The invention discloses a face snapshot recognition method, which comprises the flowing steps: shooting a video; carrying out face tracking detection so as to obtain face images; carrying out assessment on each face image according to a face image quality assessment algorithm; screening out the optimal face image; retrieving a face photo library so as to obtain a set of face photo gallery similar to the optimal face image; and determining whether a face in the optimal face image exists in the face photo library. According to the invention, an effect of face recognition is achieved based on face snapshot, thereby improving the monitoring on various persons in monitoring areas.