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
This is Zbigniew Religa - legendary Polish heart surgeon. He died in 2009. There is a movie about his life made last year - 'Bogowie' (Gods)
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
This Girl Survived 11 Days In A Siberian Forest
Black Baby Holding An Albino Baby
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
There are many Armenian women both young and old,who protect their homes like this in nowadays.
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
I think the hair on her face must be soft and silky. in fact it makes me wanna hug her and kiss her on her cheeks :)
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
This is so cool. I can't imagine the skill (not to mention strength) it takes to do this.
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
I have an actual phobia of being cold. So this freaks me put but I love that it's a family having tea no matter what climate or part of the world they're in! It's sweet.
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
I think this is my favourite of the entire series. Very beautiful photograph!
Rabari Tribal Elder, India
Toshimana, A Maiko In Kyoto, Japan
Papua New Guinea Woman During A Singsing Celebration In Mount Hagen
I've been to a sing sing in Mt Hagen when I was 13 years old- crazy with cassowary races, insane bungee jumping & pet tree kangaroos !
One Of The Last Four White Rhino's In The World (kenya)
Sad he must live with bodyguards instead of being free and happy... Hope they'll be able to save him and the three other ones.
A Girl Holds A Rifle As Fighters Of Al-quds Brigades, The Military Wing Of Islamic Jihad, Gather In Gaza City
India
Minority Village Girls Selling Their Works, Sa Pa, Vietnam
Woman In Traditional Costume, Maramures, Romania
Homeless Man On The Day Of The Summer Festival, Tirana, Albania.
Cusquenita / Child In Cusco / PerÚ
Old Muila Smile... Southern Angola.
Memorial
Loyalty
Kathakali Dancer From Kerela
Taking A Break At Burning Man
Man Sleeping In A French Train, From Caen To Paris.
Korean Army Training
Rice Farmer In Small Vietnamese Village
An Old Romani Woman Sitting In Front Of Her House In Tirana, Albania
It looks old but well maintained. Its aged but not dirty and the yard and the walkway is swept clean. I'd say it's probably a very cozy little property. And if she's the one doing all the work I say she has a right to pop a squat wherever and whenever she feels like it.
Love Vs War
Woman Having A Beer In Barcelona.
Reina Isabel From La Chureca A 31 Years Old Scavenger With Tuberculosis."
Female 'igorot' Elder Begging From Tourists - (baguio City, Philippines
Bataan Death March Survivor Relives A Moment In Time.
"la Jeune Fille A La Fleur"
“La Jeune Fille À La Fleur”... http://lesensdesimages.com/2012/06/05/analyse-dun-photographie-la-fille-a-la-fleur-de-marc-riboud-1967/
A Eldery Icelandic Woman Serving Sweets
Child In Baia Mare Ghetto, Romania. (c) Gus Palmer
How great a contrast between this picture and the joyous old thai man on the next picture.... So sad
An Old Woman Sittng In The Afternoon Sun, Near Ponferrada, Spain.
Little Girl, Kenya
Children Performing Traditional Japanese Dance: Sendai, Japan
Old Thai Man With His Monkey
Horrid man. Yeah, it's very cute that you have a monkey chained up and with that heavy ring around his neck.
Curiosity
Hand Rolling 6000 Incense Sticks Per Day - Mysore Southern India - Credit Ashley Calvert
Malnutrition
This is the fight we all must instead of fighting for subjective stupidity.
Celtic Pavilion At The Annual Winnipeg Folklorama - Winnipeg, Manitoba
The Charcoal Master
Voladores De Papantla (mexico)
"i Think, Therefore I Am Free" - Young Manifesting In Bordeaux (france), For #jesuischarlie
Brazilian Little Girl And Blue Dress / Menina Brasileira E O Vestido Azul
In 1974 During The Troubles Of Northern Ireland: Gypsy Girl And Her Carton
Chozhia Vellalar Woman "paambadam" (serpent Earring) In Tamilnadu, India
Green Eyes
Awaiting Their Turn For Check Up.solala Medical Mission,guatemala.
Patients In The Looted Al-rashad Mental, Saddam City, Baghdad, 2003 – Luis Costa
Muddy Smile
Generation Love
Children At The 'festival Du Voyageur' In Winnipeg, Manitoba
Black Woman, Mexico City 1976
Indian Girl From Jaipur, India, October 2014
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
