ASME cover awards, finalist 2009: Obama covers:

This amazing portrait of President Obama is striking because it captures a deeply thoughtful and real expression. It is not a posed portrait done in the studio, but rather a very real and vivid portrait made during an actual exclusive interview in the Oval Office. Normally that would be considered the least appealing of situations to shoot a cover portrait, but in the incredibly skilled hands of Nadav Kander, it became an opportunity to reinvent and stretch what a cover portrait can be. It is both beautifully lit and well-crafted, as well as a documentation of an actual candid and revealing moment.