Our Take on Your Take

A woman in white

This week’s Your View highlight comes from Abdul Ramdzhani, who photographed a Muslim woman dressed in white praying at a mosque where the walls were of the same color.  The deftness in which the photographer highlights the woman’s face amongst the white makes for an intriguing photo.

View this week’s Your View showcase here.

Protest in Azerbaijan

News is always happening around the world.  However, due to resource limitations, news organizations aren’t always able to cover everything.  But with the advent of citizen journalism, ordinary people can step in and help fill the gaps, whether it’s in countries that have been heavy in the news like Iran, or ones not quite on the radar like this photo in Azerbaijan.

Your View contributor Abbas Atilay captured a dramatic moment during a protest for free parliament elections in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, a country located in the Caucus mountains region in Asia.  There is determination both in the face of the protester and in the faces of the police who’re arresting him.

View this week’s Your View slideshow here.

Chaos in the streets

A pro-government protester lies on the ground after he was injured by a grenade blast in Bangkok, Thailand, April 22, 2010.  Your View/Cyrille Andres

Tensions have been high in Thailand as anti-government “red shirt” protesters face off against pro-government forces and supporters.

On April 22, 2010, a series of grenades exploded in an area of Bangkok where hundreds of pro-government protesters were gathering.  One person was killed and dozens were injured.  Your View contributor Cyrille Andres happened to be there, photographing this scene of a man helping a pro-government demonstrator who was injured by one of the grenades.

The photo is overexposed from the proximity of the flash and there is a telltale shadow from the photographer.  However, these technical issues are inconsequential as Andres was able to capture the emotions and confusion of the moment, in spite of the risk to himself.

Andres’ photograph demonstrates one of the most important rules of photojournalism, which is simply to “be there.”  If the photographer is not there when the news happens, there is no photo.

View this week’s Your View showcase here.

Breaking news, key photos

The death of Poland’s president in a plane crash over the weekend and deadly riots breaking out in Thailand dominated the news early in the week. With huge news such as this, photographers make every effort to capture the action and reaction of the events. Below are some of the strongest submissions to Your View around these two breaking news stories.

Mourners light candles at Market square in Krakow, Poland, in memory of Poland’s president who died in a plane crash April 2010. Your View/Gustavo Kralj

A nun prays during Divine Mercy Celebrations, where thousands visited the St Faustina Kowalska Shrine April 11, 2010, a day after the plane crash that killed 96 victims including Polish President Lech Kaczynski. Your View/Gustavo Kralj

A mother mourns her son killed by soldiers during clashes in Bangkok, Thailand, April 2010. Your View/Steve Pace

View this week’s Your View showcase here.

Height of photography

Talk about going to extremes to get the shot, Jan Slavicek holds his nerve to capture this image of a climber in Slovakia.

View this week’s Your View showcase here.

Festival stories

Boian Hristov has been a regular contributor to Your View for some time now but it’s his pictures from the recent masquerade festival in Bulgaria that have struck me the most. Boian has managed to capture the individual stories within the festival and created compelling portraits of those involved by pulling them clear of the background. A selection of some of the best are below.

View this week’s Your View slideshow here.

Snow dog

Click here to see the rest of this week’s selection.

A top business model

Your View contributor Fuad Abdullah had to go to great heights to capture this image, taken on top of the Tangkuban Perahu volcano in Indonesia. Making the effort to explore different locations can often result in intriguing photographs.

View this week’s Your View showcase here.

Tsunamis and quakes: Your View of the scene

It was just a few hours after news broke about an 8.0 magnitude quake hitting off the coast of Samoa that the first picture of the ensuing tsunami dropped into Reuters’ user-generated content system Your View. As the Singapore picture desk was monitoring the intake, they negotiated a price for the picture and it was moved on the Reuters pictures wire early this morning, available to media clients worldwide.

A view of the Sinalei resort, south of Apia, capital of Samoa, after it was struck by a tsunami September 29, 2009.  REUTERS via Your View/Henry F

A day after the devastating tsunami a powerful quake rocked Indonesia. As pictures were moving on the Reuters wire from the earthquake-hit Indonesian island of Sumatra, we received a user-generated photo from the same scene.

Residents look at the wreckage after an earthquake hit Padang, on Indonesia’s Sumatra island September 30, 2009.  Your View/Iggoy el Fitra

Submit your news photos to Your View here.

A red and dusty day in Sydney

When a dust storm blanketed Sydney this week it provided good fodder for photographers. Everyone from Reuters photographer Tim Wimborne to Your View contributor Joshua Kerr captured the city coated in a red mist. The Boston Globe Big Picture blog even allows you to click on Tim’s pictures to see the city go from red to clear.

View this week’s Your View showcase here.