A Week in Pictures, Middle East and Africa, September 28, 2018

It's not often I get to add a fighting picture that is from a sports event to my weekly roundup from the region so adding this terrific boxing picture by Andrew Couldridge. A great action picture as both boxers seem to have the upper hand at the same moment, it's full of power, strength and determination. You can see both boxers faces, the landed punches and the spray of sweat from the blows to the heads all perfectly framed in an X composition. 

George Groves and Callum Smith exchange punches during their World Boxing Super Series Super-Middleweight Title fight at the King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia September 28, 2018.   Action Images via REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge

On the face of it there is nothing to see on the Israeli-Egyptian border: it’s a militarized zone in the desert, after all. Amir Cohen thought differently and produced not one but two terrific images. In the first, the border fence winds its way to the horizon like a giant snake moving dangerously in the sand. Your eye is led from the bottom right corner, through the barren valleys and hills up to the top and centre of the picture, and freedom from the menace.      

A general view shows the border fence between Israel and Egypt in southern Israel September 26, 2018.    REUTERS/Amir Cohen

In Amir’s second picture, a hint of humour created by the smiles on the faces of the soldiers eases the tension in his series of images from the border. I can’t help smiling too when I imagine the look on the soldiers’ faces when the day’s duties are assigned. Not too much to distract you from this empty position in the desert. And are those hand grenades on the concrete block or water bottles? You can see the whole series of pictures here  

Israeli soldiers stand guard in an area at the Israeli side of the Israel-Egypt border in southern Israel September 26, 2018.     REUTERS/Amir Cohen

I am a sucker for bold shapes, colours and strong lines that are broken with a focal point that draws the eye, and Omar Sanadiki’s picture delivers on all these fronts. I like the irregular pattern of the windows, pushing back against compositional instinct that might demand that you centre it, leaving equal shapes left and right. I like too, the red of the flag that matches exactly the colour of the train and the fact that it leads you to the smiling faces in the window. Would I straighten up the red line that tilts slightly? Well yes, I would, but now I am nit-picking. You can see the whole story here.

Boys wave as they look out of a train window at a railway station in Damascus, Syria September 7, 2018.   REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki

Alaa al-Marjani has produced a picture that makes you want to count off, one, two, three, next! as the boys line up to dive into the water. The soft warm light on the rusting platform and the boys’ bodies counter the oily appearance of the water. It’s only as you read on that you discover that you are right to think there is something not quite right about that water, and it is indeed badly polluted. Read on here.

Iraqi boys take turned to dive in the Shatt al-Arab river in Basra, Iraq September 9, 2018. Some Basra residents claim that salt water seeping into the water supply has made it undrinkable and made hundreds sick.   REUTERS/Alaa al-Marjani

A simple but well-observed picture by Ammar Awad is very pleasing to the eye. We are gently led into the picture by the shapes in the foreground toward the figure by the Western Wall. The cool, crisp lines and texture of the shawls contrast with the warmth of the stones, adding to the calm feel of this image.  

A Jewish worshipper holds up his mobile phone as others, covered in prayer shawls, take part in a priestly blessing during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot at the western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City September 26, 2018.    REUTERS/Ammar Awad

It’s the determined look in the eye of the cadet that gives Mohammed Salem’s image its strength. The picture captures the frantic flurry of arms, elbows and feet kicking up sand, but all you can look at is that fixed and focused eye. So much so that it takes a while before you get around to noticing the open mouth and silent scream of the cadet on the left.

Palestinian cadets crawl as they demonstrate their skills at a police college run by the Hamas-led interior ministry, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza strip, September 26, 2018.   REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

I can’t help thinking of the sophisticated composition techniques used in spaghetti western films by Sergio Leone when looking at this picture by Jackson Niehia. The use of  a very bold tightly cropped figure or shape in the foreground and the action, small in the background, has allowed Jackson to hint at the number of deaths without actually showing bodies. You can see the full and tragic story here.

Tanzanian police and rescuers transport bodies of passengers retrieved after a ferry MV Nyerere overturned off the shores of Ukara Island in Lake Victoria, Tanzania September 22, 2018.   REUTERS/Jackson Niehia

Mohammed Salem’s demonstration picture is a classic news picture, full of powerful action. A single figure gesturing and holding the flag of her cause, surrounded by smoke and flames. In pure commercial terms, it can be used as a horizontal or cropped to a vertical. It looks easy to take but it is not. 

A woman waves a Palestinian flag during a protest calling for lifting the Israeli blockade on Gaza and demanding the right to return to their homeland, at the Israel-Gaza border fence east of Gaza City September 28, 2018.   REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Beautiful light and the X-shaped composition in Thaier al-Sudani’s landscape picture make this a town I want to pack my bags and travel to immediately. Who can resist the warmth of the evening light, the sounds of the call to prayer from the mosque, the clear air and blue skies of Akra. To shoot a landscape picture that arouses this need for travel is truly an art.  

A general view of the Kurdish town of Akra, Iraq September 26, 2018.   REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani 

A Week in Pictures Middle East & Africa March 9, 2018

By the look on the faces of the people on the edges of in Olivia Acland’s picture, they are
all thinking about the conversation between the two central figures must have had before
attending the election rally. “I’ve got a good idea. Let’s get naked except for our
underwear and long coloured socks, paint our bodies white and red and go to the rally.” It
seems that no-one else got the mail with the dress code in it. A wonderful bizarre moment
and all respect from me for the individuality on display.

Supporters of the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) party arrive to attend a rally ahead of the March 7 presidential election in Makeni, Sierra Leone March 5, 2018. REUTERS/Olivia Acland

Mohamed Abd El Ghany captures a protesting soccer fan in mid-stride, holding a flare aloft and looking like an Olympic torch bearer. What I really like about this picture is the clean design. Yes, it could be said that he got lucky: there are no other people to complicate the scene, the background figures seem to run along with him, and the curl of smoke is perfect. What is important is that the figure is at full stretch with his arms raised. You need to be both lucky and good to capture this.

An Egypt's Al Ahly fan shouts slogans against the Interior Ministry whilst running with a flare during the Al Ahly v Gabon's CF Mounana CAF African Champions League match in Cairo, Egypt, March 6, 2018.  REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany 

Photographer Bassam Khabieh is trapped in Douma, eastern Ghouta, and when he considers it safe enough he files pictures of the latest news. Today, a Syrian Arab Red Crescent aid relief convoy arrived with much-needed emergency supplies.  What to me is so striking about this picture is the sombre mood. All colour is drained from the image, even the reds of the crescent logos. There are no crowds, no children, just trucks being watched moving slowly through destroyed buildings. 

Civil defence members sit amid the rubble as they watch an aid convoy of Syrian Arab Red Crescent driving through the besieged town of Douma, Eastern Ghouta, Damascus, Syria March 5, 2018. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh

I can’t help feeling a little sad at the size of the task facing the soldier clearing mines in Aziz El Yaakoubi’s picture. The flat, featureless landscape seems to stretch to infinity. This space, and the danger of the task, have been cleverly accentuated by the heavy crop of the second soldier, who wisely seems to be keeping well away 

A member of the UAE armed forces secures an area while searching for landmines in Al-Mokha, Yemen March 6, 2018. Picture taken March 6, 2018. Reuters/ Aziz El Yaakoubi

What makes Anne Mimault’s picture a pick for the week is the powerful graphic shape of the man digging a grave in a fog of yellow dust that seems to be reaching up to choke the onlookers. The man on the left is casually looking back at the hard work being carried out, while at the same time the shape of his body frames the image.

People take part in a burial ceremony of the armed forces members who were killed during Friday's attack by Islamist militants in the capital Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso March 7, 2018. REUTERS/Anne Mimault

The strong shadows in Hayam Adel’s dark portrait cut across the picture in a complex abstract composition and almost hide Esraa from view. The sombre mood echoes Egypt’s struggle to end FGM. The full, powerful story published on International Women’s Day can be seen here

Esraa Salah, 15, poses for a photograph outside her home in Alwasata village of Assiut Governorate, south of Cairo, Egypt, February 8, 2018. Picture taken February 8, 2018. REUTERS/Hayam Adel

An affectionate picture by Faisal al-Nasser, taken early on International Women’s Day in Saudi Arabia. I can’t help but wonder what is going through the man’s mind as a group of women jog past his shop. The back story here is that Faisal took over this assignment from our Saudi Arabian woman photographer, Reem Baeshen, who was sick and whom we wish well. I have added a second picture by Faisal as I love its simplicity.  The light catches three key elements: the lower left quarter of the woman’s smiling face, the determined hand gripping the steering wheel, and the rear-view mirror. A full selection of picture from IWD from around the world can be seen here

Women run during an event marking International Women's Day in Old Jeddah, Saudi Arabia March 8, 2018. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser

A Saudi woman sits in a car during a driving training at a university in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia March 7, 2018. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser

It takes a while to make visual sense of Mohamed al-Sayaghi’s picture. Your eye darts about, looking at the splashes of colour, the blue sky and then the yellow, red and orange in the foreground. Your eye then settles on the destroyed building and finally on the three women struggling across the rubble with their water containers.

People carry water tanks as they walk at the site of damage after a Saudi-led air strike, north of Yemen's capital Sanaa, March 8, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi