A Week in Pictures, Middle East & Africa November 24, 2017

Relatively late in the day on Friday Siphiwe Sebeko filed this picture of a supporter at the inauguration of Zimbabwe's new president. that I wanted to include it as an update. At first look it's a wide picture of a supporter in a crowd holding a banner that says 'Thank you Zimbabwe'. I could not resist cropping this to bring out what I really like in this picture, the sea of faces in the banner that almost matches the sea of faces in the crowd. As a foot note to my thinking; had I left it as a tighter cropped horizontal (as I wanted to) I felt the red shirt of the man on the right would have been too much of a distraction. Agree? 

Locals celebrate after the swearing in of Zimbabwe's new president Emmerson Mnangagwa in Harare, Zimbabwe, November 24, 2017.   REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko 

Good pictures of people waiting for something to happen are hard to shoot. People are not doing anything, just waiting. But that in itself presents an opportunity, translating a long period of quiet and calm into something visual can produce powerful pictures that ooze tension, apprehension, anticipation, hope, longing and boredom. Both Ibraheem Abu Mustafa and Suhaib Salem, in my opinion, have achieved just that.

Palestinians wait for relatives to cross into Gaza, after Rafah border crossing was opened under the control of the western-backed Palestinian Authority for the first time since 2007 in Rafah in the southern Gaza strip November 19, 2017.   REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

Palestinians wait for travel permits to cross into Egypt after Rafah border crossing was opened under the control of the western-backed Palestinian Authority for the first time since 2007 in Rafah in the southern Gaza strip November 19, 2017.   REUTERS/Suhaib Salem

Again a disturbing image of an injured child needs to be seen, as the story of the besieged town of Douma in Syria unfolds. It’s not the injured arm that disturbs me in Bassam Khabeih’s picture, but the sheer terror in the child’s face. That fear is accentuated by the light reflected in his eye, while his tense and open mouth fight for your immediate attention with the blood on the white table. The strong diagonals of the line of the wall and the markings on the floor draw you back in, not allowing you to look away.

A wounded child is seen lying in Douma hospital after heavy shelling in the rebel-held besieged town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria November 19, 2017.    REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh

You can almost taste the tension in Philimon Bulawayo’s picture as Robert Mugabe fails to announce his expected resignation in a live television broadcast. You don’t need a caption to tell you what the men are talking about as your eye dances around the greens, reds and blues of the bar’s lighting that create negative and positive shapes formed by the men’s profiles and their incredulous lips.

People talk as they watch television in a bar in Harare Zimbabwe as Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe addresses the nation November 19, 2017.    REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo

Not many know there was a stampede of people in Morocco when food aid was being distributed. Fifteen people were killed. Youssef Boudlal’s picture of grieving relatives is a haunting reminder of this easily ignored tragedy. As a viewer, I am not sure if the women are hiding from the camera or grieving, I suspect both. For me, the strength of this picture is the small boy who peering around from the back of the woman who is staring into space. His presence, like the news of the deaths at the stampede, is easily missed.

Relatives mourn the death of Lakbira Essabiry, one of the people who were killed when a stampeded broke out in the south western Moroccan town of Sidi Boulaalam as food aid was being distributed in a market, in Sidi Boulaalam, Morocco November 20, 2017.   REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal

 A bible-holding supporter of President Kenyatta screams into the air with joy, as people celebrate the news that a court had upheld his re-election. The relief on the faces of these people in Baz Ratner’s picture is so powerful that the visual noise of the yellow line, white pillars and railings don’t destroy the image. A close look reveals that the bible is open at Kings 2, Chapter 12, ‘Joash repairs the Temple’. I hope that rebuilding is the theme of the presidency after all the clashes.

Jubilee party supporters cheers after Kenya’s Supreme Court upheld the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta in last month’s repeat presidential vote in Nairobi, Kenya, November 20, 2017.   REUTERS/Baz Ratner

I have little secret, I love good pictures that illustrate business stories especially when they are about commodities. Mining, oil pictures from drilling to the global impact of price changes, and agriculture are particular favourites. So how could I resist Khalid al-Mousily’s symmetrical picture of a small mountain of sugar in Iraq, a man in black striding purposefully towards it. A picture with great shape that jumps out at you and can be used well on any platform, from a small screen on a mobile device or as a double-page spread in a magazine, or on an advertising hoarding in the street.  

An employee checks raw sugar at a sugar refinery in the city of Hilla, Iraq, November 21, 2017.   REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily

Amid the euphoria of Zimbabwe it would be easy to forget the crisis in Yemen, if only for a day. But there is no respite as Khaled Abdullah’s picture brings our minds quickly back to what is going on. It’s hard to tell the age of the person with thin and fragile legs until you realise that this helpless child is so tiny that he is on a set of scales designed for weighing babies. For me, the fact that you do not see the face of this malnourished boy gives a sense of the wider issue of hunger created by conflict in Yemen, and not just one person’s story.  

A boy lies on a weighing scale at a malnutrition treatment centre in Sanaa, Yemen, November 22, 2017.   REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah 

Almost a week of rising tension in Zimbabwe ended in an explosion of joy, relief, all night parties and smiling faces after fears that the transition of power from Mugabe would be bloody proved unfounded. Hard to chose one picture from Mike Hutchings but I think the frame full of smiling faces is a winner for me. I wish I was there. Have a look at more pictures here to lift your spirits.

Zimbabweans celebrate after President Robert Mugabe resigns in Harare, Zimbabwe November 21, 2017.  REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

One might not immediately think of Libya in terms of sun, sea, sand and … motorbikes.  So it’s therefore impossible to not include Ahmed Jadallah’s simple but affectionate picture of bikers, some of whom belong to the ‘Monsters’ group, on a Libyan beach. Although the picture was taken a while ago I’ve included in this week’s round-up as it was only published this week. You can read on here.

Members of the Tripoli bikers group ride their motorbikes at the beach in Tripoli, Libya November 4, 2017.  REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah

A week in Pictures, Middle East and Africa, October 27, 2017

I had to update this post today with Tiksa Negeri's pictures of VWs in Ethiopia as a demonstration how it can be fun to illustrate business stories with eye catching visual ideas. In short VW announced their earnings on Friday, here's the headline, Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) lifted its profit target for the year on Friday after cost cuts at its core autos division helped it outstrip third-quarter earnings forecast. Great financial information but a little dry to illustrate. And here one of several great pictures about VW's in Ethiopia. Reuters also illustrated this story in the tradition manner so there was choice. 

A model of a Volkswagen Beetle toy is seen inside a Volkswagen Beetle car at a garage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, September 8, 2017.  

It’s not often that a press conference by an oil minister will result in a great picture but Khalid al-Mousily has achieved just that. A lucky break for Khalid makes for a riot of colour: the sea of coloured microphones, the reds of the background and the red, green, white and black of the Iraqi flag on the right. Amid all this colour there is no doubt in my mind that the world is listening to what Saudi Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih has to say.

Saudi Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih speaks at the opening of the Baghdad International Exhibition, Baghdad, Iraq October 21, 2017.   REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily

Flares, flags and fans all combine to make a great picture by Amr Abdullah Dalsh that puts me in mind of Visions of Hell by Hieronymus Bosch. The small human figures on the left seem to be competing for the ball of flame, while the giant mythical image of the bird brings the mind’s eye back to the fact that these are soccer fans cheering on their team with a passion,  and not Hell.  

Fans light flares during the CAF Champions League semi-final between Al Ahly and Etoile du Sahel at the Borg El Arab stadium.    REUTERS/Amr Dalsh

 I just have to keep coming back to try to understand why I like Baz Ratner’s picture of protestor wearing a mask so much. Is it the bizarre tilt of the head in the expressionless mask, or the riot of clashing purples, blues and reds? Maybe it’s the strong graphic shapes made by the circle of the handbag, the string of pearls or the V of the purple jacket or even the eye to camera contact of the mask with no eyes. Not sure – what do you think?  

A supporter of Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta wears a mask of his face before a Jubilee Party campaign caravan rally in Nairobi, Kenya, October 23, 2017.    REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Against a background like stars in the night sky, a fighter walks past a shop front riddled with bullet holes in this perfectly framed picture by Khalil Ashawi. The bright white light bleeding in around the armed figure in a darkened room removes just about all colour to create a monochrome, stage-like feel to this quiet but menacing picture.

A Free Syrian Army fighter walks as he holds his weapon in a damaged shop in the town of Tadef,  Aleppo Province, Syria October 23, 2017.    REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

It’s great to get some good news from Yemen and this rather haunting picture of 19-year-old Saidi by Abduljabber Zeyad is the third time we have photographed her in a year. Her story over the last year is as dark as the background in this picture, when Abduljabber photographed her earlier, looking skeletal and close to death. We have followed up on her story as she has slowly recovered, which you can see here.

Saida Ahmad Baghili, 19, who is recovering from severe malnutrition, stands in the door of her family’s hut in al-Tuhaitad district of the Red Sea province of Hodeidah, Yemen October 20, 2017.    REUTERS/Abduljabber Zeyad

Also from Yemen and by Abduljabber is this striking image of girls attending school that has been damaged by shelling. I feel a little as if am watching life going on in a nature program, where a remote camera has been set up to give the viewer a closer look at the daily life of a shy and reclusive creature. As with nature programs ,the subjects, in this case girls, seem oblivious to the fact that we can see them and that a shell has torn a hole in their school. 

Girls attend a class at their school, damaged by a recent Saudi-led air strike in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen October 24, 2017.   REUTERS/Abduljabber Zeyad

A stark and brutal image of little Hala al-Nufi, aged 2-1/2, photographed by Bassam Khabieh, is something you cannot take your eyes off.  Her face wrinkled as if she is 70 years old, her dry tears and contorted expression share her physical pain with the viewer. Should this picture be seen? In my opinion yes , but with sensitivity and balance. The whole story can be seen here. 

Two-and-a-half year old Hala al-Nufi, who suffers from a metabolic disorder which is worsening due t the siege and food shortages in eastern Ghouta, reacts as she sits on a bed in the Saqba area, in the eastern Damascus suburb of Ghouta, Syria, October 25, 2017.

On October 26, the Kenyan election was re-run amid fears that there would be a repetition of the blood-letting seen after the election in 2007. This still might happen as the process continues (let’s hope not). I could have chosen a number of pictures from the clashes: tear gas fired by police, those killed by gunfire, or stone hurling protesters. Instead I have chosen this quiet image by Thomas Mukoya. One of the places where voting could not take place was Kibera and for the process to be complete voting as to take place here. The soldier squeezing his large frame through the small gates of a primary school that was supposed to be used as a polling station seems to sum up the constitutional struggle that is taking place. You can see the whole file, from the voting to the fighting, here.

A policeman walks through the gate at the Kibera primary school during presidential election re-run in Nairobi Kenya, October 26, 2017.

Okay and change of heart here is a picture by Thomas Mukoya that has come in just now. The water caught and frozen in mid air as flames tear through the slum properties.

People try to put a fire in properties set ablaze by rioters in Kawangware slum in Nairobi, Kenya October 27, 2017.    REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya 

I had to update this post today with Tiksa Negeri's pictures of VWs in Ethiopia as a demonstration how it can be fun to illustrate business stories with eye catching visual ideas. In short VW announced their earnings on Friday, here's the headline, Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) lifted its profit target for the year on Friday after cost cuts at its core autos division helped it outstrip third-quarter earnings forecast. Great financial information but a little dry to illustrate. And here one of several great pictures about VW's in Ethiopia. Reuters also illustrated this story in the tradition manner so there was choice. 

A model of a Volkswagen Beetle toy is seen inside a Volkswagen Beetle car at a garage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, September 8, 2017.