Conflict and protest

This is a very dramatic frame that speaks of environmental disaster, but also has a pleasing aesthetic. I 'like' the darkness of the moment, it's tone and the almost abstract quality of the image. I like the bisection of the frame by the water, and I also 'like' the smoke plume and its reflection in the oil/water. The tracks also lead the viewer 'into' the picture in a very direct way. A disturbing combination of landscape and conflict. This is a strong image.

I like this. It's a really bold colourful statement and a brave angle to take to use a banner for pretty much the whole of the frame. Demonstrations are often very tedious and to make an interesting image the last place you often need to be is at the front looking backwards at the same faces and placards. Sometimes you need to look for the unexpected and also moments that actually make strong photographs. This image has a pretty good stab at that. Brave and unexpected composition. Well done.

It's a nice idea, because of the shape of the instrument and the crowd behind. There is a picture here, but a different viewpoint (from below, from above. a reflection?) might have isolated the action better. It's such a shame as the curves of the brass contrast nicely with the straight lines of the walls and buildings. Be careful of sharpness though - it's not quite there. Overall, it's a good effort in that the photographer has sensed that there's a potential picture, it's just a case of realising the right viewpoint.

Despite the fact that I know what I'm looking at - the Highway of Death in Kuwait - I'm struggling to find a picture here. It's the right situation, but one must try and keep a calm head and give the viewer something to look at. One has to try and make visual order out of chaos in a photograph. Ken Jarecke's famous image from the same scene made a very gruesome image, but despite its disturbing nature, made sense in that it humanised the destruction by placing a charred corpse centre frame.

This is impactful and does exactly what it's meant to - isolate the protest in one gesture. In one sense it's an easy frame because the face is dead centre and there's clearly a bit of vignetting for effect, but for all that, it's a solid image. I can see that it's been cropped and I always like people to capture in-camera, but in situations like this when things are moving fast, it works. Black and white helps direct the eye towards the face and simplify the image even more.

This is a good,unexpected moment seen and captured. There's often humour within protest and I like that the photographer has incorporated it as just one element into the photograph, including the crowd and the indication of authority. The main figure bisects the frame right down the middle and that works for me. Be careful, however, of the limitations of exposure, and I wonder if a lower angle might have proved even more dramatic and arresting (no pun intended), but overall a good attempt.

I really like this. Although the frame is not perfect, the photographer has captured a 'little' moment - the glance between the protester and the police. Trying to shoot this kind of work it's as important to have subtle images as well as action pictures. And in fact, this glance says more than violence or banner-waiving. A tighter framing might have helped to focus the viewer and lose some of the extraneous details, but this is a good effort nevertheless.

I like this image in spite of two things - firstly the protester making a 'V' sign and secondly the over-processed look of the sky. A decent exposure would have ensured detail in the sky and some in the figures. BUT what I do like is the strong graphic of the traffic sign that brutally cuts the frame in a diagonal. It echoes the idea of protest. The photographer has ignored the temptation to shoot this straight-on. In fact, the composition could have been even bolder - losing the tree detail to the right - but that said, it's a good frame.

Protest is often theatrical and here is no exception. It's good that the photographer is relatively close to the action and he's caught an interesting moment/gesture, but photography and composition is about the interplay between background and foreground. The frame is too loose and messy. Either we need to see the protester from behind the police lines or maybe we need to see the police from the demonstrator's point of view. It's good that we've spotted an interesting situation, but that's just the start of the process of making an impactful image.

This is clearly quite an old frame, but one that says 'protest' and 'news' very well. The photographer has isolated an incident and with the victim's raised hand has elevated a beating to something more - a narrative of brutality. The man's hand echoes the officer's hand - both signalling that the lathi charge should stop. The more you look, the more you see each policeman's face in contrast to their victim. An instinctive shot, taken at speed - a strong image.

This frame certainly has a good deal going for it in terms of anger, but in a strange way it's too tight. And although I can tell that it's shot through a line of riot police's helmets, it's neither a portrait nor a great reportage image. Either we have a clear head that's shouting or we need to see more of the background. It's good that the photographer has focused on the fury of the demonstrator, but it's an obvious angle too. Sometimes if the subject can't move then we have to. We have to make the uninteresting interesting by how we frame what's in front of us.

What I like about this is the threat of menace that is indicated but not shown. We have clues to the fires and smoke and we have a balaclava'ed figure in the foreground coming through an opening in a barricade. This could have been emphasised by a lower shooting angle that might have lost some of the distracting background of figures milling around, whilst retaining the threatening atmosphere. In a situation like this you have to have your exposure down too - chances are that you're not going to get second chances and sadly the shadows have been lost. That said, it's a strong frame under pressure.

A high contrast treatment with a strongly graphical composition. I'm not mad on the blown highlights, but I do like the directness of the photographer's gaze and also that he's framed the main figure well. An intimidating reflection in the sunglasses and the curve of the drum add an interesting compositional element to an ordinary march. I like that there's a depth to this frame in that the figure seems to lead a column behind him and it's good for the photographer for getting close.

This is a strong composition and the eye is drawn straight to the child between the gaps in the signage. I like the strong graphic, but I wonder whether if the photographer had placed the figure to one side it would have made me work harder to unravel the frame and made a better picture? Nevertheless, I like that it's a quiet moment in a protest, and the child's coloured jacket is a good contrast to the greys and browns of her surrounding.

I really like this. It's a very simple graphic and all the significant lines are vertical, from the door frames to the sign and the upraised arm of the child. If I have one criticism it's that the figure to the left is a minor distraction, but I suspect that this is a moment on a march passing through a street as part of a crowd. I like the symbolism of the child and protest, and I like the banner's almost sign-like quality that points out of frame. The picture's simplicity is its strength and it has a message without screaming it.

This is a good moment well isolated. Protest like this is all about the push-and-shove and this works because it captures that. It's not iconic but it is well taken. It's close but not overly so on a 50mm lens, and it's a reaction shot that's stayed sharp enough to make a recognisable moment. I'd have liked to have seen the pushed man's other hand, but sometimes in circumstances like this you get what you get and his head is fortuitously away from the graphic on the sign.

I really like this frame. It's not an obvious protest picture - and that's a very good thing. I like that the photographer has chosen to make a considered image about light that just happens to have an element of protest in it. Ironically, it's rather calming for all that. I very much like that it breaks the rule 'never photograph into the sun' and that the light beams radiate either side of the viewer. A strong composition. Smoke (or tear gas) makes for interesting images and they don't always have to have riot police running through them. I also like that the frame is bisected by the tree shadow and that gives an extra element.

I like the idea of this, but it's not quite there. What I like is that the photographer has tried to choose an interesting angle - in this case from above - utilising the shapes of the stairs and the architecture. It's a very good idea, but it's very difficult to work out that this is a strike from the frame. Photography is a direct medium and although one has to be as creative as possible, this kind of photography has to be 'read' and sadly, despite the effort, it hasn't worked. But it's an interesting failure and that's important.

I quite like the abstract feel of this image, but for me it lacks a punch - it's neither one thing nor another. It's not quite a graphic abstract of hands and neither is it a crowd shot. Perhaps by focusing in on the hands - maybe from lower down to isolate them against the signage - the photographer might have made a more impactful image. Or perhaps the photographer might have shot upwards (maybe with a flash) against the night sky? A good idea that's nearly there, but not quite.

This is a dynamic action shot, and in situations like this a difficult and potentially dangerous one to take. It's close and engaged in the moment, catching the event as it unfolds. When things are moving fast, there has to be a trade-off between a perfect composition and capturing what you see unfolding in front of you swiftly and effectively. This image does a pretty decent job of both. We get the sense of what is about to happen and our eye is led to the missile about to be thrown. Luck or judgement (or both) has put a previous impact mark on the window centre frame and that aids composition pretty well in that the frame feels somehow balanced. A good effort.