Middle East and Africa Pictures of the Week August 13, 2017

This is a collection of pictures that caught my eye from the Middle East and Africa this week. 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.

Rival demonstrations took place as the decision was made on whether a vote of confidence in President Zuma should be a secret ballot. Hundreds took to the streets and Mike Hutchings darted between opposing rallies. Using a long lens,  Mike filed this picture to show the number of people present, a good picture in its own right. But a crop bought the cut-out caricature image of Zuma from the background, where it was ‘hidden’ by the signs saying ‘the truth will set you free’ and ‘Woodstock’, to the foreground.

Anti-Zuma protesters, civil society groups and faith communities march against President Zuma, in Cape Town, South Africa August 7, 2017.   REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

Queues of Kenyan voters snake from left to right as they wait to cast their votes in the early morning.  I love the order of the lines, where people stand with almost equal personal space between them. But what I like most is that the order breaks down and the line meanders about. A picture of ordered calm where chaos and violence is feared.

People queue outside a polling station in Nairobi Kenya waiting to cast their vote during the national election August 8, 2017.  REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

 Showing the horror of a death during a riot is never easy. You need to show enough of the body to ensure the news is covered but not so much of the horror that it either offends viewers or removes all dignity from the victim. Thomas Mukoya’s picture of a woman reacting to a death during clashes after the Kenyan election does just that. You can almost hear the screams from her contorted face, your eye led immediately from her mouth and up from the corner of the picture along the line of the edge of the building to the slumped body on the ground. There is enough depth of field so you can see the shape of the body but not so much that the focus is on death. This picture is the reaction of the living to the sight of death.

A woman screams and gestures as she mourns the death of a protester in Mathare, In Nairobi, Kenya, August 9, 2017.   REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

Often it’s the unexpected that catches the eye. Images from the battle for Raqqa would could be expected to show monochrome destruction and violence and we have plenty of them on the wire. Zohra Bensemra’s affectionate portrait of a YPG fighter taking a selfie in a relaxed moment is an antidote to the violence. A bright yellow hat band is almost perfectly matched in colour and tone with graffiti on the wall. The reds, greens and blues, and black and white lines of graffiti dancing like an abstract painting, but that could be because I cannot read the Arabic text. What is nicest for me in this array of colour is that the young soldier is as relaxed as if she is doing a picture of her new hat at the Royal Ascot races and not in the battle torn streets of Raqqa.

A People Protection Unit (YPG) fighter takes a selfie in the old city of Raqqa, Syria August 9, 2017. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

It would be easy to think this is a still from a movie. It’s not. Mohamed Torokman’s picture is perfect in its screen-like composition, red flames and black smoke highlighting the soldier, sunlight catching his face and hands as he aims his rifle. If the solder was a little to the right or left or the flames a little lower this picture would not work. All the dark green of the uniform and black smoke would kill the shape. What can’t be seen in this picture are protesters who are hurling rocks at him during clashes at the West Bank. 

An Israeli soldier walks points his weapon toward Palestinian protesters during clashes in the West Bank village of Kofr Qadom near Nablus August 11, 2017.  REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman

Sometimes you get so pent up and angry when you are trying to make a point or get yourself understood you just want to scream. I think Afolabi Sotunde’s picture captures that very moment, a simple and direct portrait but full of emotion about to burst.

Supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari rally at the Unity Fountain in support of his Administration in Abuja, Nigeria August 11, 2017.   REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

The strength of this image is that it is almost abstract; it could be easily missed as it takes time to understand what is going on. The fact that Zohra Bensemra has taken the visual risk to transmit a picture that is so unexpected and very different, from a war zone, can only be admired. After the dark shadow on the left the first thing you see is the pink object, a water tap, itself somewhat unexpected. Then you begin to see the running water, its shadow and the stains on the wall. Soon the image that initially looked abstract takes form. 

The shadow of an internally displaced girl who fled Raqqa is cast at a water point at a camp in Ain Issa, north of Raqqa, Syria August 12, 2017.   REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

Editing the Gymnastics & Archery at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games August 12, 2016

Very much a change of pace today as the Trampoline took centre stage at the Rio Olympic Arena. The pictures take on a rather erie sense of calm as the athletes seem to fall gracefully from the skies only to be propelled up again twisting and turning. Switzerland based photographer Ruben joined Mike to help cover the competition in the gym.

Rana Nakano of Japan competes in the Trampoline Gymnastics Women's Qualification Round of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.   REUTERS/Mike Blake  

I am very drawn to this almost abstract image and it took me a while to work out why. I think I like its graceful confusion as the eye jumps around the picture with no time to pause while the athlete is timelessly suspended at the peak of their performance. The eye moves from the highlight of the feet against the black background and red of the leotard, then simultaneously out right and up and left and down to the hands that both seem to float in space, severed from the body.  The position of the hands then beckon you back into the image towards the Olympics Rings, soft in tone and focus, in contrast to the black, white and red.  The image then comes together to make sense just before the athletes twists and falls.

Ruben's picture is wonderful in its timing and design. Athlete Nicole perfectly horizontal as she falls past the Rio 2016 logo.  The judge to the far right has his head tilted slightly left to mirror the judge on the left forming a visual bracket bringing your eye into the centre of this letter box shaped picture.

Nicole Ahsinger of the USA competes in the Trampoline Gymnastics Women's Qualification Round of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.  REUTERS/Ruben Sprich

Later in the day I also edited Lucy's pictures who was shooting the heats of the 1500m, 400m and 100m at the Track and Field. No finals tonight, so relaxed and fun, the detail of the Olympic Rings earring catching my eye in the mass of flowing hair.

Rosangela Santos of Brazil wears Olympic ring earrings as she competes in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Women's Preliminary 100m Round 1 at the Olympic Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.      REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

To see more pictures from the day's action at the Rio 2016 Olympics click here

Editing the Gymnastics & Archery at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games

What you can almost be certain of as an editor is that you wont be working in the rain. That cannot be said of photographers at many Olympic events, especially those who are covering the archery.  I really like the effect the water on the lens adds to Leonhard's picture and how this changes the visual structure of what is actually quite a detailed, complex and confusing image. The rain circles draw the eye back from the storm clouds and the central flood lights to the soaked archers on the left. The reds and the white of their clothing holding the eye long enough to enable you to understand what is happening. The dark clouds top right keeping your eye to the left. I also have a sneaking suspicion that the water on the lens might also be a plea for sympathy from Leonhard - "it's raining and I am all wet". No sympathy here, done it, been there.

Robin Rameakers of Belgium and Juan Ignacio Rodriguez of Spain compete in the Men's Individual 1/16 Eliminations 

See the latest pictures from Rio 2016 Olympic Games here