1. An automated, computerized method for recognizing an object in an image, comprising the steps of: providing a classifier; providing an image; calculating an intrinsic image corresponding to the image; and utilizing the classifier to identify objects of interest in the intrinsic image; and wherein the step of calculating an intrinsic image corresponding to the image is carried out by providing a BIDR model representation of the image, and generating the corresponding intrinsic image as a function of the BIDR model representation.