Equally in little need of explanation is
Alaa al-Marjani’s fun picture. Great timing with all three boys doing back
flips with the boys on the bikes forming a central compositional triangle,
their wheels just crossing over. A moment later the individual shapes would
have fallen into indistinguishable black shape.
Iraqi youths wearing protective face masks use bicycles and perform a somersault as they practice parkour, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during the holy month of Ramadan in the holy city of Najaf, Iraq May 3, 2020. REUTERS/Alaa al-Marjani
A very clever and thoughtful picture from
Ammar Awad that takes a little while to fully enjoy. I like the symmetrical
shape that draws you into the image. But what I really like is the turn of the
girl’s head, just enough so you can see her mask that covers her nose and
mouth. The colours are quite muted so the red catches your eye and in the red
you see a masked figure, but this mask covers the face around the eyes, leaving
the nose and mouth exposed.
A girl arrives at
her elementary school as it reopens following the ease of restrictions
preventing the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in the settlement
of Maale Adumim in the Israeli-occupied West Bank May 3, 2020. REUTERS/Ammar
Awad
Mike Hutchings has hit that sweet spot of
compositional line and shape tension that is so hard to achieve without the
bending of the knees or standing on tip toes. Look where the peak of the surf
board touches – exactly on the horizon line. The horizon is exactly on a
classic third and Mike has waited for a figure to run past; thankfully the
person is dressed in black as a day glow yellow or green would have distracted
the eye.
A surfer protests
against the nationwide lockdown regulations due to the spread of the
coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at Muizenberg beach in Cape Town, South Africa,
May 5, 2020 REUTERS/Mike Hutchings
Thomas Mukoya’s picture creates a powerful
sense of isolation. It’s almost cinemagraphic in its feel, like the closing
scenes of a major drama where the ending was not happy. I love the rim light
around the head created by the car headlights and the fact that one foot is
just off the ground.
A child walks
along the street at the start of the lockdown restrictions set by the
government to prevent the rampant spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19),
in Eastleigh district of Nairobi, Kenya May 6, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya
A picture of
mannequins with no clothing on them, especially when they are being carried
through the street, will always catch the eye. I think it’s the momentary illusion
of a shocking glimpse of nudity in a public place that grabs the attention,
accompanied perhaps by a sense of shame at looking. Thomas Mukoya’s picture is a
warm and affectionate street scene. It’s a bit like a challenge I once heard,
and it might have even been on an episode of the Simpsons; “try listening to
the William Tell Overture Finale and not thinking ‘Hi Ho Silver Away’ and the
quick tempo Lone Ranger theme.” If you have no idea what I mean, click here.
A trader carries
his mannequins as he closes his business ahead of the lockdown restrictions set
by the government to prevent the rampant spread of coronavirus disease
(COVID-19), in Eastleigh district of Nairobi, Kenya May 6, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas
Mukoya
How much more excited can a dog get?
Mohamed Salem has captured this moment perfectly; the red sound grenade
highlighted against the black background, a whisp of smoke leading you back
through the line of cadets, their rifles forming a regular patten. The helmets
of the soldiers and the gun of the lead soldier, completing the compositional
arc started by the smoke, and then you are back looking at that dog.
A Palestinian
Hamas police cadet throws a sound grenade as he demonstrates his skills with
his colleagues during a graduation ceremony, amid concerns about the spread of
the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Gaza City May 7, 2020. REUTERS/Mohammed
Salem
We are not quite sure what the policeman is
doing with his stick but it makes for both a slightly bizarre image and a great
shape. As well as being inches from the man’s head it cuts diagonally across
the horizontal lines of the grill placed centrally in Baz Ratner’s picture. The
grill also serves to highlight a respectful social distance between the two
figures. The greens and reds add to the balance of the image.
A police officer
speaks with a man who tried to sneak past a police checkpoint, after the
government announced a two weeks lockdown of the neighbourhood of Eastleigh
following a jump in confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, in Nairobi,
Kenya May 7, 2020. REUTERS/Baz Ratner
Diagonal lines and triangular shapes cut
and chop across Mike Hutchings picture that belies its calm. To counter these
compositional dynamics are the figures equally spaced providing regularity as
they practice social distancing. Even though the image is shot very wide there
is no escaping those white socks and black shoes, lined up to the very edge of
the green line. Read on here.
Learners observe
social distancing markers as they queue at a school feeding scheme in Gugulethu
township during a nationwide lockdown aimed at limiting the spread of
coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Cape Town, South Africa, April 24, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings
I do not have a head for heights, so Yorsi Ahmed’s picture of men standing in a skip
hundreds of feet up, held by a single hook from a crane, makes my blood run
cold. The haze in the empty sky and pale landscape set against the strong dark
lines of the steel rods adds to the emptiness and the feeling of giddy heights.
Foreign workers
work at a construction site, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease
(COVID-19), in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 7, 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
A sad and lonely
image from Siphiwe Sibeko as people practice social distancing during a
funeral. The image has a rather surreal feel as people keep their distance and
you need to take the time to search out the details to work out why. The
beautifully dressed woman in immaculate white shoes standing outside the tent,
the woman on the right holding her scarf over her face and the man in the
foreground wearing rubber gloves and a mask that is tied at the back of his
head. Read on here.
Mourners keep a
safe distance during the funeral service of 63-year-old Mary Modimola, as
centuries-old cultural traditions at funerals are being forgone due to the
outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Soweto, South Africa, April
24, 2020. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko
Worth a mention that Jerusalem-based Ammar
Awad is part of the Pulitzer prize winning team for Breaking News Photography from
the clashes in Hong Kong. Congratulations to Ammar and to the rest of the team:
Tyrone Siu, Adnan Abidi, Anushree Fadnavis, Willy Kurniawan, Leah Millis, Athit
Perawongmetha, Thomas Peter, Kai Pfaffenbach, Jorge Silva and Susan Vera. You
can see the full story here
A woman looks out
from the window of a residence as tens of thousands of demonstrators march
through Hong Kong, China on October 20, 2019, demanding autonomy and for its
leaders to step down weeks after the formal withdrawal of an extradition bill.
The protests were triggered in February 2019 after Hong Kong’s Security Bureau
proposed amendments to extradition laws that would allow extraditions to
countries, including mainland China, beyond the 20 states with which Hong Kong
already has treaties. Reuters has been awarded the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in
Breaking News Photography for Hong Kong protests. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
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