Joe Klamar Explains His Awful Olympic Pics

(AFP Photos/Joe Klamar)

Torn backgrounds, bad lighting, and being ripped by his peers, were the story for photographer Joe Klamar. As we explained in the story here, Joe published some pics for Getty images of the US Olympic athletes, that had every pro photographer from New York to L.A. flinging harsh comments and criticism.

But now it is time to let poor joe tell his side of the story. The following was copied directly from the AFP website and blog....

“I was under the impression that I was going to be photographing athletes on a stage or during press conference where I would take their headshots for our archives,” he explained. “I really had no idea that there would be a possibility for setting up a studio.” It was the first time AFP had been invited to participate in the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Media Summit, which was held this year, in May, at a Hilton Hotel in Dallas. 

Joe had come armed with two cameras and three lenses (17-35, 70-200 and 300), plus one flash and a 12-inch laptop. To his horror, he saw upon arriving that his colleagues from other news agencies and media organizations had set up studio booths with professional lights, backdrops and prop assistants. “It was very embarrassing to find out that I wouldn’t be able to take advantage of a studio,”

Now that we have the full story, I really feel bad for him. He was unprepared, and his peers raked him over the coals. He did what he could with what he had. The same as any of us would have done. We can't find fault with Joe for doing exactly what you would have done in the same situation.

Joe, on behalf of all my peers, I apologize.