33/365 Day 33...

...of Project 1 and my thoughts turn to world events rather than the matters closer to home. The aim of the 365 photo a day project was not to politicize or even scrutinise world events, just include them in a creative way as a record of what is happening at any given time. For example I did not look at floods in Australia and draw inspiration from that. There are plenty of people reporting well on that and in the face of the incoming cyclone in Queensland our thoughts are with them.

Sometimes things occur though that can truly be considered world-changing. I think that what is happening in Egypt and by proxy the wider Middle East is one of those times. Justin Webb on the R4 today programme this morning suggested that there was a domino effect likely to ripple through the Middle East. Already today we are hearing that the president of Yemen, in power for some 30 years, will not be seeking re-election and will not be looking to hand power to his son.

When a million people mobilise to express their opinion, rage and feeling you simply have to listen, the world has to listen.  And it is. As I speak there is a tense stand off between the protesters and supporters of the beleaguered president Mubarak. I hope it does not turn more violent. With protesters stopping for prayers (imagine the May-Day rioters or student protesters dong that...) it all looks like a very civilised democratisation of parts of this region albeit with serious question marks hanging over the likes of Israel.

I think this will come to pass as one of this years defining moments and I have chosen to demonstrate that with a screenshot of the Al Jazeera English website. Not a lot of post processing work done - even shot in jpeg rather than RAW - just a little cross-processing and some tiny exposure correction.

BTW the Al Jazeera new service really is quite good. Historically described as having a manic style of reporting and largely ignored by the West, in recent years it has shown itself to be a voice for the Middle East. Their style of reporting is contextually objective and oftentimes at odds with the hysteria and jingoistic approach of our own media - Daily Mail - I am looking at you...