Anger flares in Mussa Qawasma’s picture
that has a feeling of being bad tempered, hot and sweaty. A strong oval and diagonal
composition created by the helmets and position of the arms draws us into the
centre of the image. The strong sunlight catches the sweat on the face of the
man who is held back by his friends as he confronts the Israeli forces.
I’ve selected Mohamed Abd Al-Ghany’s
football celebration for no better reason that it’s just fun and a lovely
shape. The players look like a well-rehearsed dance troupe coming on stage for
the opening of a show. Do they practice these moves? Who knows? But whatever they do it works, it’s
fun and makes a great lighthearted picture.
Deeper and deeper and deeper you are drawn
into Umit Bektas’ picture of the boy posing for a picture, through the U-shaped
curve of the camel’s neck, past the armed soldiers to the people on camels in
the distance. The clean skyline ensures we are not distracted by any visual
noise.
Okay nit-pick time, how much on a scale of
1-10 do you think Baz Ratner would like the foot of the soldier in the centre
of the picture not be to be covered by the soldier in the foreground? I am
prepared to bet about 9. It’s almost as if the soldier is looking down at the
offending appendage in this otherwise perfectly balanced image.
Often the most
eye-catching subject is an object out of context, a boat on a roof or a car in
a swimming pool. An upside-down tank in a stream also fits this category,
especially when it is photographed with a slow exposure so the water blurs to
give it a rather mystical and dreamlike feel.
Ronen Zvulun’s picture is part of a series of pictures titled “Land Scars”, that documents sites, buildings and objects that all form
part of the long history of conflict and failed peace processes in the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The series has taken weeks to shoot and was
published to mark the start of the Bahrain Workshop, the latest attempt to
break the deadlock.You can read on here.
There is no escaping the strong symmetrical
shape to Tiksa Negri’s funeral picture. The rope holding the coffin and the
compositional lines created by the people lowering the coffin form almost
perfect diagonals that lead your eye from the corners of the frame to the
grave. It gives the image a strangely serene feeling, but take a moment to look
at the struggle, pushing and shoving that is taking place on the outer reaches
of the image, nothing serene there. Now consider the effort it must have taken
Tiksa to get into the position to shoot this perfectly shaped image.
A cold, lonely and painful image by Ismail
Zitouny from Libya created by the blues of the wall, the cold white light and a
complex, busy composition. Your eye wanders around the messy image trying to
make sense of the tubes, cables, a confusing vertical shape and a slight tilt to
the horizontal lines all of which add to your sense of unease. It’s then that
you spot the injured solder, laid out flat, alone and bloodied on what looks
like a very uncomfortable bed. A second soldier, goes almost unnoticed on the
bed on wheels but at least he has a slightly thicker mattress to lay
on.
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