Again the thorny ethical issue of using
pictures of dead children has come to the fore. Mohamed al-Sayaghi was present
at the hospital when tiny Hajar died of malnutrition in Yemen, a story that
must be told while respecting the feelings of the parents. Permission was
granted to take photographs. Mohamed had stark images of the doctor carrying
away the child’s limp, dead body but editors decided these were just too brutal
to move to the network. Aware of this potential concern when photographing, Mohamed
carefully shifted focus from the body to the child’s mother in the background, so
we are spared the sight of a dead child but starkly aware of the sadness of
this death. I have also included the tender image of Hajar’s father gently
holding her tiny and emaciated hand, an image that makes sadness well up in me.
You can see the whole story here but please be aware it’s distressing.
Amir Cohen’s picture of lightning has a
visual feel of a painting created by the slow shutter speed combined with the
slow movement of the waves. Adding to this sense of a painting are the complementary
colours of the purple and yellow: the Impressionists often closely juxtaposed
these colours. Throw in the jagged hard lines of the strike and you have the
enjoyable contrast of the soft movements of shape and colour contrasted with
the hard lines. Wonderful.
What catches my eye in Faisal Al Nasser’s
picture is the warm colour of the woman’s face set against the cool tones and
monochromatic backdrop of the poster of the Saudi Crown Prince and the circular
swirl of its design. I love the compositional curve in the picture that takes
you around from the eyes and the line of the Crown Prince’s beard through the
line of the arm and hand holding the mobile phone into the face of the woman
posing for the picture.
A very clever use of scale by Muhammad
Hamed turns a security picture into something a little more special. Do we need
to keep the top of the helmet of the security officer in the foreground in the
frame? I think not. The careful crop keeps your eye contained and squeezed into
the frame to look at the tiny figure set against a clean background. His raised
arms provide enough visual interest to keep the viewer busy with this open
spaced and bold image.
Harsh light, strong shadows creating flat
shapes and abstract lines all make for a powerful picture by Ronen Zvulun of
the pock holes of shrapnel after a missile attack. The flat ‘cut out’ figures
give us a sense of scale. Would I have cropped off the blue sky and greenery on
the top of the frame? Yes I would, to ensure the image is completely devoid of
any colour, reminding me of the importance of subtle cropping. But now I am nit-picking
a picture that already works very well.
When a politician makes a bold move there
is often no stronger image than a direct eye contact portrait and this is never
truer than in Ammar Awad's powerful press conference portrait. It never ceases
to amaze me how you are drawn to the eyes in such pictures. So why not recrop
and make that the key element of the image? Everything else is superfluous.
Although Thomas Mukoya’s picture was shot
in February 2016 it was only moved this week and therefore qualifies for week
in pictures. I can never resist pictures of objects that are seen out of
context such as boats on hills or cars in swimming pools so to see a pile of
military hardware stacked up and rusting away is a sure pick. Simple in its
composition, no distraction of figures or bright colours: your eye just wanders
over the tangled mess.
A powerful explosion
as Hamas TV station is destroyed was captured by Ahmed Zakot in this terrific
image. Not only can you see the scale of the blast by looking at the size of
the windows lit up by the flames but it’s worth considering the circumstances around
taking this picture. Imagine waiting on a rooftop of a building in Gaza in
total darkness listening to warplanes and exchange of missiles flying overhead,
waiting for an explosion and ensuring that you get timing, framing and exposure
all correct. Even though targeted building were warned beforehand you would
also be hoping that it’s not your building that is targeted, or a building so
close that, even though you are taking all possible precautions, you are peppered with shrapnel. Read on here
An explosion is seen during an Israeli air strike on Hamas’s television station in Gaza City November 12, 2018. REUTERS/Ahmed Zakot
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