There is no way you can look at Mohamed
Torokman’s picture without a smile appearing on your face. It’s reminiscent of
images of Olympic breaststroke swimmers coming up for air when, for a split second,
a film of water covers their faces, distorting their features. What is special
about this image is that not only can you see the boy just under water cooling
himself but you get a sense of the place with other swimmers in the background.
A Palestinian boy dips in a natural spring to cool off during
a heat wave, amid concerns about the spread of the coronavirus disease
(COVID-19), near Jericho in the Israeli-occupied West Bank May 17, 2020.
REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman
Maybe it’s the extra grip the rubber gloves
that allows the hairdresser to pull the hair a little tighter, but the slight
grimace in Mohamed Abd El Ghany’s picture lets us know that for sure it hurts a
little. I love the muted colours in this picture, the white set against the
solid black of the background, and the tiny, but all so important, fringe of
hair that is about to be clipped off.
A boy gets his
hair cut by hairdresser Youssif Hamada at his home in Cairo, amidst the global
outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Egypt, May 18, 2020.
REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
One of many from a terrific sequence of
images by Abubaker Lubowa of an arrest. What gives this one is the edge for me is
the fate of the fallen glasses that Stella is looking down at. They are beyond
rescue. What I would not give to have the arm of the glasses extended to match
the other side perfectly, but life is imperfect, so I will settle for what is
here. Read on here.
Ugandan academic
Stella Nyanzi looks at her glasses as police officers detain her for protesting
against the way that government distributes relief food and the lockdown
situation to control the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak
in Kampala, Uganda May 18, 2020. REUTERS/Abubaker Lubowa
Siphiwe Sibeko has given me a dilemma,
which I hand to you. I can’t choose which picture I like best. Do you prefer the
strong diagonals of vast queues of people that create compositional lines that stretch
to the horizons, cutting across the powerful orange and blue colours in this
first image? We are immediately grabbed by the shape and colour and left in no
doubt as to how many are in need of food handouts. Read on here.
People stand in a queue to receive food aid amid the spread
of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Itireleng informal settlement,
near Laudium suburb in Pretoria, South Africa, May 20, 2020. REUTERS/Siphiwe
Sibeko
Or do you prefer this second image? The dynamic
compositional relationship of the orange and blues bisected by lines is not as
strong, but that is countered by the powerful horizonal shapes made by the
queues of people. Secondly, we don’t quite get the same sense of just how many
people are queuing, as the queues are less defined in the background. But what
we do get is a greater understanding of the individuals waiting in line. Just
look at that woman in pink in the foreground, hands on hips as she takes a long
stride and moves slowly forward.
People stand in a queue to receive food aid amid the spread
of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Itireleng informal settlement,
near Laudium suburb in Pretoria, South Africa, May 20, 2020. REUTERS/Siphiwe
Sibeko
There is no other way to put it, Temilade Adelaja
makes you work hard to look at her picture. The centrally placed square-shaped
highlight is quite abstract. We really don’t know what it is, but the eye is
continually drawn to it and it dominates the image. We then get to see the
figure lying in the gloom, on the floor and barely lit. Finally, we see the
corrugated iron roofing and we get the sense of poverty. But this picture is
about light and not poverty and we’ve been drawn into the story so read on
here.
A beneficiary of a Salpha Energy solar panel home
installation, Recent Kodjo, lies on a wrapper in her room illuminated by a
solar-powered bulb, in Sagbo-Kodji community, amid concerns over the spread of
coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Lagos, Nigeria April 25, 2020.
REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja
Just look at the faces in Clovis Guy Siboniyo’s picture. Every single one
of these young men is looking at the
elder woman casting her vote. And just look at her expression too, determined,
dignified and strong. Great too that the highlight of her profile is captured
between the shadows on the man’s red shirt and the shadow cast by the security
lock of the ballot box or it could so easily be lost in the busy and harshly
lit picture.
A voter casts her
ballot at a polling station during the presidential, legislative and communal
council elections, under the simmering political violence and the growing
threat of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Ngozi, Burundi May 20, 2020.
REUTERS/Clovis Guy Siboniyo
I can’t help feeling that this girl got a
little more than she bargained for when she no doubt pleaded to have the bucket
of water thrown on her in Ali Hashisho’s affectionate picture. Arms spread out,
feet firmly placed and then splash, the force of the water pushing her head,
and her hair, to one side. The slow shutter speed accentuates the speed and
volume of the water. From my own experience of parenthood, if mum was watching
I am sure a telling-off would quickly be issued – but what a wonderful memory
of childhood Ali has captured.
A man throws water
on a girl playing in a pool, during a hot weather, amid concerns over the
spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Sidon, southern Lebanon May 21,
2020. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho
It’s an old visual trick, replacing a
person’s head with a shape, object or ball. Sometimes it works better than at
other times and on this occasion, I think Khaled Abdullah’s fun picture works
well. Enjoy the smile from Yemen.
A man carries his
son who holds a balloon outside a shopping mall ahead of Eid al-Fitr holiday,
amid concerns of the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Sanaa,
Yemen May 17, 2020. REUTERS/Khaled
Abdullah
Hard to socially distance when you are visually impaired
and touch is so important. Temilade Adelaja has shot a clever set of pictures
to illustrate this personal struggle. The image is exposed for the highlights
of a harsh sliver of light, and we are only able to see a fraction of what is
there. Look very hard and you see a second person, hand held for guidance. Read
on here.
Shobowale Kehinde,
28, an entertainer who is visually impaired, walks through the corridor at his church
with assistance from his friend amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
outbreak in Lagos, Nigeria May 5, 2020.
REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja
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