Photojournalism

It's always interesting when seeing photographs capturing riots and demos, to see the classic stand-off between protester and police. In this case the lone demonstrator coming up against a wall of steel shields and helmets; all faceless - to represent the all-powerful state. But here, what's visually striking to the viewer is the one policeman turning around menacingly and eyeballng the protester straight back, almost nose-to-nose as you see the whites of his eyes. A great shot.

I love this image!. it can be seen on so many levels. A commentary on urban life; children alone in the big adult world; or just a lovely urban night time tableau to hang on an art gallery wall. All the elements are wonderfully arranged - the montage of bright neon signs, cars, lamps and traffic lights that make up the big city, hang above the two central figures in this scene which are the two kids holding one another's hands as they descend into the bottom of the frame, picked out by the bright staircase. The smaller child clutching onto her oversized teddy bear completes the photograph's strong character. A gorgeous image!

I love the intelligence of this photograph. The way the photographer has depicted people in adverse situations whilst making the best of what little they have in life. In this case, it's a person holding onto his dignity in the face of his homelessness by making life be as domestic and as mundane and "normal" as the rest of us. Reading a book in bed with a coffee and a bedside lamp next to him, ignoring the fact that he is actually lying out in the open by the roadside. Both a sad image, but at the same time a funny, offbeat one because of the surreal juxtapositions. The fact that he is also reading a book showing the clean, beautiful natural world whilst lying next to parked cars makes it have real pathos. A lovely image tinged with sadness but also like all good photojournalism, it is showing us the reality of how people in adverse socio-economic conditions live their everyday lives. Congratulations on a well constructed image that both informs and interprets.

This is a great image that works on both the emotional and informative level when trying to depict an event that has already happened, but has had a lasting legacy. In this case it is telling us about a huge tragedy that befell the people of Bangladesh when a garment factory collapsed killing most of it's workers who were living and working in terrible and unsafe conditions that it's owners ignored until it was too late. To show this, the photographer has made sure to give scale and context to the photograph by placing (or capturing) a person from the affected community on top of the pile of bricks and masonry that was once the factory. The contemplative figure in a bright red shirt against a blue sky is easily picked out, whilst the photographer has also made sure to show the other remaining buildings dotting the landscape around him in the background which results in a well composed iconic image.

This is a shocking and dramatic image. The photographer has done what all news photographers strive to do, which is to give their dramatic news photo an iconic quality -giving it something that goes beyond what has just happened. In a perfectly composed photo, the photographer has managed to show us; in this heart-rendering image, everything we need to know about how humans and the way they live are harming the natural world; not only polluting it with huge amounts of waste - seen here taken from above, (with a wide angle lens), but also how it's killing it's natural fauna. In the centre of the picture is the curled up, body of an elephant laying on it's side in the last throws of life having been poisoned by all the waste that surrounds it. In the background above, we see a greener natural world crowded out of the frame by all the piles of plastic and human rubbish that the elephant has resorted to eating because it's natural habitat is disappearing. A very dramatic, sad and ultimately iconic image of our times. A worthy winner.

A wonderfully evocative image that tells us about the way of life of a community and the issues they face. The photographer has captured a scene taken from above head hight, to give us an idea of the scale and of the type of landscape. A dry, arid region full of dust kicked up by hundreds of precious long horn cattle overseen by pastoralists in South Sudan who carry guns in order to protect their lively hood in a part of the world that has seen a lot of conflict over the past 20 years and more. The monochrome feel to the photo adds to the atmosphere and the herdsman seen to the right of the picture is nicely stood out emerging from the clouds of dust with his AK47 slung over his shoulder. The forest of horns in the dust disappearing from view as your eye looks up into the background. A well composed atmospheric shot that also educates and informs us. well done.

When trying to capture the emotion, chaos and drama of civil upheavals, it's good to focus on individuals and individual happenings within the crowds of police and demonstrators; as in this case. The photographer has captured on a long lens, the arrest of a woman; with a terrified expression on her face as she is grabbed hold of by the police. The power of the image is enhanced by the fact that it is using a narrow depth of field to isolate the central figure in the drama, whilst keeping her the only human face you see within the frame, as she faces the overwhelming force of the state's security apparatus. A powerful news photograph. Congratulations!

As an editorial photographer who's been sent on many assignments to cover extreme weather stories that a newspaper can use as a strong "stand alone" image that they often want to use across a whole page or more; i know how challenging that can be. The image not only has to be dramatic in content, it also has to be visually striking. But if it can also be quirky, or say something a bit more offbeat, then it becomes memorable. This photograph has it all!. - "Stop snowing please" indeed!. The way the road sign in the middle of the frame just about pokes it's head out from under the huge snowdrift to plea "Stop", is wonderful. And all around are layers going through the photograph from front to back, of pure white sherbet snow; with human civilisation (houses and telephone lines) almost swallowed up in the clear, sunny aftermath of a Canadian snowstorm. Brilliant

This image has a wonderfully eerie feel. almost like a Gregory Crewdson photograph, with it's enigmatic night time scene enhanced by the sophisticated lighting across the whole image. The three emergency workers enveloped in a little cloud of green as a torch lights the bush that surrounds them. The softer blue light hitting the side of the building to the right; the ochre red of the road running across the frame underpinned by the interesting texture of both the grass and the brown telegraph pole that cuts the image from top to bottom. Is that glow of red at the top from a street lamp?. We also see the lights from a nearby town glow in the night sky to the top left of the picture. And of course, the beam of light is arrowed onto what the whole scene is about - a fallen telegraph pole that might be too dangerous to get close to. All in all a very well composed, interestingly lit image that has a narrative that we are not quite sure of. Congratulations!

Sometimes in showing social issues that are in the news, it can be just as powerful if you concentrate on individual elements within the scene/happening; such as in this case, where a murder has just happened. The photographer has focused on a blood stain in the dirt; presumably from the victim, with his/her hat and shoes lying nearby. A shocking and emotive photograph that becomes very effective in explaining violence, with out actually showing it.

This is a really powerful photograph for both the reason of the subject matter as well as the way it is shot. When doing photojournalism, one has not just record and capture, but also to interpret. The sensitive subject of Albino children and how they can be marginalised or ostracised by the wider community is shown here in a visually striking and sophisticated way, even though it's probably in the context of a simple everyday school playground scene where nothing controversial is happening. But here we see the photographer choosing his/her moment to capture gestures and body positioning to explain a social issue - the Albino children here surrounded within the frame, both by great lighting as well as great composition to make them look more vunerable - The one Albino child looking down to one side, whilst the other "hides" behind him looking the other way. The element of layering of the all the subjects within the frame as well as their positioning adds to the visual power of this photograph. Surrounding them is The blurred, out of focus non-Albino children looming and filling the edges of the frame in the foreground also adds to the overall quality of this image. The textures and colours and strong light in this photograph are also very effective. A great image worthy of being part of a photo essay in a top quality magazine or newspaper. Congratulations.

Although the photographer has shown us very little about is going on, it's such a striking image because of it's combination of composition and lighting. Full of menace and foreboding, as the crowd in what is clearly in stand-off mode, stands in the middle of a road to form some kind of road-block. Are they confronting the police and their search-light?, or another set of protesters and their parked cars?.. The image and it's visual tension is held together by the figure in the centre of the image silhouetted by the one main source of light; his legs and that of his companions form strong lines that lead into the bottom foreground, giving it a strong graphic quality. all this is happening at night with very little else illuminated except for the road and the bushes along it's edges. A really striking image that gives us a narrative that is all about tension and confrontation. Very well thought out and constructed!.

A classic riot photograph where the photographer has captured the moment a protester has been jumped on by several police as they give chase (the police running across the top of the frame to give the picture more context). But in this case the image becomes more striking because the photographer has managed to capture the protester on the ground raising his head up to scream defiance into the air, giving the image an emotive quality too. A great shot, well done.

Wow, what a cinematic image this is!. Dramatic in it's content and lighting. Epic in it's scale. we have the sea of flags and demonstrators alongside the sea itself. And every iconic photograph usually has a focal point on which our eyes are drawn towards. In this case the lone silhouetted figures standing on the ancient columns displaying dramatic gestures of defiance that are directed towards the military helicopter above them in the fiery evening sky. A brilliant image that stays in the memory because it uses all the essential ingredients of all the best photographs. congratulations on a truly great news image that captures an important time in the history of the middle east.

Such an interesting image!. Mainly because it's showing a culture and the way people go about practising it in a very visual way. Not focusing on individuals or even groups of individuals, but in the largest scale possible as to render it abstract. Using a drone to capture a mass prayer meeting from hundreds of meters above, the photographer has shown us thousands of colourfully dressed worshippers as a patchwork of tiny little coloured dots all arranged perfectly, as they all bow in prayer together. A wonderful image!.