As many Muslims around the World have been
forced to perform Friday prayers away from the mosques they usually pray in
many elderly have decided to stay at home. Ali Hashisho’s picture is gentle and
affectionate portrait of an aging couple at home in prayer. Beautifully
composed and lit so we focus on this woman’s eyes. Her expression to me seems
to be one of gentle contemplation that brings peace and calm. The tilt of her
head and shape of her head dress leads us to her husband and the softly side
lit room.
Nouzat Awada, 79, and her husband Ahmad
al-Asmar, 84, perform Friday prayers inside their home as mosques are closed
over concerns of the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Sidon,
Lebanon, March 20, 2020. REUTERS/Ali
Hashisho
For me Ronen Zvulun’s picture is both touching and
a little sad. The couple are dancing seemingly momentarily oblivious of the
fact that the room, which should be filled with friends and family to celebrate
their marriage, is empty due to the measures implemented to control coronavirus
disease (COVID-19). The only other figure in the image is a lone musician who plays
a tune they dance to, an image that sums up the impact the virus has had on
social behavior.
Israeli couple Roni Ben-Ari and Yonatan
Meushar dance as they get married at Ein Hemed Forest Wedding Venue who are
offering, free small-scale weddings for young couples whose wedding cannot take
pace die to the restrictions imposed by the government to fight coronavirus, in
Ein Hemed, Israel, March 18, 2020.
REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
I’ve seen dozens of images of workers
disinfecting all sorts of places but not many have the beauty of the side light
that makes Omar Sanadiki’s picture stand out. What I like too, if you take the
time to look carefully is the portrait of Syrian President Assad on the edge
of the shadows that places the picture in Damascus.
A worker sanitises schools as part of
preventive measures against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in
Damascus, Syria, March 18, 220.
REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki
The team in the whole MEA region have
worked hard to produce a series of ‘before and after’ combination images that
illustrate the impact that self isolation, government ruling and fears over the
spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has had on communities throughout the
region. There are many more
that you can see here but below are four that I really like, from Amir Cohen,
Alaa al-Marjani, Shokry Hussein and Zohra Bensemra.
A combination picture shows children on a
swing at the beach of Ashkelon, israel march 16, 2020 and the same swing march
17, 2020, as Israel takes stringent steps to contain the coronavirus disease
(COVID-19). REUTERS/Amir Cohen
A combination picture shows passengers
wearing protective face masks as they wait in Najaf airport following the
outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Najaf March 15, 2020 and then the
same set of seats after all flights were suspended, amid concerns over the
disease spreading March 17, 2020.
REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani
A combination picture
shows students attending a lecture at Cairo University in Cairo, Egypt,
February 12, 2020 and the same scene following government efforts to slow the
spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) March 15, 2020. REUTERS/Shokry Hussein
A combination picture shows Senegalese
working out on a beach along route de la Corniche in Dakar, Senegal, March 12,
2020 and the same empty beach after the government tightened up measures to
prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Dakar, Senegal March
19, 2020. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
As far as the eye can see black and white
chairs are spaced out with military precision waiting to be filled with people
who will be tested for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Standing in the
middle of Stephanie McGehee’s picture is the slightly scary figure of a masked
and suited helper, her gesture saying ‘stop right there’.
A volunteer directs visitors at a coronavirus
disease (COVID-19) testing centre at the Kuwait international Fairgrounds in
Mishref, Kuwait March 18. 2020.
Stephanie McGehee
My intention this week was to choose only
coronavirus disease (COVID-19) related pictures but the next three images were
all too interesting and powerful to ignore.
Volunteers search for
people who need help in a flooded area after heavy rainfall in east Mosul, Iraq
18, 2020. REUTERS/Abdullah Rashid
A beautiful and well-timed
image by Temilade Adeleja. Remove the figure in your minds’ eye and all you get
is a smoggy featureless image. What is so crucial to make this work is that the
image is timed to show the figure’s legs at full stretch and his arm
outstretched so you get the classic ‘walking’ shape. Not so easy to capture
when you think he is walking carefully on logs that are floating on polluted
water. Read on here.
A man walks on logs
of wood placed in the river at the Makoko community in Lagos, Nigeria March
9, 2020. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja
I am not a fan of
ever taking selfies as I am acutely aware of the need for the ‘selfie face’ and
the impact it has on an image – smile or frown, either way will impact on the
sensibility of the image. I think Khalil Ashawi’s picture is a wonderful
example of how people compose their personal image before composing the
‘selfie’ frame to capture themselves in a historic moment in time.
A Turkey-backed Syrian rebel fighter take a
picture with a mobile phone during a protest against the agreement on joint
Russian and Turkish patrols on M4 highway in Idlib province Syrian March 15,
2020. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Almost to the point of abstraction Thaier
Al -Sudani blends amazing lush colours and rich tones of flag carrying Shi’te
pilgrims defying a curfew to make their way to Kadhimaya. You are seduced into
the rich greens for what seems like an eternity until finally you escape to the
hint of red in the background so your eye can finally make sense of the covered
figures making their way down the road.
Shi’ite pilgrims make their way to
Kadhimiya to mark the death of Imam Moussa al-Kadhim during a curfew imposed to
prevent the spread coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Baghdad, Iraq, March 18,
2020. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani
Zohra Bensemra’s picture is a wonderful
study of light, colour and shape that all seem to dance around one another in
the frame. I love the way objects on the edges of the frame are cropped to
point that we know what they are, a washing line, a gate, a blue tub of water,
but they don’t intrude on central character. The girl who is beautifully dressed,
carefully washing her hands in a tiny and delicate movement as if preparing for
a Hollywood evening of glamour.
A girl washes her hands at the entrance of
her parents’ house in Pikine on the outskirts of Dakar, Senegal March 9, 2020.
REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
Through a sophisticated balance of deep
shadows and bright colours Baz Ratner intrigues us with his portrait of a
security guard who is protecting himself coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The
guard seems to be almost hiding in the shadows of a post behind his head from
the glare of the bright light and colors in the background. Baz gives us
just enough detail to see the face mask and a hint of highlight in his
eye.
A security guard uses a face mask to
prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the main railway
station in Nairobi, Kenya, match 17, 2020.
REUTERS/Baz Ratner
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