Old Burmese Woman
Cusquenita / Child In Cusco / PerÚ
Old Muila Smile... Southern Angola.
Memorial
Loyalty
Kathakali Dancer From Kerela
Taking A Break At Burning Man
Taghi The Carpenter!
Icelandic Womens In The Country (1930-1940)
Purple Hands (hmong Of Vietnam)
Man Sleeping In A French Train, From Caen To Paris.
Korean Army Training
Rice Farmer In Small Vietnamese Village
Coming Home From The Coal Mine - Near Datong, China
An Old Romani Woman Sitting In Front Of Her House In Tirana, Albania
Love Vs War
Cabo Verde
Woman Having A Beer In Barcelona.
Reina Isabel From La Chureca A 31 Years Old Scavenger With Tuberculosis."
Girl Standing Near Her Home, Kenya
Cape Verde - Watching The Fishes
Female 'igorot' Elder Begging From Tourists - (baguio City, Philippines
Bataan Death March Survivor Relives A Moment In Time.
"la Jeune Fille A La Fleur"
A Eldery Icelandic Woman Serving Sweets
Child In Baia Mare Ghetto, Romania. (c) Gus Palmer
A Very Long Journey - Vietnam
An Old Woman Sittng In The Afternoon Sun, Near Ponferrada, Spain.
Little Girl, Kenya
Capitana Grande Fidelia From Guaraní-izozog, Bolivia.
Children Performing Traditional Japanese Dance: Sendai, Japan
Old Thai Man With His Monkey
Curiosity
In The House Gate / No Portão De Casa
Hand Rolling 6000 Incense Sticks Per Day - Mysore Southern India - Credit Ashley Calvert
Cape Verde - Two Kids Getting Ready To Jump
Peruvian Woman, Cuzco, Peru (by Gina Mako)
Malnutrition
Zé Pretinho, A Sculptor Of Dolls In Brazil
Celtic Pavilion At The Annual Winnipeg Folklorama - Winnipeg, Manitoba
The Charcoal Master
Peshmerge Kurdistan
Voladores De Papantla (mexico)
"i Think, Therefore I Am Free" - Young Manifesting In Bordeaux (france), For #jesuischarlie
Bite
Abhisumat, 12 Years Old In Thanjavur - India
On Holiday With Grandad In Slovenia
Brazilian Blue-eyed Boy
Brazilian Little Girl And Blue Dress / Menina Brasileira E O Vestido Azul
Indonesian Kids Playing Plastic Footbal On The Street.
In 1974 During The Troubles Of Northern Ireland: Gypsy Girl And Her Carton
Woman In Vigo, Spain
Olhar Ruivo - (catalão/go - Brasil)
Namibian Girl On The Roadside
Moroccan Worker Passing By The Imperial Palace Gardens
Chozhia Vellalar Woman "paambadam" (serpent Earring) In Tamilnadu, India
Monterrico Guatemala
Green Eyes
Generational Head Gear
Awaiting Their Turn For Check Up.solala Medical Mission,guatemala.
Javanese Dance About A Knight Fights An Ogre.
Proud, Yet Weary Farmer, Alabama, United States
Patients In The Looted Al-rashad Mental, Saddam City, Baghdad, 2003 – Luis Costa
Cotton Picker In Costa Rica
Native Innu Elder And Her Grand Daughter
Muddy Smile
Tibetan Girl
Generation Love
Children At The 'festival Du Voyageur' In Winnipeg, Manitoba
Indian Woman, Oaxaca, Mexico 1978
Street Portrait Of Sculpturer Luis Antonio. Panama 2014.
A Parisian Police Nationale Officer Eyes An Approaching Mob.
Black Woman, Mexico City 1976
Winter Mischief
Grapes Of Wrath
Begging For Alms, Bodh Gaya, India.
Indian Girl From Jaipur, India, October 2014
Garilla. Kurdish Women
'i Want True Universal Suffrage'_a Hong Kong Protester During The Umbrella Movement
Amazing..funny how we get into our OWN world & forget the WORLD & it's people...
#21 It's Dr Zbigniew Religa. Polish surgeon, a pioneer of heart transplantation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zbigniew_Religa
Amazing..funny how we get into our OWN world & forget the WORLD & it's people...
#21 It's Dr Zbigniew Religa. Polish surgeon, a pioneer of heart transplantation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zbigniew_Religa