A Week in Pictures Middle East & Africa January 13, 2018

There is no ignoring the powerful pictures from Ghouta, Syria, by Bassam Khabeih. I have included two images; one of a man who at first appears to be helping to move rubble, before you realise that it’s actually him who is being helped because he is trapped waist-deep in debris. Bassam followed up on his story that you can see here. The second image is just so sad it hardly needs any explanation. Set against a backdrop of impersonal blue-and-brown metal, the light falls on the weeping woman, your eyes drawn to her mouth pressed against the blue cloth that covers her dead child. See the whole story here

A man is trapped under debris at a site after an airstrike in the Saqba area, in the eastern Damascus suburb of Ghouta Syria, January 9, 2018.   REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh

Heba Amouri, mourns as she holds the body of her two-year-old son, Emir al-Bash at a medical centre in the besieged town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria January 8, 2018.    REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh

Tiksa Negeri’s picture is wonderfully composed and lit. The pilgrims, who appear to be buried in their own thoughts of prayer, move around the central figure drawing you deeper into the image to finally settle on the lines on the face. There is no mistaking the strong feeling of piety on the face of the pilgrim caught in the candle light. I get a real sense of peace and calm looking at this, so thank you Tiksa for a moment’s peace.

Ethiopian Orthodox pilgrims attend Christmas Eve celebration in Bete Mariam (House of Mary) monolithic Orthodox Church in Laibela, Ethiopia, January 6, 2018. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri

Amir Cohen’s picture of children having fun reminded me of the picture by photojournalist Eugene Smith of his children running through the woods. I love the compositional balance and shapes, and think you can almost hear the echoes of the children’s feet from the tunnel. You can see Eugene Smith’s picture here if you want to compare. 

Children run inside a public bomb shelter in the southern city of Sderot, close to the Israeli border with the Gaza strip, January 8, 2018.   REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Some pictures attract my attention because they are a little bizarre and raise more questions than they answer. Ammar Awad’s gentle image of a boy standing on a horse, shot as part of a Wider Image story on the relationship between people and their horses,  is one such picture. Why would you stand on the saddle? There seems to be no other answer except that it might be a fun thing to do just because you can. You can see the rest of Ammar’s Wider Image story here

Palestinian teenager Mohammad Gharabli stands on his horse in East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Beit Hanina, November 10, 2017.  REUTERS/Ammar Awad

The expectation at military parades and ceremonies is that all things will be in order. Thaier Al-Sudani has shot a very busy and messy picture that breaks with this preconceived idea as the men relax, hug and kiss each other in shows of affection and respect at the end of the ceremony. The tangle of blue uniforms, arms, white gloves and red stripes highlighted against a clean blue background, gives me a feeling of a semi abstract painting. You have to visually pick your way through the swirling chaos to find a semblance of order, a face, a hand and a rifle.   

Iraqi officers react at their graduation ceremony during Iraqi Army Day anniversary celebrations in Baghdad, Iraq January 6, 2018.   REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

A first glance Reem Baeshen’s picture may appear rather stiff and formal, but to me it has an air of something slightly out of the ordinary or even a sense of pensive expectation. Of course I could be reading too much into this because I know that this is the first motor show solely dedicated for women in Saudi Arabia, after King Salman ordered an end to the ban on women drivers. Knowing this makes it a rather exciting image to illustrate a ground-breaking change in policy. Read on here 

Saudi women are seen at the first automotive showroom solely dedicated for women in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, January 11, 2018.  REUTERS/Reem Baeshen

This is a simple picture of a brutal looking truck, dented, dirty, its headlamps and windscreen missing. So why pick it?  Afolabi Sotunde has captured the grim faces of dozens of people crowded on top as it goes in a convoy along a dusty road. Its load? Some of the bodies of 73 people killed by Fulani herdsmen in clashes over land. Read on here

People are seen on a truck carrying the coffins of people killed by Fulani herdsmen, in Makurdi, Nigeria January 11, 2018.   REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

A Week in Pictures, Middle East & Africa, January 5, 2018

A happy New Year to you. I will continue to share my thoughts in 2018 on some pictures from the Middle East and Africa that have caught my eye. They may not be from the top news stories in the region but they would have caught my eye for some reason or another. You may agree or disagree with what I see in these images and the reasons I chose to highlight them but these thoughts are my personal view. At the very least I hope you enjoy the pictures that may have been missed in tsunami of images from a very busy news region.

I could not let the week go by without highlighting Maheder Haileselassie’s beautifully composed and balanced picture taken on the 5^th January but moved now. I just love the zigzag of the tops of the building against the blue skies and the way shadows cast on the warm toned walls of the building take your eye to the robed monk striding from the church. And, although it’s a bit late, I’ve added two additional images from Lalibela taken by Tiksa Negeri for you to enjoy too.

A monk walks out of Bete Giyorgis Church ( St. George’s Church) that is considered to be one of the eleven rock-hewn churches in Lalibela, Ethiopia January 5, 2018.  REUTERS/Maheder Haileselassie 

Ethiopian Orthodox pilgrims walk within a monolithic Orthodox church ahead of Ethiopian Christmas in Lalibela, Ethiopia January 5, 2018.  REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri

Ethiopian Orthodox pilgrims attend a prayer session at the monolithic Orthodox church ahead of Ethiopian Christmas in Lalibela, Ethiopia January 6, 2018.  REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri

A simple backdrop for a portrait series by Afolabi Sotunde makes for a gentle and affectionate visual journey. It is beautiful in its rough and ready feel, and I get a real sense of the personalities of the people we meet, who barter goods in their refugee camp. I don’t think we’d get this feeling of closeness if the backdrop and lighting were uniform. Maybe you disagree, but look here on the Wider Image for the whole story and make up your own mind.

Aisha Umaru Gaye holds up a pumpkin at the Bakasi IDP, Maiduguri, Nigeria November 22, 2017.   REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

All the compositional lines in this image direct you towards the face of dead protester Mosab al-Tamimi in Mohamad Torokman’s funeral picture. The bird’s-eye view creates a feeling of falling into the image, your eyes crash into the youthful face and the yellow flower placed by his cheek. The mourners fan out from the body as it is carried from the arched building. Slowly your eyes come back to the portrait that rests on a Palestinian flag, a face circled by a pink and orange wreath. I cannot escape a feeling of sadness at this loss of a young life.

Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Mosab al-Tamimi during his funeral near the West bank city of Ramallah, January 4, 2018.   REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman

A clean black background, a bright red, white and blue flag, great human shapes and a strong back light all come together in a special moment for Thierry Gouegnon during election celebrations in Liberia. The curve of the flag, frozen before it envelopes the figure reaching up in celebration, brings the viewer’s eye from the rear of the picture forward to the sweat-covered man celebrating in the heat of the night. 

Supporters of George Weah, former soccer player and presidential candidate for the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC), celebrate after the announcement of the presidential election results in Monrovia, Liberia, December 28, 2017.  REUTERS/Thierry Gouegnon

In very much the same vein as Thierry’s image above, I love the bright colours against a black night sky in Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah’s Independence Day celebration picture. The focal point of the picture, the blue robes of President Al Bashir, is squeezed into the frame by the reds in the foreground, demanding that you look at him. If you give yourself time while you look at the back of the picture, you will be rewarded by the playful sight of dancers and musicians entertaining the guests. Such a busy and bright picture.

Sudan’s President Omar Al Bashir arrives to address the nation during the 62^nd anniversary Independence Day at the Palace in Khartoum, Sudan December 31, 2017.    REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdullah

 A fleeting moment of strong light and action is captured in perfect combination by Ammar Awad as children play in the evening light. The only horizontals in a composition of strong diagonals are the outstretched arms of the boys, who seem to be in a race against the visual left-to-right sweep of the sunlit wall and the clouds in the sky. The dark foreground echoes the lines of the track and the wall, adding emphasis to the diagonals. 

Children roll tyres as they run alongside the Israeli barrier in East Jerusalem refugee camp of Shuafat, January 3, 2018.   REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Drained of virtually all colour, Bassam Khabieh’s picture of destruction in Misraba stands out in monochromatic starkness. Your eye goes quickly to the small figure walking on the rubble, the only real recognisable shape until you are slowly drawn out to see the remains of a crushed vehicle.  

A boy walks on rubble of damaged buildings after an airstrike on the Eastern Ghouta town of Misraba, Syria, January 4, 2018.   REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh  

Instagram - A Platform For Professionals?

Two amazing pictures showed up on my screen over the past few days. The first was from Myanmar, where a Rohingya Muslim woman was pictured holding her malnourished twins. The second captured a deadly explosion in Iraq. 

Both were sent out to our clients on our newswire, and I decided to share them on social media. First I posted them to Twitter, with links to Reuters.com slideshows and our Wider Image website. The people who follow us on Twitter know what to expect – breaking news pictures from around the globe including some images that are quite brutal. 

Then I went to Instagram. I paused. Over the last few months, Reuters Instagram account has increased its following to almost 50,000. Each picture gets an average of over 1,000 likes and the numbers are growing. 

We don’t force crop our pictures into squares and we never use the filters – what you see is an image just as it was moved to the wire, un-manipulated. 

Displaced Rohingya woman Norbagoun carries her severely malnourished 25-day-old twins in her lap in their house at the Dar Paing camp for internally displaced people in Sittwe, Rakhine state, April 24, 2014. Restrictions on international aid have exacerbated a growing health crisis among stateless Muslim Rohingya in west Myanmar. In February, Myanmar's government expelled the main aid group providing health to more than half a million Rohingya, Medecins Sans Frontieres-Holland (MSF-H), after the organisation said it had treated people believed to have been victims of violence in southern Maungdaw township in January. The United Nations says at least 40 Rohingya were killed there by Buddhist Rakhine villagers. The government denies any killings occurred. An attack in March on NGO and U.N. offices by a Rakhine mob led to the withdrawal of other groups providing healthcare and other essential aid to another 140,000 Rohingya living in camps.  REUTERS/Minzayar

We are continually told that Instagram is the platform of the future for picture-sharing and news photography. It’s a space Reuters need to be in.  

So why my hesitancy? Who would want to “like” a picture of malnourished children? No one, I assume. Yet purely in terms of beauty of photography, emotion and content it’s a very powerful news picture. 

But is Instagram a platform for this? The second picture is an exclusive image of a deadly blast, captured with full force. It shows the very moment that several people were killed and many injured. Again, what to “like”? 

An explosion is seen during a car bomb attack at a Shi'ite political organisation's rally in Baghdad, April 25, 2014. A series of explosions killed 18 people at a Shi'ite political organisation's rally in Iraq on Friday, police and medical sources said. The militant group, Asaib Ahl Haq (League of the Righteous), introduced its candidates for elections on April 30 at the rally in eastern Baghdad. Three bombs exploded in succession as people were leaving, Reuters reporters at the scene said. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani 

Followers can comment right under the picture. Would there be an outcry and accusations of insensitivity at posting a picture of suffering children? Or would groups, who blame the Myanmar authorities for the health crisis among Rohingya Muslims – which the state denies – say the image was meant to advocate their cause? 

Would supporters of militants who exploded the bombs at the Shi’ite political rally write comments applauding the image and enraging those who suffered from the attack, who would be appalled that the image had even been posted? 

Every good news picture evokes debate and opinion. The more followers an Instagram account gets, the more diverse the commentary normally becomes. Nothing goes unchallenged or fails to raise the hackles of one group or another. 

One might think a picture from Ireland of a sheep that had been dyed pink to support a cycle race would be fun and harmless enough (it got 1046 “likes”). The comments ranged from clapping hands, smilies and “Mood for a pink outfit anyone?” to “People who do this to animals should be SHOT. Most dyes are not safe for them”.

The only pictures that don’t seem to upset people are silhouettes. So maybe we should just ignore everyone and post whatever represents the best of the file? But the point is to gain followers not lose them. Would someone interested in world news like to see cute pandas; or would our “panda followers” be horrified by pictures of children with malnutrition or bomb blasts in Iraq? 

I have to admit I enjoy posting Reuters pictures to Instagram; I get the buzz of instant gratification from “likes” and positive comments. Also, I tip my hat the very small group of photographers who have carved out a niche for themselves using Instagram to promote their work (I believe these photographers are so good that they could make great pix using a pin-hole camera). The platform has given joy to millions of amateurs using their phones to post pictures.   

But we are paid professionals and I am beginning to struggle with the question: “what is the actual value of Instagram for professional news photographers?” Likes cannot not, as yet, be converted into dollars so how will they fund the business now or in the future? 

So another question: is the platform best left to the amateurs, to enjoy filter-enhanced sunsets, rainbows, street scenes, lovers, pets and families or is this really the new, professional platform of the future? 

Last question “Would you ‘like’ a picture of malnourished babies in Myanmar?” 

If don’t give a damn about “likes” and just want to read the story and see the pictures, click here