A Week in Pictures Middle East & Africa September 21, 2018

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

Week in Pictures Middle East and Africa October 1, 2017

After a short break (I have been travelling in the region) here is my weekly selection of images from the region that have caught my eye. I chose them for a variety of reasons - a captured moment, something that made me pause for thought, great design, great light or even something that simply made me smile.  These are not necessarily the top news pictures of the week but may have slipped by largely unnoticed in the tsunami of news from the region.

A quiet and timeless moment from Erbil in Iraq as Kurds vote in a referendum on independence. The muted colours of the men’s traditional dress give the feeling of a bygone age, the soft, long shadows leading you into the picture. Ahmed Jadallah caught the moment perfectly as the shadow of the man’s profile is cast exactly to where the other man is looking, trying to find a name on the voters’ list.  More pictures of the referendum here.

People look at their names on a list at a polling station during the Kurdish independence referendum in Erbil, Iraq September 25, 2017.   REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah

I found it hard to choose which picture from Dubai I like the most so I have decided to leave that to you. I am very drawn to the abstract feel of Satish Kumar’s first picture. The dark bands in the foreground seem to float up like blurry space saucers, bringing with them a ghostly train of white that leads the eye to the strange flying object. We are not given any sense of scale. Confused, we finally ask: “Is this a space-age toy?”

Men look up into the sky at the flying taxi in Dubai, United Arab Emirates September 25, 2017.   REUTERS/Satish Kumar.

The second of Satish’s images is less abstract, but has a wonderful futuristic sense to it. The cool tones and white and blue colours feel clinical, warmed only by the light on the face of the man on the left. The viewer tries to look past the men to understand the strong graphic shape of the object behind them that spins you around and around, a space-age mixture of drone and helicopter.

Dubai Crown prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (2nd R) stands infront of the flying taxi in Dubai, United Arab Emirates September 25, 2017. Satish Kumar

Bullet holes and shattered glass create a mosaic over Ammar Awad’s aftermath picture of an attack that left four dead. A slight tilt to the image ensures we know we are looking through a window. Its strong black vertical lines, for me, hint at death as the soldiers walk slowly past.

Israeli soldiers are seen through the window of a security booth damaged during a shooting attack in which a Palestinian gunman killed three Israeli guards and wounded a fourth in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West bank before he was shot dead police said, September 26, 2017.         REUTERS/Ammar Awad

I am never really a fan of military training exercises as we get so much actual conflict in the Middle East and Africa. But Suhaib’s picture of Hamas police caught my eye. A great action-packed picture, well composed in shape, tone and colour. The sheer determination on the man’s face perfectly captured as he lugs a concrete block while crawling, which I imagine is not easy. As the fires and black smoke in the background blot out the final glimmers of blue sky, the anonymous group of figures give additional menace to the picture and ultimately, to me, a film poster feel. This brings me back to my initial point and maybe this is why I personally don’t really like training pictures. Of course many others do and this is a very strong image.

Palestinian Hamas policeman takes part in a military training exercise at Hamas-run police academy in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza strip September 27, 2017.   REUTERS/Suhaib Salem   

What catches my eye more often than not is a picture that confuses me visually.  I just have to look again and again to sort it out in my mind. Ronen Zvulun does this successfully with his ‘headless’ man holding a chicken. My experience in the news business tells me that surely it should be a headless chicken, in the same vein as ‘man bites dog’. The picture looks like the man has entered a fairground hall of mirrors that distorts reflections. The feet and legs look normal, the hand seems overly large, leading the viewpoint to the chicken that is trying, in vain, to escape his clutches. As you look further into the picture you get a shock, where is the man’s head? The reds, yellows and greens in the background throw in splashes of colour to give the picture a festival warm and affectionate feel-good factor.

An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man holds a chicken as he performs the Kaparot ritual, where white chickens are slaughtered as a symbolic gesture of atonement, ahead of Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of Atonement, in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighbourhood September 27, 2017.   REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

The Ugandan parliament is debating a motion to end a constitutional limit on the President’s age.  James Akena had an overview as the debate turned into a brawl between security staff and lawmakers. A great compositional oval of green surrounds the reds and whites, drawing you in towards the face of the woman in the struggle as others join the fray. Five people were hospitalised and one quote from the hospital nearly as good as the picture: “These guys grabbed me from behind and one twisted my arm. I started to scream and another squeezed my balls.”  To see the full sequence of the punch-up click here.

Ugandan opposition lawmakers fight with plain-clothed security personnel in the parliament while protesting a proposed age limit amendment bill debate to change the constitution for the extension of the President's rule, in Kampala, Uganda, September 27, 2017.  REUTERS/James Akena

Eye contact with the photographer can often destroy the moment in a picture. In Thomas Mukoya’s picture of a student being arrested it only adds to it. The policeman has grabbed student, who is shielding himself as the baton appears to swing towards him. I think this captured moment of ‘eye to lens’ contact gives the reader a glimpse into the policeman’s mind.  What is his intent? 

Riot policemen arrest a University of Nairobi student after protests against the detention of an opposition legislator in Nairobi, Kenya September 28, 2017.   REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya  

A symmetrical composition of leading lines of the red lights and the fanned shape of the instruments held by the pilgrims in addition to the strong complimentary colours (the red and the green) build to this striking picture by Abdullah Dhiaa Al-Deen. The boy doesn't so much as look at the camera but over and through it to a distant point on the horizon. Beauty and order before the blood letting of Ashura begins. 

Shi'ite pilgrims gather ahead of Ashura, the holiest day of the Shi'ite Muslim calendar, in Kerbala, Iraq September 30, 2017.   REUTERS/Abdullah Dhiaa Al-Deen