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

A brutal and sad picture by Thalefang Charles. The elephant appears to reach out to the viewer with its trunk at the moment of its death in a barren landscape. There is no escaping the black hollow of the animal’s eye or the gaping hole where a tusk would have once been as we are led along the line of the trunk and the animal’s back to the tiny figure of a vet in the background.  Read on here 

Dr Wave Kashweeka, Principal Veterinary Officer stands over the carcass of an elephant found near Seronga, in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, July 9, 2020. REUTERS/Thalefang Charles

At first glance we are not sure if the screen on the left is a TV or a mirror. Ari Jalal has used the mirror hanging in the temporary accommodation to enable us to both look in and out of this room at the same time.  We get a sense of people being busy, the hurried tension of a small space, change happening. I love the body language of the young man in the doorway, as though he is saying “come on, get a move on”, but can’t out of respect to the others he shouldn’t really rush.  Read on here.

Yazidi displaced family of Nayef al-Hamo is reflected in the mirror as they prepare to leave their home in Sharya town and head back to Sinjar following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and economic crisis, near Dohuk, Iraq July 3, 2020. REUTERS/Ari Jalal

A wide and slightly compositionally chaotic picture from Philimon Bulawayo as the eye chases around looking for a focal point. It’s rather visually uncomfortable with figures running out of the frame left and right and the line of trees and sky cutting mercilessly across the frame into the head of the central figure, who seems to be coming up for air. But it’s what written on the sign that comes as bit of a shock and is uncomfortable reading.  

Health workers carry placards as they protest against economic hardship and poor working conditions during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Harare, Zimbabwe, July 6, 2020. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo 

Two terrific pictures by two photographers working on one story about the convergence of the Nile. In the first by Zohra Bensemra we are immediately intrigued by the brown swirling mass “penned” in by trees left and right, a centrally placed figure making us wonder what is going on. I love the detail of his shoes on the right-hand side of the frame and the dappled light coming through the rough and ready roofing as we slowly begin to understand he is squashing mud with his feet. Read on here.

David Plantino, 35, a pottery maker from South Sudan, kneads mud with his feet, that will be used to make pottery at a workshop in an area known as the 'Potters Village' in Alqamayir, Omdurman, Sudan February 16, 2020. "I have been a pottery maker for 7 years, I relied on the Nile river like most people around me here for water and the mud", Plantino said. "Both are the foundation for people who rely on pottery to make a living." REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah entertains us with a beautiful abstract curve through his picture leaving us unsure of a sense of scale. We are initially confused by the flat grey shape that has a mirror-like quality and then the abandoned chairs snap into focus. We are looking at the waters edge of the Nile.       

Chairs are left facing the banks of the Blue Nile river in Khartoum, Sudan, February 15, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah 

Just how much do you want to swim in that pool? Ahmed Jadallah’s picture is pleasing on so many levels: the colours, the shapes, the teasing shadows of the trees and the tantalising ripples on the water and that small figure, arms stretched out luxuriating in the warm water.  Dive in and have some fun, I wish. 

People swim at a swimming pool in the Atlantis The Palm hotel, as the Emirates reopen to tourism amid coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Dubai, United Arab Emirates July 7, 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah

Anees Mahyoub’s picture is striking as the graves are so deep, dark and so close together. What is to stop the walls of sand and mud falling in the diggers? But it’s the small details next to the sad and ugly gaping holes that gives this image its strength: like the pickaxe between the graves and the feet of the bystander. Read on here.

People dig graves at a cemetery where victims of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are buried in Taiz, Yemen June 23, 2020. Picture taken June 23, 2020. REUTERS/Anees Mahyoub 

A very busy but at the same time simple half-length environmental portrait by Muhammad Hamed works so well that you just want to meet this doctor. The direct eye contact draws you straight into his gentle, concerned but reassuring face past all the visual noise, his clean white jacket helping you make that journey. Once you have looked him in the eye then you can enjoy the rest of the room. I love the echo of his fingers in the brochure dispenser on the left of the image 

Jordanian doctor Nizar al Halaby poses at his clinic in Amman, Jordan, July 5, 2020. Picture taken July 5, 2020. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed

I think Yamam al-Shaar has captured a moment of work that seems like it will never end. A single figure, masked against coronavirus set against a wall of boxes.  Not an inch of respite for her amid the boxes that completely fill the frame and bear down on her. 

A worker wearing a face mask holds an ice cream box inside an ice cream factory in Damascus, Syria July 2, 2020. Picture taken July 2, 2020. REUTERS/Yamam Al Shaar 

Is this bride dancing in Amir Cohen’s picture dancing? Why is she letting her beautiful wedding dress get dirty? Why on earth would she want to be photographed in an area that looks like an industrial estate? All these questions raised by a beautifully composed and side lit picture enables the viewer to make up their own story for this strong and affectionate standalone image of happiness.  

A bride walks on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea as she is photographed before her wedding amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Ashdod, Israel July 6, 2020. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

I feel in Thomas Mukoya’s picture as if this train is bearing down on me. I am the proverbial rabbit in the headlights as others scatter left and right away from its path. An effect created by careful exposure to allow the highlight of the train’s light to burn out. A quick look at the track and you see the kink in the line so we know it’s not travelling all that fast, time enough for me to scuttle away too.  

A commuter train arrives at a makeshift station, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Kibera slums, in Nairobi, Kenya July 6, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

In Mohamed Azakir’s wonderfully lit picture a yellow cushion seems to come to life with a facial expression that sums up the whole situation. It’s only then we notice the central figure in the gloom, and the candle light is neither kind or romantic but a necessity as powers cuts mean no electricity. Read on here.

Badiaa, 75, lights a candle and a portable light to light up the room due to a power cut in Beirut, Lebanon July 6, 2020. Picture taken July 6, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir 

A Week in Pictures Middle East and Africa April 12, 2019

An uncomfortable collection of colours immediately puts the mind ill at ease in Baz Ratner’s picture. Yellows, orange, greens, grays and purple, something feels instinctively not right. The people in the image are covered from head to toe in heavy protection equipment. The object of their focus, a purple coffin. We are right to feel ill at ease as these workers are carrying away another victim of Ebola. Read on here 

Workers dressed in Ebola protective suits carry a coffin with the body of a woman who has died of Ebola, as it is transported for burial from the Ebola Treatment Centre in Butembo, in the Democratic Republic of Congo March 28, 2019.  REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Tension in Sudan is high with people coming out on the streets to protest against Bashir’s government. Taking pictures is not easy for fear of arrest. A protester’s hand raised in a peace or maybe victory sign dwarfs the figures on the flyover in a slightly bizarre David Byrne of Talking Heads video distortion of scale. Each finger is the same size as the figures on the bridge, almost as if it’s reaching out to obscure them. Latest from Sudan here

Sudanese demonstrators chant slogans and wave their national flag during a protest demanding Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir to step down outside the defence ministry in Khartoum, Sudan April 8, 2019.   REUTERS

Only days later the tension is broken. Crowds carry soldiers on their shoulders after the announcement that Bashir has been removed from power by the army. The picture is crammed full of noise, heat and energy. You can’t look anywhere without seeing hands, arms, phones, flags and faces all celebrating the news. Slightly counter intuitively, I like that you can’t see the face of the soldier as this forces you to look around the whole scene. If you could see his face your eye would zoom in on that and you’d miss out on the collective relief and the noisy celebration of the crowd although of course, many on the streets are wary of the latest announcement, saying they want a civilian government.  

A military officer is carried in the crowd as demonstrators chant slogans and carry their national flags, after Sudan’s Defence Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf said that President Omar al-Bashir had been detained ‘in a safe place’ and that a military council would run the country for a two year transitional period.  REUTERS


To shoot a whole story where the faces of your subjects must not be identifiable is not easy. Essam al-Sudani has cleverly used a poster on the wall to make you feel that you are being looked back at in his picture even though the main subjects’ heads are covered in towels. When you look at the poster closely you soon realise that it too has a sense of being obscured because the face is a composition of two images. You can’t really see any faces and you feel you are trying to look at something or somebody that is hidden, a perfect way to illustrate the fight against the drugs trade in Iraq. It’s taken months to publish this story (hence the December date) but well worth the wait. You can read on here 

Iraqi suspects who were arrested for drug-related crime are seen at a police station in Basra, Iraq December 18, 2019.  REUTERS/Essam al-Sudani  

Mohammed Salem’s use of a bold portrait format to look at those who have lost limbs in Israel-Gaza border clashes during the last twelve months works in its simplicity. It’s been deliberately shot very dark. You need to fight your way into the image to seek out the details in the shadows. Only once you are there, do you notice the determined look on their faces and then the damaged and broken bodies. Read on here

A combination picture shows Palestinians who, according to medics, lost their legs after being shot by Israeli forces during protests at the Israeli-Gaza border, posing for pictures in Gaza March 13 and 16, 2019.   REUTERS/Mohammed Salem 

I am attracted to Ronen Zvulun’s picture as it looks like it is from a bygone era. A suited booted and tie-wearing politician is drumming up support from a soapbox on the election campaign. It’s more the shape of the crowd and the shop venue that give this impression. Once you begin to inspect the crowd of ‘potential voters’ most are revealed to be security staff or people armed with smart phones, bringing us sharply back to the modern age of digital political husting inside a ring of security.         

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks as he visits Mahane Yehuda Market a day ahead of the Israeli national elections, in Jerusalem April 8, 2019.   REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun 

It takes just a little time to spot the enormous tear that is rolling down Maria’s face in Zohra Bensemra’s moving picture. The solemn moment of grief slowly wells up as we study the image. The soft light on her face and the cool blues of her clothing set the sad tone. We want to know more, we need to read on, and we know her story is sad. See Zohra's full story here 

A tear falls down the face of maria Jofresse, 25, during an interview at a camp for the displaced in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai, in John Segredo, near Beira, Mozambique March 31, 2019.  Maria lost her two children to the storm.   REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

There’s no mistaking this father’s grief as he buries his daughter in Khaled Abdullah’s picture from Yemen. Your eye is drawn immediately to the father’s face as he screams to the heavens. What you see next is his hand tightly gripping the funeral shroud. From this point you start to study the faces around this distraught man. Light is thrown up from the shroud warming the tones of the three faces immediately to the right. You don’t notice the TV camera in the shadows as your eye moves through the crowd. Eventually you end up at the figure at the top left, his arm and fingers guiding you back into the picture and to the father’s grief. There is no escape.   

A man reacts as he lowers the body of his daughter to a grave during the burial of people who were killed by a blast in Sanaa, Yemen April 10, 2019.   REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah 

A heart-warming series of pictures of twins by Afolabi Sotunde. Hard to single one out as they all quite fun but I do like the simplicity of the composition of the two boys who pose in the equally divided picture. It’s only the difference in the boy’s shorts that stops us from being fooled into thinking that this might be a mirrored image. You can enjoy the rest of the story here 

Identical twins Taiwo Ahmed and Kehinde Ahmed pose for a picture is Igbo Ora, Oyo State, Nigeria April 4, 2019. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde 

It would of course be quite fitting to use an image of bleached skulls to illustrate the 25^th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide. Or maybe the torch lighting by heads of state, or  even any of the many images from the ceremony itself. But I think Baz Ratner’s simple silhouetted image of people arriving for the commemoration speaks volumes. An indeterminate number of unidentifiable people solemnly set against a blood-red sky seems a fitting tribute to the thousands who died. See more from the ceremony here  

Participants arrive to a night vigil during a commemoration ceremony marking the 25^th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, at the Amahoro stadium Kigali, Rwanda April 7, 2019.    REUTERS/Baz Ratner

There is no avoiding the emotive issue of what to do with the children of ISIS fighters once you have seen Ali Hashisho’s poignant picture of a tiny pair of feet belonging to a malnourished child in Syria. Such a simple picture, a globally recognisable image of innocence, these could be the feet of any child. The narrow depth of field throws the rest of the baby out of focus but we get the sense it is not sleeping comfortably. The picture begs the question, what next? Read on here

A child of an Islamic State fighter, who suffers from malnourishment, sleeps at a hospital in Hasaka, northeastern Syria April 6, 2019.   REUTERS/Ali Hashisho  

From his many terrific pictures of the demonstrations in Algeria I have selected one by Ramzi Boudina that answers the question: what does it look like when you are hit with a water cannon? It is not the most compositionally beautiful image and the white vehicles in the background are a bit of a distraction, but you get a real sense of being in the moment, which what great news photography is all about. More from Algeria here 

Police officers use water canon to disperse people protesting after parliament appointed upper house chairman Abdelkader Bensalah as interim president following the resignation of Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Algiers, Algeria April 9, 2019.   REUTERS/Ramzi Boudina