A Week in Pictures, Middle East and Africa, July 31, 2020

If someone has 160 suits, 200 pairs of shoes and 300 hats more is more. Thomas Mukoya asked his subject to dress up in different suits and photographed him with the same backdrop, these then presented as a combination picture. The more we can see the better – enjoy the story here.

A combination picture shows Kenyan fashionista James Maina Mwangi posing as he displays his attire comprising at least 160 suits with matching accessories including a mask to prevent the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection at his residence in Nairobi, Kenya July 30, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

What you mainly get a sense from in Mohamed al-Sayaghi’s picture is the weight of the sheep being carried away. It’s probably wriggling about quite a bit, making it even harder to carry. The image has been shot quite wide so you get a real feeling of the bustle of the ancient business of goat-selling, with straw, and mud all mingled in with the modern trappings of cars, a modern building with reflective glass and advertising hoardings as people prepare for the festival. 

A man carries a sheep at a livestock market ahead of the Eid al-Adha festival amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Sanaa, Yemen July 28, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi

In Ronen Zvulun’s picture your attention is immediately grabbed by the graphic shape of the hand contrasting with the the red and the Israeli flag. It takes more than a little while before you can visually get around this bold and loud shape to see the water cannon spray thundering into the crouching protesters, who protect themselves with small shields. Read on here.

Police use water cannon during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's alleged corruption and his government's handling of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis, near his residence in Jerusalem July 26, 2020. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Makeshift roofing, rubbish in the street and drying clothing hanging over rough brick walls crisscross through Khaled Abdullah’s picture and dwarf the two figures. This feeling of enormity echoes the seemingly insurmountable problem of poverty and poor housing. Everything crushes down heavily in the heat and squalor: the old tyres, the large bricks, the makeshift weights to keep the flimsy roofs from blowing away.

Boys play at a slum area for the Muhamasheen (marginalized) community in Sanaa, Yemen July 26, 2020. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Although this is a straightforward before and after image using Ahmed Jadallah’s file picture dated 2016,  the power of comparison to demonstrate the impact of  COVID-19 and social distancing is striking. Read on here.

A combination picture shows Muslim pilgrims circling the Kaaba at the Grand mosque during the annual Haj pilgrimage September 8, 2016, and after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak July 29, 2020, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Pictures taken September 8, 2016 and July 29, 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah (top)/ Saudi Ministry of Media/Handout via REUTERS

What a wonderful feature picture by Zohra Bensemra who teases us with “photography pure” elements of the moment caught, tones, shape and colour. Take the time to get past the almost abstract shapes and tones of solid blacks that fill the foreground. We are given just enough highlight detail of the boy’s face in the centre, but nothing is given away in the figure on the left or the dark space on the ground, we just have to figure it out ourselves. To counter these shadows we are treated to the full orange colour in bright sunlight of the boy playing, legs at full stride, head held high, a moment caught. I even like the roof of the building that just kisses the edge of the frame against the blue sky.  

Children are seen at the fishermen port ahead of the Muslim festival of sacrifice Eid al-Adha, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Dakar, Senegal July 30,2020. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

The dawn light bursts over a herd of goats being sold off for slaughter in Thomas Mukoya’s picture. The image is well composed so the animals’ bodies fan out from the centre highlight of the sun, like rays of warmth reaching out to the chill in the foreground. Dotted amongst them are herders and customers alike drawing us deeper into the picture as the goods are inspected and haggled over.    

Muslim faithful buy goats at a livestock market during celebrations marking the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Nairobi, Kenya July 31, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

I can’t hide my pleasure over a great detail picture that focuses on a small element of a scene that tells a bigger story, and this enjoyment is doubled when it’s an element from a hard to illustrate economic story. Afolabi Sotunde has captured a money dealer flicking through naira notes that are as tired and worn as the trader’s fingers. The story is that the economy is struggling as businesses struggle to find U.S. dollars to buy the materials they need to continue trading. The oil price, Nigeria’s main export to secure dollars, is depressed by the impact of COVID-19.  Read on here.

A man carries Nigerian naira banknotes at a livestock market in Abuja, Nigeria July 29, 2020. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

A Week in Pictures, Middle East and Africa, May 8, 2020

Thomas Mukoya’s picture needs little explanation as to why it’s a natural pick for this week’s selection. A perfect double rainbow, arcing over the top of the iconic shape of an umbrella as a woman in a bright yellow hat looks around. What’s not to like?

A double rainbow is seen above a woman holding an umbrella and selling snacks along the road in Siaya county, Kenya May 3, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

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

A Week in Pictures, Middle East and Africa, January 10, 2020

I was stopped in my tracks by this sad image by Nazanin Tabatabaee from the Ukraine International Airlines crash scene in Iran. What was once a treasured personal effect, a family picture album, is seen among items strewn over the ground. The pictures are faded and drained of colour with age and mixed with other rubble like a lost object. Rescue workers trying to salvage the possession of those who lost their lives. Once happy memories now loaded with much sadness if they are returned to families of those who died in this crash. Read on here for the latest 

Passengers belongings are seen after a Ukraine International Airlines crashed after take off from Iran’s Imam Khomeni airport, on the outskirts of Tehran, Iran January 8, 2020.   REUTERS/WANA/Nazanin Tabatabaee

We can’t see the eyes of the border policeman although his mirror sunglasses and the helmet shield leaves us with the impression, right or wrong, of a calm and cold stare in Raneen Sawafta’s picture from the anti-Israel protests.  We are drawn to the centre highlight of the image to see enough detail of the protest in the mirror lenses to understand what he is watching.

An Israeli border policeman looks on during an anti-Israel protest by Palestinians, near Qalqilya in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, January 6, 2020.    REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta 

So many funeral procession images have moved after the killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdl al-Muhandis that it was hard to select one. But the claustrophobic and chaotic scene in Abdullah Dhiaa al-Deen’s picture is a very powerful image. It is so close to the coffin that you feel crushed, hot and breathless as hundreds of people struggle for a final touch of the coffin. Your eye is drawn through the teeming crowds to the distance by the brightly lit minarets of a mosque.

Mourners attend the funeral procession of the Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards and the Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdl al-Muhandis, who were killed in an airstrike at Baghdad airport, in Kerbala, Iraq January 4, 2020.   REUTERS/Abdullah Dhiaa al-Deen 

Equally busy and chaotic is Khalid al-Mousily’s picture from the funeral procession of Soleimani and al-Muhandis. It’s so busy your eye just doesn’t rest; it darts from the soldier in the black helmet in the foreground, then to the flags and the poster in the background, back to the man in the white short touching the vehicles, over to the soldier in the red beret looking backwards and then the to edges of the frame, sunglasses on the left and military vehicles on the right. You feel as breathless as if you were there.  

A coffin is seen inside a car during the funeral of the Iranian major-General Qassam Soleimani, commander of the elite Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards, and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdl al-Muhandis, who were killed in an airstrike at Baghdad airport, in Baghdad, Iraq, January 4, 2020.   REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily

The Dakar rally is taking place in Saudi Arabia and Hamad Mohammed has the opportunity to shoot John Ford style landscapes and capture the sporting action too. Easier said than done, shutter speed too fast and the vehicles are frozen and look static, all drama lost. Shutter speed too slow and you get to much movement and you end up with a blurry picture, which looks great (some of the time) if intentional and it works well. The picture below perfect, just enough movement in the wheel but the action frozen. 

Monster Energy Honda Team 2020’s Kevin Benavides in action in Stage 4 of the Dakar rally in Neom Saudi Arabia January 8, 2020.   REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Shooting a sports landscape too wide and you lose the detail of the action, too tight and you lose the landscape. The light has to be right and the shapes through contours of the landscape have to keep the eye interested. Hamad’s picture below is a perfect balance of all elements: John Ford would be proud. 

Red Bull KTM Factory Team’s Sam Sunderland in action in Stage 2 of the Dakar Rally in Neom Saudi Arabia January 6, 2020.   REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

One would imagine that at a very simple scenario, a person talking at a podium, one image would be enough. But if its news value is so important and the world is waiting to see the pictures a single definitive image probably wont exist, and a wide selection is needed to convoy the whole story. Competition is tight as the first pictures will probably be the most published. But what is also key is how the images are presented because a person talking at a podium is not visually rich. Photographer Mohamed Azakir was under pressure to deliver not only the first pictures, and seconds count, but the editors have to think how best to present them so they will be used again and again. A clever combination of Mohamed’s very fast pictures by picture editor Maria Semerdjian do the job required in this special case. If you had to chose a single image which one would it be? 

A combination of pictures show former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn addressing a news conference at the Lebanese Press syndicate in Beirut, Lebanon January 8, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

A combination of pictures show former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn addressing a news conference at the Lebanese Press syndicate in Beirut, Lebanon January 8, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

A Week in Pictures, Middle East and Africa, September 20, 2019

Afolabi Sotunde’s image of a traditional healer is far removed from preconceived notions of what such a scene would look like, but the light and colour in the frame are quite astounding. Once you read the caption you quickly look past the beauty of the light and colour and descend into the story. Read on here

Agbetuyi Samuel, a traditional header with his friend, also a healer, prepare a traditional medicine that contains the head of a pangolin in his house in Akure, Nigeria, August 28, 2019.   REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

A sliver of catchlight highlights the profile of lips and nose of a riot police officer in this well-observed picture by Philimon Bulawayo. The face, although quite stern, still warms and softens the cool hard edges of the blue helmets and the grey uniforms. Cover the highlight with your finger and look again at the image: the feeling of menace trebles.  

Riot police stand before striking healthcare workers protesting over the disappearance of Peter Magombeyi, the leader of their union outside a hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe, September 18, 2019.   REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo

A complex combination of the symmetrical shapes of the doors and windows, with people moving in and out, gives the viewer a slightly uncomfortable feeling in Alphonso Toweh’s picture. You struggle to see what is going on in the distance as you peer through the entrances at the bright light and colours of the clothing. Only once out are drawn back into the blackened building do you notice the man looking at the scene where so many children died.       

A man looks into the burned building after a fire swept through a school killing children in Monrovia, Liberia September 18, 2019.    REUTERS/Alphonso Toweh

The pressure is on when you know you are on the top global story, the attack on the Aramco oil field. Hamad Mohammed keep his cool told the story visually when on the face of it all you have to photograph is shapeless lumps of metal, the story was rocket fragments being displayed to the media by the Saudi military. A clever use of a silhouette of a camera being held in profile leads you to the unmistakable shape of fins of a rocket in the background. Of course, you need to the see the objects too and you can do so here. 

Remains of the missiles which the Saudi government says were used to attack an Aramco oil facility are displayed during a news conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, September 18, 2019.   REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammad.

After Xenophobic attacks in both Nigeria and South Africa, people have fled home. Temilade Adelaja has captured exhausted children flopping all over mum and dad as they are carried through the airport. You can almost feel of the weight of these sleeping children. But what I love most about this picture is the tiny detail of the passport being held bottom left.   

Nigerians, who were evacuated from South Africa after xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals, arrive at the airport in Lagos, Nigeria, September 18, 2019.    REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja

No doubt Corinna Kern could not believe her luck as Benny Gantz, the leader of the Blue and White party, lifted his had to gesture into blue and white light. The contrast between the warm tones on his face and the cold light on his hand is set against a perfectly black background. Maybe it was not luck, and Corinna spotted the light and just had to wait for the perfect shape to capture the right moment. 

Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz speaks at the party’s headquarters following the announcement of the exit polls during Israel’s parliamentary election in Tel Aviv, Israel September 18, 2019.   REUTERS/Corinna Kern

A perfect moment of light and shape captured by Zoubeir Souissi is wonderfully pleasing to the eye, but why? I think it’s the tip of the finger’s shadow just a fraction away from the face. A moment before or after and the visual tension between the shapes would be lost. The temptation would be to crop to just the shadows and the hand, but then you would lose the right and downward pressure of the figure on the left that counters the upwards and left flow of the shadows.

Election workers count votes as the country awaits the official results of the presidential election in Tunis, Tunisia September 17, 2019.   REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi

A wonderful daily life picture by Mohammed Salem draws you in layer by layer using focus, compositional structure and a little tilt to offset and break up the vertical and horizontal lines of the walls and buildings. Each time you look you find more and more. The boy in the green shorts on the left, not so distracting as he is not in focus; the girl in the foreground looks through the gap in the fence to lead us to the perfectly timed skipping girl in midair. Finally, you notice the boy in the background on the left looking across at the play. And this is all set in the warm tones of rusting metal.

A Palestinian girl plays with a skipping rope outside her family house at Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City September 16, 2019.   REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Thousands have marched globally in support of action on climate change, but it’s the simplicity of Afolabi Sotunde’s picture that caught my eye. The baking sun with an optical ring and a protest banner being lifted up towards it, the image grey and bleached of all colour, giving it a sense of foreboding. You can see the rest of the pictures here.  

A protester raises a placard during a demonstration for climate protection in Abuja, Nigeria, September 20, 2019.   REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

A Week in Pictures, Middle East and Africa, May 31, 2019

The light in Alaa Al-Marjani’s picture is a little tough: top artificial light creating downward shadows, flat highlights and a colour cast. But this does not distract from an image that intrigues. What is best about this image is the timing, even though the light is poor and the women are covering their heads, you can just about see all the faces, with downcast eyes, and through this you get a powerful sense of devotion. Take the time to look at all their faces.

Iraq Shi’ite Muslim women place copies of the Koran on their heads during the holy month of Ramadan at the Imam Ali Shrine, in the holy city of Najaf, Iraq May 28, 2019.   REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani

Each week Reuters photographers are commissioned with a theme of the week. This week is ‘beauty’ next week is ‘tobacco’. They are free to shoot what they want on this theme. Hayam Adel has chosen beauty treatments and used full-on eye contact and a bold crop mixed with warm colours to shoot this striking portrait of a young woman getting her hair braided and her hand hennaed. Cropping off the top of the head and leaving the open space top-right draws you into the eye and then to the carefully braided hair. 

A Sudanese girl with braided hair poses for a picture in Cairo May 29, 2019.   REUTERS/Hayam Adel 

Sometimes a picture works well cropped in two different ways, as is the case with Ronen Zvulun’s picture of Netanyahu. The full vertical image, a classic ‘top of head’ in frame with the hand and fingers leading you through the image to the eyes, works and the quality is good. A strong single-column image, in newspaper terminology. 

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits at the plenum at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in Jerusalem May 30, 2019.   REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

But a bold horizontal crop brings Ronen’s picture into the classic, easy to use and easy to consume digital platform format. It also brings your attention to the eyes in deep contemplation. Look carefully where each eye appears to be looking. The hand is creating wrinkles that bring you back into the image and those eyes as you are led from bottom left to top right by the fingers.   

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits at the plenum at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in Jerusalem May 30, 2019.   REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Ammar Awad’s picture plays a visual game of hide and seek. Your eye chases around the cool blues and greens and between the highlights and shadows looking for something to focus on. And then suddenly you see Netanyahu’s face, half obscured, peering at you from a protester’s banner. What a clever and creative way to photograph a demonstration, through a passing bus. 

A bus passes next to the residence of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a protest against him in Jerusalem May 30, 2019.   REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Waleed Ali’s picture has immediate impact with its strong graphic composition. A solid black space is bisected by a gold panel occupying just about half the image, eye-catching even when viewed small. You then notice the sea of people moving through a bold L shape from top left to bottom right. It’s then that the single figure, wearing a white shirt, jumps out at you as he stretches to touch the holy Kaaba. And once you have spotted him you just can’t look away as he tries to resist the movement of the tsunami of people to prolong his touch. More pictures on Ramadan here.

Muslims perform Umrah around the holy Kaaba at the Great Mosque during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, May 26, 2019.  REUTERS/Waleed Ali

Some pictures just lift the heart, and Siphiwe Sibeko’s image does just that. Surrounded by colour, sound and movement is the biggest, warmest smile of the week. Siphiwe’s picture is perfectly timed so the waving flags don’t obscure the face. But the real secret to the success of this image is the eye contact. She’s looking right at you, even from across a crowded stadium. 

Guests sing and dance as they arrive for the inauguration of Cyril Ramaphosa as President, at Loftus Versveld stadium in Pretoria, South Africa, May 25, 2019.   REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

Just enjoy the wonderful gentle horizontal zigzag composition of Mohamad Torokman’s picture. People are spaced out against the tooth-like concrete barrier as they make their way under the solid black tones of the canopy, all set against the highlight of the blue sky. Take the time to notice how Mohamed plays with the viewer, the figures right and left are in fact shadows of people – a nice touch.    

Palestinians make their way to attend last Friday prayer of Ramadan in Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque, at Qalandia checkpoint, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank May 31. 2019.   REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman

A very simple picture by Aboud Haman that is quite thought-provoking. At first sight, it’s just a couple, dwarfed by the rubble of a destroyed building, not uncommon in Raqqa. But look deep into the shadows. These people are not walking past it, they are walking through it. A potentially dangerous journey, but in the context of recent history, not as dangerous as it was before. What occurred to me is how things that are not normal in many places seem completely commonplace elsewhere.   

People walk through the rubble of damaged buildings in Raqqa Syria May 29, 2019.   REUTERS/Aboud Hamam

The name Idlib conjures up images of a city gripped with tension and destroyed by conflict. Khalid Ashawi’s picture of bread being made in a bakery is counterintuitive and gives us a certain amount of respite from what is imagined. The whole image is almost completely monochromatic, the colour bleached out and the figure silhouetted by a single light bulb on the wall. A hint of a kiss of pink on the wall and the glow of the oven warm the whole image to the extent that you can almost smell that bread. Read on about Idlib here 

A worker bakes bread inside a bakery before Iftar, or fast breaking, during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in the city of Idlib, Syria May 28, 2019.   REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

I really don’t do cute, but hard to resist is Amir Cohen’s lucky and affectionate image of a fruit-bat suckling. The strength of this image is that it is pin sharp with a shallow depth of field, drawing your focus to the stretched teat, the bony wing and the touch of highlight in the eye of the pup. Soft-focused and in the background, is that a slightly indignant look on the mother’s face? 

An Egyptian fruit-bat pup suckles from its mother at a laboratory in the Steinhardt Museum of natural History in Tel Aviv, Israel May 27, 2019.   REUTERS/Amir Cohen