It may not seem unusual. Just a regular Metallica fan, right?

The fact that this fan is in Iran is what interested me. This image is part of Nima AliBeiglou’s series on the youth of Iran, a newsworthy subject given the interest in the country and their war of words with the West.

View this week’s You Witness slideshow here.

Dado Ruvic combines timing, composition and cropping to provide a comical portrait of a stone-throwing competitor in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Dado nails the timing with the competitor’s mouth open just wide enough to reveal his two teeth, creates strong visual composition and crops just tight enough to leave in the appropriate t-shirt slogan.

View this week’s You Witness selection here.

 
Security was stepped up across India this past week following a series of bombings in cities across the country. Kumar Datta captures the tension perfectly with this shot of a security officer’s hand. His was one of many standouts in a week of very strong contributions from our readers.

We get a lot of sunset pictures submitted to You Witness but this one from contributor Mohd Saifulnazim Azman in Malaysia takes the cake. The combination of colors, the stark contrast and the tiny silhouettes of runners on the beach make this a truly memorable image.

View this week’s You Witness slideshow here .

You Witness contributor U.S. Air Force Sgt. Cohen A. Young captured this light moment between a soldier and a young Iraqi boy amidst a damaged neighborhood in Sadr City, Baghdad in a photo illustrating the complexities of the war in Iraq.

View this week’s You Witness slideshow here.

You Witness contributor Kamariduan Mohd Nor brings us face to face with a Muay Thai fighter in this dramatic portrait taken during an international competition in Malaysia.

View this week’s You Witness slideshow here.

The rescue of French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt from FARC guerrillas after years in jungle captivity dominated headlines around the world this week. Accompanying these headlines were pictures of her arrival in Bogota. Despite the tough competition from many of the world’s press, You Witness contributor Leonardo Suarez provided up close images of Betancourt that supplemented the existing images on the Reuters wire. Leonardo works as a contractor for Reuters in Colombia where he monitors stock trades and provides data support, a far cry from working out in the field as a photographer. Leonardo describes how he came to document this week’s top story.

“I went to the airport to bring camera lenses to our photographers who needed to cover the story. I managed to get past security with their help. I brought my Canon 40D camera and 100:400mm 4.5-5.6 lens. I simply took pictures with the photographers as I saw fit. Once I returned to the office, I reviewed the pictures the photographers submitted and sent whatever pictures I had that were not duplicates to Reuters You Witness service. “

To view this week’s You Witness slideshow click here.

Christian Montes managed to tastefully make an image of the naked volunteers at a Spencer Tunick photo shoot. Whether it’s through a crop or framed in camera this way, this image gets Christian the lead spot in this week’s You Witness slideshow.

When Ron Mayland’s aerial photograph of the flooding in Iowa was sent to You Witness last Friday, I was impressed with the quality and the access, especially as we had seen very few pictures from the affected areas from any of the wires. The picture and Ron’s contact details were passed along to our regional chief photographer, who negotiated an arrangement to secure this and additional images for use on the Reuters Pictures Wire service. Ron has continued to provide quality aerial images to Reuters throughout the week.

View this week’s You Witness showcase here.

You Witness contributor Davide Elias got in the face of this fan at the Euro 2008 to capture a strong portrait illustrating his passion for the game and the Dutch team.

View this week’s You Witness slideshow here.