A Week in Pictures, Middle East and Africa, May 29, 2020

Mike Hutchings’ gentle picture just speaks to me of calm. Soft light plays on the faces of the clerics waiting to catch a glimpse of the moon. This all set in an arc of light that extends from complete darkness in the top left to the highlight on the left. The figures and the horizon break the image up into classic thirds. More pictures here.  

Muslim clerics await the sighting of the moon that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan during a lockdown aimed at limiting the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Sea Point promenade in Cape Town, South Africa, May 23, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

A very simple picture by Khalid al-Mousily that I was drawn too and then tried to discount as not much is happening in it, but I kept coming back to it. I asked myself, why? Well there is really something quite sad about this brightly coloured merry-go-round that is devoid of children and screams of delight. More pictures here.  

A view of a deserted amusement park during the first day of Eid al-Fitr, after the government imposed a full lockdown on some areas of the city, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Baghdad, Iraq May 24, 2020. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily

 Amir Cohen’s picture is both very good and I think very lucky. Netanyahu supporters wave a sea of flags: whites and blues all set against a dark background. Through this whirling mass we are drawn to the focal point of the image, a single face, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. How much different this image would have been if the face was even slightly covered. Just a mass of flags and no focal point. Read on here.    

Supporters of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wave Israeli flags during a rally as Netanyahu's corruption trial opens, near the Jerusalem District Court May 24, 2020. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Luc Gnago treats us to a complex compositional zig-zag as children socially distance on their first day back at school. Boys in blue, girls in pink, evenly spaced, feet together, wearing masks to help protect them against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and all weighed down by school bags heavy with books and lunch. And if we are in any doubt where we are we see the big word SCOLAIRE – school.

Pupils, wearing protective masks, stand in line in front of the Merlan school of Paillet, observing social distancing during the reopening of schools, as the lockdown due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is eased, may 25, 2020 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

Putting it quite simply Muhammad Hamed has delivered a crowd pleaser. Red fireworks caught at their peak and a crescent moon set against a pitch-black sky with a hint of a smoke-covered cityscape. What’s not to like? So, enjoy it for what it is.

Fireworks light up the sky above the Abdali Boulevard, next to the crescent moon, during a celebration of the country's 74th Independence Day within a limited number of activities amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Amman, Jordan May 25, 2020. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed

Hard to choose one or even two pictures from a project that has taken quite a while to pull together and involves many photographers from different countries but I have settled on pictures by Ronen Zvulun and Siphiwe Sibeko. What I especially like is that the subjects shot the picture from inside due to social distancing and I love that they have shot as they got into the spirit of the project. For Ronen’s image I like both the mix of warm and cold light created by the tungsten glow and all those busy triangles and diagonal lines in the composition. These angles echoed by Yael with her feet, the bed edge and the window framing. Read on here. 

A combination picture shows Yael Ben Ezer, a dancer from Israel's Batsheva Dance Company, seen through a window while she practices in her apartment, and a view that she sees from her apartment, as authorities around the world impose various guidelines on lockdowns and social distancing to curb the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Tel Aviv, Israel May 19, 2020. When asked, what will you miss most about being in lockdown? Yael Ben Ezer, replied 'I will miss the comfortable feeling of IT'S OK. It's ok not to "do" anything, it's ok not to be "productive" in the way we usually think. Things would come and go, the sun would rise and set, and I would just be living. And that's totally enough'. Picture taken May 19, 2020. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun and Yael Ben Ezer/Handout/via REUTERS

Siphiwe Sibeko also played with shapes, but in his image ovals and circles are fighting with the harsh light. But that harsh light has helped create strong blocks of colour. And for Zodidi’s picture we are treated to a soft and warm light through the curtains.  

A combination picture shows Zodidi Desewula, a housewife from the Eastern Cape province, taking a break by reading as seen through the doorway of her one-roomed rondavel house on May 23, 2020, and a view is pictured from her house on May 24, 2020, as authorities around the world impose various guidelines on lockdowns and social distancing to curb the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Sibanye Stillwater's women hostel in Carletonville, South Africa. When asked, what will you miss most about being in lockdown? Zodidi says there is nothing she will miss about the lockdown once it is over. To her it was torture because she and her husband were stuck in one place unable to move. She also said " Myself and my husband were stuck in this single room house unable to go to work. We were struggling in getting food to eat because there was no income". REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko and Zodidi Desewula/via REUTERS

To me, Zohra Bensemra’s picture has an element of fear in it, but I am not sure if I am projecting my own concerns for the boy or whether it’s the way it has been beautifully shot that creates this feeling. The boy is looking out from an encroaching black space that occupies almost a half of the image and looks to consume him in darkness, almost like a giant wave. The mask adds to this feeling of breathlessness and holding breath waiting for the wave. He is looking out of the window towards the light, the glass separating him from the scene, his eyes seem to be searching for someone. But if we look at all the figures outside they seem to have their backs turned and he won’t be able to see the loves one he is looking for. Read on here.

A boy looks out of a bus window as teachers prepare to board government-chartered buses to go back to schools of countryside towns, scheduled to reopen next week, amid travel bans between regions due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Dakar, Senegal May 27, 2020. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

At first glance Ahmed Jadallah’s picture looks like a lone skier coming to the end of a ski run with lots of ski lifts seen against a grey sky, the red fencing guiding him to safety. But all is not all it seems, as this is a 3D trompe l’oeil and I like the momentary visual trick until the caption is read. As Dubai slowly comes out from lockdown what better way to celebrate and get some exercise than at an indoor ski slope in a shopping mall in the desert city. 

A person wearing a protective face mask ski at Ski Dubai during the reopening of malls, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Mall of the Emirates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, May 28, 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah

 Aziz Taher is not shooting pictures at the biggest or most violent clash in his long career but for sure it is one of the first instances where he, the security forces and the protesters all need to protect themselves against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as well as the usual clashes. Those closest and face to face in the confrontation are all wearing face masks. I like the rather stylish mask the woman is wearing as she leans back from the baton that looks as if it is being raised as a warning rather than for a downward whack on exposed fingers or head.  

Demonstrators confront with riot police as they try to cross barricades on a road leading to the UNESCO Palace where Lebanon's parliament is holding a legislative session, during a protest against a controversial amnesty draft law, in Beirut Lebanon May 28, 2020. REUTERS/Aziz Taher

A Week in Pictures, Middle East and Africa, April 24, 2020

As a late addition to this week’s selection is Ganoo Essa’s stark image on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan. Grouped together in worship a small group of people are dwarfed by the Kaaba where normally thousands would worship around it. The building construction in the background half-light seem to lean into the scene, an enlarged echo in shape of the tiny figures in the foreground. I love the final touch of the man rushing in from left to right.  

Worshippers perform Taraweeh prayer at Kaaba in the Grand Mosque on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia April 24, 2020.   REUTERS/Ganoo Essa   

You get a real sense of the children’s heads turning sharply to look at the man coughing in Thomas Mukoya’s picture. The moment is captured perfectly as they walk past, a comforting arm across the shoulder of the smaller boy. Would I want to crop this tighter, even to a vertical? Maybe, but then you’d lose the context of the place they are walking through. 

A man coughs as children walk past amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Nairobi, Kenya, April 19, 2020.     REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya 

Mike Hutchings has been working on the complex story of land rights at a time when there is forced curfew and lockdown in South Africa. For me, what gives this image its strength is the way Mike has used scale and shape to build a very sophisticated image. A large group of people standing about in harsh light in a featureless landscape is not great material for a picture. What Mike has done is stand back and used a terrific bold line made up of the crowds of people that horizontally cuts across the image. The apex of the tent, quite small in reality but large in the frame, cuts upwards across this compositional line. The running boy gives the eye a focal point and brings the viewer back round the image from left to right.   

A child runs past a tent set up after a Khayelitsha township community won a court case against local authorities who has demolished shacks and evicted residents on land that they said was illegally occupied during a nationwide lockdown aimed at limiting the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Cape Town, South Africa, April 19, 2020.    REUTERS/Mike Hutchings  

   

A sort of antidote to the sophistication, quiet and subtlety of the image above (not that you should need one) is the wham-bam of Mike Hutchings’ image below. Full of action and noise as police stride across the landscape firing weapons. The figures form a diamond composition in the frame against a slight tilt and a deep blue sky. A lens vignette holding all the action in the frame, and, if you take the time to look, a spent cartridge popping out of the shotgun lets you know these weapons are being fired. Read on here. 

Police fire shot guns and tear gas as they attempt to disperse Khayelitsha township residents trying to erect shacks on open ground during a nationwide lockdown aimed at limiting the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Cape Town, South Africa, April 21, 2020.    REUTERS/Mike Hutchings  

You can almost smell the incense and hear the song in Tiksa Negeri’s image of an Easter celebration. Timeless pageant, beautiful dress, rich colours and a wonderfully big umbrella have all been cleverly shot so the red carpet in the foreground doesn’t dominate and distract the eye away from the ceremony. I would so love to be at this ceremony. 

Ethiopian Orthodox deacons sing during Easter Eve sermon at the Holy Trinity Cathedral amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia April 18, 2020.    REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri  

At first glance Zohra Bensemra’s picture is just a grey wall with square black holes of unfinished windows. You also catch a glimpse of yellow almost centre frame. This bit of colour is just enough to catch your eye and draw you in. It’s then you see the zigzag of workers passing building materials up through the rickety scaffolding, from the bottom of the frame, where we see the helmeted man reaching up, to the workman at the top of the frame, reaching down. 

Workers stand on scaffolding at a construction site amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Dakar, Senegal, April 18, 2020.    REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra 

 Two relatively ‘simple in concept’ images work well for different reasons. The concept is people look at graffiti of the coronavirus. The first from Khalil Ashawi shows the image of the virus seeming to jump out from a bomb-damaged building to threaten people walking past, a double warning ‘keep away, keep away’. The artist uses the curves of the crushed building to echo the shape of their art, depicting the virus like a WWII sea mine. The image is almost totally bleached of all colour.  Read on here.    

People walk past a damaged building that has drawings on them that allude to the coronavirus and encouraging people to stay at home, in rebel held Idlib City, amid concerns over the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Syria April 18, 2020.    REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi   

The second graffiti image, from Thomas Mukoya, doesn’t so much say ‘keep away’ but ‘look at me’. The bright colours of the art and people crowding in to look at it initially seem to have had the reverse affect. But the clever composition between the gathered heads allows the single eye to peer out at you with sheer malice.   

Children look at an advocacy graffiti by the Mathare Roots youth group against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Mathare Valley slum, in Nairobi Kenya, April 19, 2020.   REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya    

 Even with the spread of the coronavirus, the politics in Israel continues. Corinna Kern takes full advantage of this combination of events to shoot a wonderful anti-government demonstration meets social distancing picture, aided by the neon lights to give the image an eye-catching glow. Even though the image is shot quite wide you are drawn into the centre by the blue and white of the Israeli national flag and the red writing on the white background of a protest banner. Read on here.   

Israelis demonstrate against Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under strict social distancing restrictions introduced to slow down the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on Rabin Square, Tel Aviv, Israel April 19, 2020.    REUTERS/Corinna Kern    

The bar needs to be very high when shooting wildlife pictures as there are so many beautiful images shot by specialist photographers that anything less looks quite weak. In my opinion, Amir Cohen’s image of a town fox certainly reaches that high standard. A cleverly timed slow exposure allows us to see enough of the animal’s form to know it’s a fox but blurs things enough so we get the sense of it hunting at night in a warm glow of soft textured colours. Read on here  

A red fox runs near the seashore in Ashkelon, where predatory animals now roam the streets amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak restrictions that has closed beaches and emptied streets of people April 19, 2020.   REUTERS/Amir Cohen  

Such a busy picture from Rania Gomaa captures a complex and historic moment. Family and friends gather around a wedding couple excited and happy in a narrow and crowded street. The bride, beautiful in her white wedding dress, reaches up to adjust her tiara, her groom watches, splendid and proud in his sharp suit and neat haircut. And then you have the face masks worn to protect the couple against the coronavirus. Such a powerful and touching moment as the bride’s sister carefully adjusts her mask the same time as the bride herself is adjusting her tiara. There more than likely will never be another wedding picture quite like this one. 

Bride Noha Hamid and groom Mustafa Amin wear protective masks amid concerns over the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during their wedding ceremony in Qalyub, north of Cairo, Egypt, April 16, 2020.   REUTERS/Rania Gomaa