A Week in Pictures Middle East and Africa May 10, 2019

Saturday saw a missile and rocket exchange across Israel and the Palestinian territories, with hundreds of missiles fired day and night. Our teams on both sides of the conflict produced a powerful file. Two images from Mohammed Salem: the first captures a missile a fraction of a second from its target, making you hold your breath as you wait for the imminent strike and blast. Read the rest of the story here.

A missile approaches its target as smoke rises during Israeli air strikes in Gaza City May 5, 2019.  REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

The second image by Mohammed Salem, which also keeps you on edge, is of a man walking across a “bridge” of crushed concrete and metal, heavily weighed down as he salvages belongings from the destroyed building. Mohammed has timed his picture so the man is frozen at the weakest point of the traverse, the dark abyss of a drop seeming to reach up to pull him down. The broken metal bars and collapsed concrete stairs look like the jaws of a mechanical Venus fly trap.

A Palestinian salvages his belongings from the rubble of his house that was destroyed by an Israeli air strike, Gaza City, May 7, 2019.   REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Trails of smoke from anti-missile systems fill the blue sky and soft clouds to make an almost abstract picture, captured by Ronen Zvulun. I wondered, would it be better without the lamp post? Use your finger to hide the dark shape, the picture immediately loses the scale and context. Remove your finger so you can see the whole image again. The lines of the missile smoke now seem even more angry – don’t they?  

Smoke trails are seen in the sky as Iron Dome anti-missile projectiles intercepts a rocket that was fired from Gaza, above the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon May 5, 2019.   REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun 

At first glance all you really see in Amir Cohen’s picture is a small green bush against a brown stone wall. You then notice the highlight of the man’s arms, crouched and covering his head, sheltering in much as the corner of the stone work as possible. The compositional line and diagonals of the wall then lead to you the figures peering out from their “corner”. The dark shape in the background presses you back into the image. You then understand these people are sheltering, frightened. The caption reveals air raid sirens are sounding and these people have been caught out in the open. They are hiding, Amir is taking pictures.   

Israelis take cover as a siren sounds warning of incoming rockets from Gaza, during cross border hostilities, in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon may 5, 2019.   REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Despite the vivid colours in the foreground and the matching T-shirts and posters there is a gentle calm surrounding Rogan Ward’s election picture in the soft morning light. Party activists are busy as they wait for voters in an empty landscape that stretches out to the far horizon. The question is, will anyone come? Read the story here

Inkatha Freedom Party agents are seen near a polling station ahead of South Africa’s parliamentary elections in the farm lands near Eshowe, South Africa May 8, 2019.   REUTERS/Rogan Ward

If you have read a few of my weekly posts you will know that I am a sucker for strong compositional patterns with obvious line and shape, but also not keen on silhouettes.  There is no getting away from the terrific fan shape created by the single central light casting shadows of the people waiting to vote.  Mike Hutchings has shot it wide enough for us to be zoomed into the picture at breakneck speed. It’s quite fun.

Voters queue to cast their ballots before polls close outside a polling station in Alexandria township in Johannesburg, South Africa, May 8, 2019.   REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

A slight tilt to Umit Bektas’ picture has created a wonderfully designed image that has a lyrical feel. You can almost hear the song and chanting as sticks are waved to the beat in the open space of the sky. If you don’t see and feel all that, then just enjoy the smiles.

Sudanese protesters shout slogans during a demonstration infront of the Defence Ministry compound in Khartoum, Sudan May 4, 2019.   REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Siphiwe Sibeko’s portrait picture is as warm in its tones as it is affectionate towards his subjects. The orange of Nobutho’s clothing is echoed in the bowl in the foreground and the cushion to the left. Both these blocks of colour are cropped off perfectly so they don’t distract you as they lead you around the image to the seated figure in the shadows, her husband, Mandla. This visual draw is accentuated by the line of shadow from the cushion to Mandla. Once there, you read the slogan on the wall. Read the rest of the story here.

Nobutho Thethani, 59, a full-time farmer, looks on next to her husband, Mandla, 61, a pensioner, at their home in Lawley township in the south of Johannesburg, South Africa, April 17, 2019.    REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

It’s now the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and in Yemen women are queuing up for charity iftar meals. Khaled Abdullah has chosen to shoot the long queue of women very wide to give the viewer to sense of scale of all those needing food as charity. What is really striking to me is the orderly nature of the queue as these people wait patiently. It has quite a sombre tone.

Yemeni women and girls queue outside a charity food distribution centre to get iftar meal during the holy month of Ramadan in Sanna, Yemen, May 8, 2019.   REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Middle East and Africa Pictures of the Week August 13, 2017

This is a collection of pictures that caught my eye from the Middle East and Africa this week. I chose them for a variety of reasons -- a captured moment, something that made me pause for thought, great design , great light or even something that simply made me smile.  These are not necessarily the top news pictures of the week but may have slipped by largely unnoticed in the tsunami of news from the region.

Rival demonstrations took place as the decision was made on whether a vote of confidence in President Zuma should be a secret ballot. Hundreds took to the streets and Mike Hutchings darted between opposing rallies. Using a long lens,  Mike filed this picture to show the number of people present, a good picture in its own right. But a crop bought the cut-out caricature image of Zuma from the background, where it was ‘hidden’ by the signs saying ‘the truth will set you free’ and ‘Woodstock’, to the foreground.

Anti-Zuma protesters, civil society groups and faith communities march against President Zuma, in Cape Town, South Africa August 7, 2017.   REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

Queues of Kenyan voters snake from left to right as they wait to cast their votes in the early morning.  I love the order of the lines, where people stand with almost equal personal space between them. But what I like most is that the order breaks down and the line meanders about. A picture of ordered calm where chaos and violence is feared.

People queue outside a polling station in Nairobi Kenya waiting to cast their vote during the national election August 8, 2017.  REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

 Showing the horror of a death during a riot is never easy. You need to show enough of the body to ensure the news is covered but not so much of the horror that it either offends viewers or removes all dignity from the victim. Thomas Mukoya’s picture of a woman reacting to a death during clashes after the Kenyan election does just that. You can almost hear the screams from her contorted face, your eye led immediately from her mouth and up from the corner of the picture along the line of the edge of the building to the slumped body on the ground. There is enough depth of field so you can see the shape of the body but not so much that the focus is on death. This picture is the reaction of the living to the sight of death.

A woman screams and gestures as she mourns the death of a protester in Mathare, In Nairobi, Kenya, August 9, 2017.   REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

Often it’s the unexpected that catches the eye. Images from the battle for Raqqa would could be expected to show monochrome destruction and violence and we have plenty of them on the wire. Zohra Bensemra’s affectionate portrait of a YPG fighter taking a selfie in a relaxed moment is an antidote to the violence. A bright yellow hat band is almost perfectly matched in colour and tone with graffiti on the wall. The reds, greens and blues, and black and white lines of graffiti dancing like an abstract painting, but that could be because I cannot read the Arabic text. What is nicest for me in this array of colour is that the young soldier is as relaxed as if she is doing a picture of her new hat at the Royal Ascot races and not in the battle torn streets of Raqqa.

A People Protection Unit (YPG) fighter takes a selfie in the old city of Raqqa, Syria August 9, 2017. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

It would be easy to think this is a still from a movie. It’s not. Mohamed Torokman’s picture is perfect in its screen-like composition, red flames and black smoke highlighting the soldier, sunlight catching his face and hands as he aims his rifle. If the solder was a little to the right or left or the flames a little lower this picture would not work. All the dark green of the uniform and black smoke would kill the shape. What can’t be seen in this picture are protesters who are hurling rocks at him during clashes at the West Bank. 

An Israeli soldier walks points his weapon toward Palestinian protesters during clashes in the West Bank village of Kofr Qadom near Nablus August 11, 2017.  REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman

Sometimes you get so pent up and angry when you are trying to make a point or get yourself understood you just want to scream. I think Afolabi Sotunde’s picture captures that very moment, a simple and direct portrait but full of emotion about to burst.

Supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari rally at the Unity Fountain in support of his Administration in Abuja, Nigeria August 11, 2017.   REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

The strength of this image is that it is almost abstract; it could be easily missed as it takes time to understand what is going on. The fact that Zohra Bensemra has taken the visual risk to transmit a picture that is so unexpected and very different, from a war zone, can only be admired. After the dark shadow on the left the first thing you see is the pink object, a water tap, itself somewhat unexpected. Then you begin to see the running water, its shadow and the stains on the wall. Soon the image that initially looked abstract takes form. 

The shadow of an internally displaced girl who fled Raqqa is cast at a water point at a camp in Ain Issa, north of Raqqa, Syria August 12, 2017.   REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

Middle East and Africa, Pictures of the Week August 6, 2017

This is a collection of pictures that caught my eye from the Middle East and Africa this week. I chose them for a variety of reasons -- a captured moment, something that made me pause for thought, great design , great light or even something that simply made me smile.  These are not necessarily the top news pictures of the week but may have slipped by largely unnoticed in the tsunami of news from the region.

A police officer opens fire at Muhammad al-Maghrabi, 41, who was convicted or raping and murdering a three-year-old girl, in Sanaa, Yemen July 31, 2017.   REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah 

We started the week with a debate about whether to show images from photographer Khaled Abdullah of an execution in Yemen. Was it legal in Yemen? Yes. Could we have intervened? No. Did it take place in a public place? Yes. Was it sensationalist? Not an easy question to answer. It clearly had news value and we believe the careful edit enabled us to show the event without sensationalising it. The moment of execution was photographed wide to show the whole scene, and the package of pictures included images of the child’s father, the gathered crowd of over 2,000 people and the prisoner being brought to his fate. Khaled described how he got access here.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish youth is reflected in a glass panel as female Jewish worshippers pray next to the Western Wall on Tisha B'Av, a day of fasting and lament, in Jerusalem's Old City August 1, 2017. REUTERS/Amir Cohen    

The beautifully observed picture by Amir Cohen of a boy reflected in a glass panel as worshippers pray next to the Western Wall in Jerusalem caught my attention. Initially the viewer is confused – what’s going on? The reflections almost make it appear that men and women are mixing here, which is not allowed, the ghostly figure of the young man walking behind praying women. Amir needed to wait for quite a while before the different elements of the picture to came together to ensure the composition was right. The change from the cold colours on the left to the warm tones on the right adding to the strong composition and yes, maybe even a sense of confusion.

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Ordinga, the presidential candidate of the National Super Alliance (NASA) party, is surrounded by supporters from the Maasai community as he arrives on top of a car to an election rally in Suswa, Kenya, August 2, 2017.  REUTERS/Baz Ratner   

Campaigning for the Kenyan election is in full swing. Baz Ratner’s picture of opposition leader Raila Odinga arriving at a rally of Maasai supporters is full of tension. The raised hands with sticks in the foreground draw the eye to the tiny figure of Odinga being driven through the crowd. The sticks and arms of the cheering crowd take you deeper into the image as they appear to rain down on the white-clad leader. You can almost taste the atmosphere as a helicopter arcs away in the background, throwing up dust. 

Yazidis attend a commemoration to mark three years since Islamic State launched what the United Nations said was a genocidal campaign against them, in Sinjar region, Iraq, August 3, 2017.    REUTERS/Suhaib Salem 

It’s often images that happen on the sidelines of a planned event that make the strongest pictures. Suhaib Salem caught an unguarded moment among Yazidis gathered in Sinjar to mark the third anniversary of what the UN has called a genocidal campaign against them by IS. There is no doubting the sombre feeling; the soft tones and colour of the even light, the visual upward pressure of the women’s hands held to their mouths and the shapes in the door in the background.

A man prepares to cast his vote at a polling station in Kigali, Rwanda, August 4, 2017.   REUTERS/Jean Biziman

Not many will know that Rwanda has just had elections, with Paul Kagame sweeping back into power with a massive majority to secure a third term. Jean Bizimana’s image capturing the determination on this voter’s face, his polling card in hand, fills this picture with “can do, will do” passion. The man’s eyes are fixed on the ballot box, the focal point of the picture, in the centre of an empty room. The coloured cloth draped carefully around a wooden structure in the background reflects the national flag and the nation’s ideology; blue, for happiness and peace, yellow, economic development, and green, hope of prosperity.

A member of Libyan forces allied with the UN-backed government looks through a pair of binoculars during a patrol to prevent Islamic State resurgence on the outskirts of Sirte, Libya, August 4, 2017.   REUTERS/Ismail Zitouny

 Clever compositional use of strong verticals and horizontals by Ismail Zitouny tricks us into thinking that the solder is standing on the tight rope of the distant horizon. But of course that makes no sense, so instead we get to experience the soldier’s view, an overwhelming sense of infinity, where desert meets sky. Our sense of isolation is only broken by the weathered sign to the right of the picture, leaving us to wonder what possible information could be written here in the deserts of Libya.

Supporters of Kenyan opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition party cheers during the final campaign rally at the Uhuru park grounds in Nairobi, Kenya August 5, 2017.            REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

Sheer energy, a big smile and a slight tilt to the camera makes Thomas Mukoya’s picture one to catch the eye. Hundreds of people are seen cheering at the last opposition rally before polling day, their hands almost embracing the Kenyan national flag. It’s never easy to keep pictures sharp when tinsel and confetti are falling down as the auto focus goes into hyper-drive searching for one thing to focus on. There is no doubt where the focus is here, on that big smile. Read more on the election here.

Esperance Sportive players walk during play against Al Faisaly during the Arab Club Championship final in Cairo Egypt, August 6, 2017.   REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Esperance Sportive players celebrate with the trophy after beating Al Faisaly in the Arab Club Championship final in Cairo Egypt, August 6, 2017.   REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

The final of the Arab Cup Championship in Egypt was a rollercoaster of emotion.  Esperance Sportive, who played Al Faisaly in a tense match that went into extra time, look almost choreographed in the first picture by Amr Abdallah Dalsh. The position of the players’ feet, the almost even spaces between the figures opening for a glimpse of Al Faisaly’s number 7 in the background, give the composition a dance-like feel, but the tension in their faces make the dance a grim affair. The second image is full of joy, celebration and relief as the trophy is lifted.