A Week in Pictures Middle East & Africa, May 25, 2018

There is no escaping the beauty of simple and strong composition of Amr Abdullah Dalsh’s picture. The tiny, silhouetted figures are dwarfed in front of the symmetrical structure, the strong light seems to dazzle, and makes me want to blink. It grabs you like a scene from an epic Spielberg film.

Egyptian Muslims perform evening prayers called ‘Tarawih’ inside Al Sultan Hassan mosque during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in the old Islamic area of Cairo, Egypt May 20, 2018. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh 

I admit it is a slightly bizarre choice to include Siphiwe Sibeko’s picture of cabbages being farmed. But take a minute to really look. Although the cabbages are bagged up it at first appears that the man sitting on top of the cabbages is perilously high on his unstable seat, what could possible go wrong? Next, I love the complementary reds and greens that vie for attention as they drive your eye around this picture. You quickly end up looking at the sign. The designer started off boldly only to discover, probably around the letter ‘T’, that if they carried on as they’d started they would not be able to fit the word ‘property’ into the sign. Lastly, is that a G or an upside down 5? This picture is being used to illustrate the complex story of a legal test of the constitution on land expropriation which you can read here

Farm workers harvest cabbages at a farm in Eikenhof, near Johannesburg, South Africa, May 21, 2018.   REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

Omar Sanadiki’s beautifully lit picture seems to deliver mixed messages. You feel the pleasant warmth of the sun on the man’s face as he poses for a picture showing the V for victory sign with his hand. But his face is expressionless, cold, his mouth and eyes say nothing, and his hand is dirty with ash and grime, as are all his clothes. He sits in an environment of total destruction. Although we can never be certain what he is thinking I can guess that it is not thoughts of triumph.  

A man gestures as he sits on the rubble of damaged buildings in al-Hajar al-Aswad, Syria May 21, 2018.   REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki

Omar Sanadiki’s picture of people moving through the rubble of destroyed buildings is not so different from Amr’s picture of the faithful at the mosque, at least in its visual structure. People are dwarfed in a landscape, and even though one image is taken at night and the other by day, the colours are similar. If you rotate one of the images through 180 degrees you will find the same the strong compositional U shape. All that aside, Omar’s image is one of relentless destruction, the figures leading you from the foreground to as far away as the eye can see. More pictures here .

Soldiers walk past damaged buildings in Yarmouk Palestinian camp in Damascus, Syria May 22, 2018.   REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki

I am amazed at the order of Khaled Abdullah’s zigzag picture, not only in terms of its visual composition, but by the order of the people waiting in line for food handouts. They must be hungry, hot, a little frightened and no doubt tired. I have also chosen a second image from the same scene, as I was struck how this large line of people made such an impact on the landscape, and that so many are in need of help. The order, in both senses in Khaled’s powerful pictures, highlights to me the scale of the problem these people are facing. 

Women and girls queue outside a charity food distribution centre to get the iftar meal during the holy month of Ramadan in Sanaa, Yemen, May 22, 2018.   REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Women and girls queue outside a charity food distribution centre to get the iftar meal during the holy month of Ramadan in Sanaa, Yemen, May 22, 2018.   REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

The question that pops into my mind when looking at Essam al-Sudani’s picture is how can anything actually live in these conditions and why, as an investor, would you bet money on its survival? On the face of it nothing could grow. A yellow sandstorm as far as the eye can see is only punctuated by wind battered saplings as if in a scene plucked from a post-apocalyptic science fiction film. Maybe this is why I am not a successful investor?

Palm trees belonging to Kuwaiti investor Abdul-Aziz al-Babtain are seen near the port city of Basra, Iraq May 11, 2018.   REUTERS/Essam al-Sudani

Amr Abdullah Dalsh’s picture is, it must be said, a bit of a cliché, but one I kept coming back to. It’s fun, and it has caaptured a good moment. I do wish there was no water across the boy’s face, but I do like his scrunched up features and the ‘crown’ of water. So here it is, I hope you enjoy a quiet smile, like me.

An Egyptian boy jumps into the water to cool off in hot and humid weather during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Cairo, Egypt May 23, 2018.   REUTERS/Amr Abdullah Dalsh

A Week in Pictures Middle East & Africa March 16, 2018

I have included two pictures from Omar Sanadiki as they have thrown up a conflict in my mind. Is the picture of the sleeping baby in the suitcase too ‘cute’ to portray what is going on in Syria? Or does it humanise a situation that many have become visually numb to, to the extent that you can just gloss over pictures like the one of people fleeing seen below. The latest pictures from Ghouta here.

A child sleeps in a bag in the village of Beit Sawa, eastern Ghouta, Syria March 15, 2018.   REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki 

People walk with their belongings as they flee the rebel-held town of Hammouriyeh, in the village of Beit Sawa, eastern Ghouta, Syria March 15, 2018.   REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki

Khalil Ashawi’s picture of fighters walking up a road gives me the real sense of the growing advance of the army. I think this is achieved by the gradual growing in scale of the troops spaced along the road, from small figures in the distance to larger ones in the foreground. The curve of the road on the horizon leads the eye to trees that are planted in such a way that it also gives me a sense of more military reserves. See more from the battle for Afrin here

Turkish backed Free Syrian Army fighters walk together in the north east of Afrin, Syria March 16, 2018.   REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Mohamed Torokman’s picture is perfectly timed; the swing of the sling at full stretch, the swirl of tear gas surrounds the protestor leaving just enough of a clear view for us to see his profiled face, his eyes firmly fixed on the target. This all captured in a good example of classic thirds composition.

A Palestinian demonstrator returns a tear gas canister fired by Israeli troops during clashes at a protest against Trump’s decision on Jerusalem, near Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank March 16, 2018.  REUTERS/Mohamed Torokman

The cold, quiet expression on the faces of the children in Bassam Khabieh’s picture really haunts me. Maybe it’s the mixture of the reflections in the dirty glass which slightly distort their features, the distant look in the eyes of the children, left and right, or my attention being held by the stare by the girl in the middle.

Children look through a bus window during evacuation from the besieged town of Douma, Eastern Ghouta, in Damascus, Syria march 13, 2018.   REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh

A slightly surreal vision of a man driving sheep through destroyed streets,  photographed by Bassam Khabieh, caught my eye this week. It’s a quiet image, but a scene that I’d expect to see in the countryside and not in the rubble of a war-torn town.  

A man walks with a herd of sheep in the besieged town of Douma, Eastern Ghouta, in Damascus, Syria March 11, 2018.   REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh 

Okay, another secret is out. I do like cricket and like good pictures of cricket even more. Mike Hutchings’ image of batsman AB de Villiers attacking the ball is full of tension. Everything is just about to happen, the whole image is moving from left to right. De Villiers’ foot is just an inch off the ground, his arms and legs are in classic action forming strong triangles, and all eyes on the ball as the bat is swung to drive it away. Mike has chosen his place to sit carefully as the background is clean, highlighting the action. 

South Africa’s AB de Villiers in action during the Second test again against Australia in St George’s park, Port Elizabeth, South Africa march 12, 2018.   REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

Like an Aladdin’s cave of treasure I am drawn into Mohamed Abd El Ghany’s wonderfully busy, noisy, hot, glittering picture of a market in Cairo. You can smell the spices and feel the heat of the night and crush of people. Your eye darts about, looking for a place to settle, without finding a single focal point. Just like in busy markets anywhere is the world, you don’t know where to look next. 

People shop at Al Ataba, a popular market in central Cairo, Egypt, march 13, 2018.   REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

These boys are using tablets to learn, although perhaps not what Steve Jobs would have liked them to use. I hope that you enjoy Ayman al-Sahili’s warm and affectionate picture as much as I do. Not only is it a well-composed picture, I just love all those triangle shapes, it conveys a warm sense of boys having fun and learning.  

Boys use large wooden plants as they memorize Islam’s holy Koran in Misrata, Libya March 13, 2018.  REUTERS/Ayman al-Sahili

I think the pelican is a strange-looking bird. So take a pelican from its natural habitat at the water’s edge to a poor housing area. Add to the scene a boy playing with it and another playing a flute-like instrument only just encroaching into the left hand side of the frame. Throw in splashes of primary colour, red yellow and blue. And, as a final element add photographer Zohra Bensemra and her magical ability to capture moments and you end up with a beautiful and intriguing picture.

A boy plays with pelican in Yoff commune in Dakar, Senegal, March 14, 2018. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

Sheer joy sums up what I feel about Olivia Acland’s picture. What creates this joy? To me it’s the man’s face is alight with expression and highlighted detail; perfect white teeth and catch light in his eyes, cheeks and chin line with a background of a sea of hands going up in celebration. 

People gesture as they show their support for the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) Party outside the party’s headquarters in Freetown, Sierra Leone, March 13, 2018.  REUTERS/Olivia Acland