No social distancing here as people crowd in to get free soup in Suhaib Salem’s picture. I get a sense of ripples on a still pond that has been disturbed by a single stone being thrown into it. The ladle is in the centre where the people are closest and the ripples form tight circles. As you look to the edges of the frame, the people are more widely spaced and the ripples get wider. Make sense?
Palestinians gather to get soup offered for free during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, amid concerns about the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Gaza City, April 26, 2020. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem
People recite the Quran at the grand Mosque amid concerns over the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Sanaa, Yemen April 26, 2020. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Just a gentle and thoughtful image from Khaled Abdullah. Even though it is shot quite wide, giving you the feel of what it would be like to worship inside this crowded mosque, you are transfixed by the size of the Quran the man is reading.
Is the anger in Mohamed Azakir’s picture dissipated by the mask or does it add to the menace? At first glance it looks quite confrontational, the raised the hand, the leaning in eye contact and much gym activity apparent from the tattooed arm. But look closely at the eyes, are they not raising a question and almost pleading to make a point? Look too at the contact between the man and the soldier, although they are touching, it’s just fingers from the protester and just enough pressure from the soldier to keep to him away. Remove the mask and we would see his mouth, and probably get a completely different feel about this confrontation. Read on here.
If you let your imagination run away with you, Zohra Bensemra seems to have captured a wonderful, mystical and many-limbed two-headed creature thrashing around in the sands of Senegal. Just sit back to take a moment and enjoy the shape, light, composition and action of this delightful feature picture. Read on here.
Lit by neon lights, Raneen Sawafta’s picture is quite striking in its glow. There is of course always a temptation to colour adjust from what we see to what we know. That aside, what I like most about Raneen’s image are the dark shadows of the figure set against the highlight in the background, the subtle tilt to the whole frame and the catchlight on the drum, drumstick and face mask.
A small crop to Muhammad Hamed’s picture makes quite a shift in the focal point and the sense of the image. In the first image below the focus and importance of the image is about the moon alongside a mosque. In the second uncropped image the focal point is the King Hussein Bin Talal Mosque with a moon next to it. Which do you like best?
The joy on a child’s face when they see an enormous birthday cake and sparklers is universal and that joy is captured by Alaa al-Marjani. What is also captured is the cake decoration of a Dettol bottle, a coronavirus model, an icing face mask and is that a hint of a practical joker’s smile on the woman’s face? A birthday never to be forgotten, for sure.
The glow of blue and white neon lights, orange and yellow flames and silhouetted figures set against strong black vertical and horizontal lines all make for a very eye-catching image. What gives Ali Hashisho’s picture the edge for me is the skulking figure on the righthand side of the image. He looks to me to be the most dangerous person in this scene. Read on here.
Muhammad Hamed’s is a well-seen portrait of a man who obviously takes great pride in his appearance and who is determined to take care of himself by wearing a mask against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). It is also a well-timed image because Muhammed has waited for the man to be in full light and exposed for the highlights so the background falls into shadow. Any background distraction would take your eyes away from the details of every hair in his beard and the neatness of his headdress.
There’s a new hair fashion in town, ‘the coronavirus’. What is intended as a lighter and more upbeat picture by Thomas Mukoya has a slightly bitter-sweet feel to me. The intention is obvious, a hairdresser shapes women’s hair to represent the coronavirus for a little fun, and it works well – that is the sweet part. To show the hair from all sides the girl is photographed from behind; but her body language, as she looks out of the window, says to me that she longs to be able to go outside to run and play at any time like she used to. That’s the bitter part. I sense that Thomas spotted this thoughtful moment as the girl, who is experiencing daily lockdown and curfew, looked longingly out of the window, maybe thinking about the time when she could go out when she wanted. Maybe I am again letting my imagination get the better of me and she is just looking out of the window and Thomas decided to shoot her dark hair against the highlight of the window. But I doubt it as that would make no sense for this type of fun and controlled shoot. Either way it’s a great picture that got me thinking. Read on here.
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