A Week in Pictures Middle East & Africa January 26, 2018

A chaotic mess of a picture by Kenny Katombe that keeps on rewarding you the more you look, not unlike a Pieter Bruegel painting from the 16^th century.  The policeman walking behind the calm but submissive priest looks like he’s holding his breath. People in the middle distance fall to the ground to take cover, except for the single protester who appears to be glaring defiantly at where the tear gas came from. People behind the tear gas cloud run in panic, while the police to the left of the picture seem unconcerned as they watch the scene unfold. 

Riot police fire tear gas to disperse Catholic Priests and demonstrators during a protest against President Kabila, organised by the Catholic Church in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo January 21, 2018.   REUTERS/Kenny Katombe

Uniformed men, aggressively chanting and shouting, always slightly disturb me, especially when they are all holding weapons. Rodi Said’s picture gives me an even stronger feeling of unease. In its composition, the picture is very busy and at the same time strangely ordered, with a regular pattern of hands, faces and rifles slowly drawing you to the face of the man shouting, the line of his mouth echoed by his cap. Maybe I feel uneasy because his face is so young and I wonder if he really understands what he could be facing in the coming days on the Syrian-Turkish border once all the chanting is done with.

Fighters from the self-defence forces of the Kurdish-led north hold their weapons during a rally in Hasaka, northeastern Syria January 23, 2018.   REUTERS/Rodi Said 

Cold, damp, miserable and muddy, the mood is set in Khalil Ashawi’s rather ugly-shaped picture as FSA soldiers on the Turkish-Syrian border slowly emerge from a foggy landscape. All colour is drained from this picture, the composition and the focus are on the soldiers in the background, and this accentuates the sense of confusion and uncertainty.

Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army fighters walk together near Mount Barsaya, north of Afrin, Syria January 23, 2018.    REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Mohammed Salem’s portrait of a Palestinian protester is one of a series that you can see here on the Wider Image. The reason I have selected this image is rather complex. Even though he is masked, using a sling and standing in a smoke-filled landscape at the scene of clashes, there is no anger coming from the picture. It has a very different mood from the angry images we see from the weekly clashes, and that is probably because it is posed. In this portrait, as in all good portraits, we have time to study and learn about the subject. But its real strength comes when we look at it in the context of the other portraits in the series and read people’s individual reasons for protesting.  The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I feel that I get a better understanding of their motivation and a very strong sense of the frustration and anger. 

A Palestinian protester holds a sling as he poses for a photograph at the scene of clashes with Israeli troops near the border with Israel, west of Gaza City, January 19, 2018. “What I can do to stop Trump’s decision on Jerusalem is to use this sling to hurl stones at Israeli soldiers with heavy weapons,” he said. “My dream is to see all Arabs and Muslims united in one battle t restore out holy land.” REUTERS/Mohammed Salem 

Ammar Awad’s picture selects itself this week. Who can resist the simple silhouetted shape of a man wearing a hat, carrying a stick and a bag, set in the monochromatic frame of an old city street, especially when the only colour in the picture is a line of yellow lights that guide you straight to the figure.  

A man walks past closed shops as Palestinian political parties call for a general strike protesting the visit of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence in Jerusalem and the U.S recognition as Israel’s capital, in Jerusalem’s old city January 23, 2018.   REUTERS/Ammar Awad

What I like about Amr Abdullah Dalsh’s picture after a news conference is that there are so many expressions of emotion on the various faces. We see sadness, disappointment, anger, frustration, a wry smile and a look of support. Even the posters on the walls get in on the act, along with the consoling hands holding Khaled Ali’s arm.    

Supporters of Egypt’s Presidential candidate Khaled Ali react after a news conference where he announced that he is withdrawing from the presidential race in Cairo, Egypt.   REUTERS/Amr Abdullah Dalsh

The school run is very different in many places but its still a school run. I really like Alaa al-Faqir’s affectionate picture as to me it offers a glimmer of hope. Even through the children are walking past war damage rubble they still getting pleasure from jumping into and over puddles on the way to school. I think a universal pleasure when you are young. I really like the zigzag shapes that draws you into the picture from the child hiding behind their bag to the gaggle of people in the background.

Students run past rubble of damaged buildings in a rebel-held area in the city of Deraa, Syria January 25, 2018.   REUTERS/Alaa al-Faqir

And just for my love of the use of complimentary colours in pictures, captured moments in strong shapes I could not resist adding Satish Kumar’s picture of marathon runners in Dubai pre-dawn. What attracts me most is the strong triangular composition, the light directly behind the leader’s head and the kick of the heels in unison. I think an image that rewarded Satish for their early start.

Athletes compete during the Dubai Marathon in Dubai, UAE, January 26, 2018.   REUTERS/Satish Kumar



  

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