When I got my first full-time job as a photographer
with a small news agency, I was told by my boss: “If you shoot a ‘thumbs-up’
picture or a ‘points at something picture’ I will fire you on the spot. We are
better than that.” Sound advice but rules are for breaking, so with these words
of wisdom ringing in my ears I select Hamad I Mohammed’s wonderfully happy
picture of a beaming woman giving a thumbs-up as she drives her car off the
forecourt just after midnight on the first day that women were allowed to drive
in Saudi Arabia. You can see more picture here
A Saudi woman celebrates as she drives her car in her neighborhood in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, June 24, 2018. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
A simple gesture from the woman who sits behind a sleeping child has an overwhelming sense of futility. The child sleeps on, resting on what we assume is all that remains of her possessions. Khaled Abdullah created this sense of hopelessness by leaving an over-exposed and empty space that fills over half the frame. It says: “What future for these people? Who knows?” The answer is in the picture itself. Follow the story here
A woman displaced by the fighting in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah reacts as she waits to be registered at an IDP registration centre in Sanaa, Yemen June 27, 2018. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
A simple gesture from the woman who sits behind a sleeping child has an overwhelming sense of futility. The child sleeps on, resting on what we assume is all that remains of her possessions. Khaled Abdullah created this sense of hopelessness by leaving an over-exposed and empty space that fills over half the frame. It says: “What future for these people? Who knows?” The answer is in the picture itself.
Cranes are seen at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen June 24, 2018. REUTERS/Abduljabbar Zeyad
Again creeping off my turf and onto Russian soil, I could not help but include Jason Caimduff’s emotional picture of dejected soccer star Mohamed Saleh. It never ceases to amaze me how much passion and energy these sportsmen display right up until the final whistle, believing until that moment they can still win no matter what the score. When the whistle blows the losers are are crushed. To judge from Mohamed’s disappointed face, highlighted against the clean green background, he just can’t believe it, he doesn’t know what to do. So he grabs his shorts and pulls them up as far as they will go. Now, like all great athletes, he will no doubt get back to training, get his head (and his shorts) straight, focusing on the next match, ready to enrich millions of (Egyptian) fans’ lives with his skills. See the highlight pictures from the game here.
Egypt’s Mohamed Saleh looks dejected after their Group A World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in the Volgograd stadium, Volgograd, Russia June 25, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Caimduff
There is something gentle and calm in the visual frenzy of Zohra Bensemra’s picture of the Old Town of Jeddah. Maybe it’s the way your eye is slowly drawn from the chaos of the red bunting, the yellow road barriers, the ramshackle balconies and the whirring aircon units to the beautifully crisp white robes of the man on the phone. Whatever it is that gives this image its calm, I love this eye-of-the-storm composition.
A Saudi man walks through the old town of Jeddah Saudi Arabia June 22, 2018. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
Virtually all colour is drained from Thomas Mukoya’s back-lit picture that looks like a scene from the apocalypse, the four horsemen dismounted. We are sucked into the centre of the breathless picture by a clever series of compositional U’s that lead us from the top of the frame into the centre just above the police helmets. The centre is marked with a small red part of the policeman’s weapon to finally catch the eye.
Riot police stand at the smoldering scene of the fire that gutted a timber dealership in Gikomba market and nearly homes in central Nairobi, Kenya. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya
One can only begin to
imagine what is going through the mind of the girl in Omar Sanadiki’s picture.
Her blank stare seems to pass right through the viewer as she maybe thinks of an
uncertain and distant future. What I really like about this picture is how Omar
has not only exposed for the shadow detail of the girl, leaving the soldiers in
the background to bleach out, but used a shallow depth of field, adding to the
feeling that maybe this journey is fading into the past in the girls mind.
A Syrian refugee girl who left Lebanon looks through a window as she arrives in Qalamoun, Syria June 28, 2018. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki
On the other side of the Lebanese Syrian border, Mohamed Azakir photographed the chaos of families try to leave. People crammed into overloaded vehicles with all they own, children and grandparents squeezed onto the truck almost as an afterthought. At first, I thought it was a shame that the top of the mattresses were cropped off but then I decided that this crop, which might have been unintentional, actually adds to the cramped feeling of the picture. Maybe it needs an even tighter crop? You can read the developing story here
Syrian refugees prepare to return to Syria from the Lebanese border town of Arsal, Lebanon, June 28, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
I can’t hide my disappointment that Senegal are out of the World Cup and I can’t explain to myself why I really hoped they'd do well. Maybe it was the effort the fans would put into getting a glimpse of the game, a passion highlighted by Mikal McAlister’s picture. All they had to do was draw but sadly, for me, they lost 1-0. See highlight pictures from the match here.
People climb into a tree in Dakar Senegal to watch the Senegal v Colombia Group H World Cup match June 28, 2018. REUTERS/Mikal McAllister
A Saudi woman celebrates as she drives her car in her neighborhood in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, June 24, 2018. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
A simple gesture from the woman who sits behind a sleeping child has an overwhelming sense of futility. The child sleeps on, resting on what we assume is all that remains of her possessions. Khaled Abdullah created this sense of hopelessness by leaving an over-exposed and empty space that fills over half the frame. It says: “What future for these people? Who knows?” The answer is in the picture itself. Follow the story here
A woman displaced by the fighting in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah reacts as she waits to be registered at an IDP registration centre in Sanaa, Yemen June 27, 2018. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
A simple gesture from the woman who sits behind a sleeping child has an overwhelming sense of futility. The child sleeps on, resting on what we assume is all that remains of her possessions. Khaled Abdullah created this sense of hopelessness by leaving an over-exposed and empty space that fills over half the frame. It says: “What future for these people? Who knows?” The answer is in the picture itself.
Cranes are seen at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen June 24, 2018. REUTERS/Abduljabbar Zeyad
Again creeping off my turf and onto Russian soil, I could not help but include Jason Caimduff’s emotional picture of dejected soccer star Mohamed Saleh. It never ceases to amaze me how much passion and energy these sportsmen display right up until the final whistle, believing until that moment they can still win no matter what the score. When the whistle blows the losers are are crushed. To judge from Mohamed’s disappointed face, highlighted against the clean green background, he just can’t believe it, he doesn’t know what to do. So he grabs his shorts and pulls them up as far as they will go. Now, like all great athletes, he will no doubt get back to training, get his head (and his shorts) straight, focusing on the next match, ready to enrich millions of (Egyptian) fans’ lives with his skills. See the highlight pictures from the game here.
Egypt’s Mohamed Saleh looks dejected after their Group A World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in the Volgograd stadium, Volgograd, Russia June 25, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Caimduff
There is something gentle and calm in the visual frenzy of Zohra Bensemra’s picture of the Old Town of Jeddah. Maybe it’s the way your eye is slowly drawn from the chaos of the red bunting, the yellow road barriers, the ramshackle balconies and the whirring aircon units to the beautifully crisp white robes of the man on the phone. Whatever it is that gives this image its calm, I love this eye-of-the-storm composition.
A Saudi man walks through the old town of Jeddah Saudi Arabia June 22, 2018. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
National leaders
dancing and smiling during peace talks provide a warm image shot by Mohamed
Nureldin Abdallah. I suspect that Mohamed was happy to capture all three main
parties in one image, especially managing to keep the pointing fingers and
hands in the top of the frame What I also like about this are the dashes of red
and purple in the leaders ties and the flag set against white with a bright
yellow background. All very cheerful.
Sudan’s President Omar Al-Bashir joins
South Sudan’s President Salva kiir and South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar in
a dance during a peace meeting as part of talks to negotiate an end to a civil
war that broke out in 2013, in Khartoum, Sudan June 25, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
Virtually all colour is drained from Thomas Mukoya’s back-lit picture that looks like a scene from the apocalypse, the four horsemen dismounted. We are sucked into the centre of the breathless picture by a clever series of compositional U’s that lead us from the top of the frame into the centre just above the police helmets. The centre is marked with a small red part of the policeman’s weapon to finally catch the eye.
Riot police stand at the smoldering scene of the fire that gutted a timber dealership in Gikomba market and nearly homes in central Nairobi, Kenya. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya
A Syrian refugee girl who left Lebanon looks through a window as she arrives in Qalamoun, Syria June 28, 2018. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki
On the other side of the Lebanese Syrian border, Mohamed Azakir photographed the chaos of families try to leave. People crammed into overloaded vehicles with all they own, children and grandparents squeezed onto the truck almost as an afterthought. At first, I thought it was a shame that the top of the mattresses were cropped off but then I decided that this crop, which might have been unintentional, actually adds to the cramped feeling of the picture. Maybe it needs an even tighter crop? You can read the developing story here
Syrian refugees prepare to return to Syria from the Lebanese border town of Arsal, Lebanon, June 28, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
I can’t hide my disappointment that Senegal are out of the World Cup and I can’t explain to myself why I really hoped they'd do well. Maybe it was the effort the fans would put into getting a glimpse of the game, a passion highlighted by Mikal McAlister’s picture. All they had to do was draw but sadly, for me, they lost 1-0. See highlight pictures from the match here.
People climb into a tree in Dakar Senegal to watch the Senegal v Colombia Group H World Cup match June 28, 2018. REUTERS/Mikal McAllister
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