It’s too hard to choose a single image from
a series of pictures the team shot at the Africa Cup of Nations to show the
emotions around a goal being scored, so I’ve picked two – from anguish to jubilation. Francis Kokoroko’s
picture of the stunned faces for me says it all, open-mouthed utter disbelief.
The curve of the shadow folding in closer and closer to the fan in centre of
the image. I imagine this stunned look went on for quite a few seconds, giving
Francis time to maybe even reposition himself to get a better angle to work the
light.
On the other hand Zohra Bensemra would have had no time at all to capture the rapturous excitement in the boys’ faces as they celebrate a goal. The direct eye contact means you are right there in this moment of manic joy. To see the rest of the images click here
Corinna Kern’s picture is a “what on earth is going on here?” picture which makes you want to know more. Corinna, who has been working on this project for several weeks, has avoided the temptation of shooting this too tight on the masks of the performers. Instead she lets the black frame of the doorway draw you in. The benefit of this is that we get to see the stark “stage”, which is actually a bus station. It’s at this point we realise this image is almost monochromatic. Read on here for more quirky images.
An almost intrusive picture taken by Olivia
Acland using a wide-angle lens forces the viewer into the space and mind of the
woman who is being tested for signs of fever, a symptom of Ebola. She avoids
our stare, but we get a such a powerful sense of fear and apprehension that we
hardly notice the visual noise in the background.
The colours, line of design and shape in Cooper Inveen’s picture are just irresistible. The line of the hedge sends your eye racing to the focal point of the girls sheltering under a red umbrella. If the diagonal line of the hedge was not enough we have the run of glistening water on the muddy track to also draw us to the huddle of girls. The complimentary colours of red and green shimmer against each other while the warm tones in the road and clothing counter the damp weather. Ideally, the post behind the trees wouldn’t be there, but the world is far from perfect. Read about Mariatu Sesay here.
Cold and stark is probably the best way to
describe Ahmed Jadallah’s image of the aircraft carrier USS Boxer. The tones
are grey and cold, all colour has been bleached out of the image by the strong
overhead and slightly hazy light. Our eye moves away from the menacing black
shape of the vessel, looking for warmth in the empty space, but all we see is a
tanker in the distant haze.
Tiksa Negri’s image is a potent display of
political defiance: a youth leader, draped in a flag, stands in front of a sea
of faces that stretches back to the far horizon. For me the power of the scene
is in the fact everyone is seated on the ground, you sense that the crowd is
silent, listening. The clean colours and vertical lines of the flag cape cut
through the sea of faces, the top line of the flag matches the horizon, the
youth’s head is almost lost in the background of the trees.
I kept coming back to Mohamed Abd El Ghany’s image and I wasn’t sure why. It doesn’t have people in it, but the eye on the sarcophagus seems to follow you around the room, like something out of a B horror movie. I took the time to look harder, then it struck me: the face looks like that of a child who has just woken up too soon and is in that mysterious transition period between sleep and wakefulness. What do you think?
Shafiek Tassiem’s picture has an air of tension
about it. Perhaps obvious since it shows
two soldiers in full gear on the
paved streets, but I think it’s more than the obvious that creates this
feeling. Maybe it’s the clever symmetrical composition using the barred
windows, the soldiers placed equally apart. Maybe it’s the line that cuts the
image horizontally in half that is not comfortable for the eye? Then there’s the slow shutter speed blurring the
figure in the foreground, so the person seems to be hurrying past. I’m still
not sure but looking at this image I feel apprehensive.
