1. A method of identifying an unknown person instance in an image using cluster based-person recognition comprising: dividing, by at least one processor, images of an image gallery into a plurality of image clusters, each image cluster comprising a plurality of images from the image gallery that share one or more common characteristics; training, by the at least one processor, a cluster classifier for each image cluster of the plurality of image clusters based on a plurality of known person instances; determining, by the at least one processor, an image cluster to which the image most corresponds based on one or more characteristics of the image and common characteristics of the plurality of image clusters; and determining, by the at least one processor, a probability that the unknown person instance is each known person instance in the image cluster using the cluster classifier of the image cluster.