Stark and bleached of
almost all colour, Siphiwe Sibeko’s picture of a decomposing elephant is a
depressing image. It takes a while to work out what you are looking at, but
once you see the dead beast there is no splash or colour or visual distraction
to enable you to look away. Maybe not being able to look away is what makes
this picture so powerful. Read on here.
An aerial photograph shows the carcass of a
dead elephant, one of 87 that have been discovered by conservationists, in the
Mababe area in Botswana, September 19, 2018.
REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko
In this week’s edit I
include a picture by Newton Nambwaya that makes me fear for the safety of the
demonstrator. I suppose it takes courage, or maybe naivety, to make a pretend
gun and take it to a protest against a government whose police and soldiers are
only too well armed. The more I think about it the more I worry about it: at a glance,
or even a longer look, it still looks like a real gun.
Supporters of Ugandan musician turned politician
Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, chant slogans outside his home after
he arrived from the U.S in Kampala, Uganda September 20, 2018. REUTERS/Newton
Namwaya
Ashura can allow photographers to shoot
gratuitous pictures of blood-letting. Ali Hashisho has managed in his picture
to strike a balance between showing what happens during the religious ceremony
- people observing it cut and beat themselves - while not falling into the trap
of looking for the most blood or the biggest knife. What interests me is that
you first notice the highlight of the man’s eye within the red of the picture
before you see the fine spray of blood against a dark background as he beats
his forehead.
A Lebanese Shi’ite Muslim man beats his
head after he was cut on his forehead with a razor during a religious procession
to mark Ashura in Nabatiyeh town, southern Lebanon September 20, 2018. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho
A very clever composition by Ronen Zvulun
(and a lucky reflection) turns what could be a very dull picture of a leader
sitting in a train into a striking portrait. Ronen uses the red reverse L-shaped
space to crush all the action of the picture into a busy third of the image. In
that third we are rewarded with the glare of white lights, a reversed clock and
deep shadows that allow us to settle on Netanyahu’s face. Does it matter that we
really can’t see Katz’s face? I don’t think so. What we get is a strong sense
of speed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits
next to Israel’s Transportation and Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz during a
test-run of the new high-speed train between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, at the
Yitzhak Navon Railway Station in Jerusalem September 20, 2018. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Okay I give in. I tried to resist Ammar
Awad’s silhouette picture, but it’s so beautiful in its sweeping curved
composition with the almost touching shapes of the hats that I have to include
it. It needs no extra explanation, so just enjoy.
Jewish worshippers take part in the
Tashlich ritual on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, ahead of Yom Kippur, the
Jewish day of Atonement in Herzliya, Israel, September 17, 2018. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Luc Gnago’s picture is a quiet picture.
Admittedly, looking at the colour and beauty of the woman’s dress in the
foreground you might disagree. But take some time and look at the number of
people with brooms and think about the position of their legs and feet. They
are all positioned in the classic V and so well placed around the picture that you
will find yourself quite deep in the image, led around it by the angle of their
brooms and the position of their legs.
Volunteers clean a street of Treichville
during the world clean-up day in Abidjan, Ivory Coast September 15, 2018. REUTERS/Luc Gnago
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