A Gaza rally against Koran-burning must have been pretty un-photogenic. Wire photographers focused on impressively artistic images of Hamas security.
Of course, when it comes to shooting Israeli soldiers, photographers make them look menacing by shooting from low angles to make them look bigger.
Other preferred tricks: dehumanize Israeli soldiers by cropping out their heads, and angle the shot so that guns appear deliberately pointed at children.
First, get a load of the Hamas images:
Members of Hamas' security forces cast shadows on a wall as they stand guard during a rally in Gaza City acknowledging people who memorized the Koran September 12, 2010. The rally was organized by Dar Koran association. (Reuters/Ismail Zaydah)
A Palestinian Hamas security members stand guard during a rally in Gaza City, Sunday, Sept. 12, 2010. (AP/Ashraf Amra)
A Palestinian, of the Islamic Hamas group security members, stands guard during a rally in Gaza City, Sunday, Sept. 12, 2010. (AP/Ashraf Amra)
Now compare them to these strikingly dehumanizing images of Israeli soldiers.
An Israeli soldier stands in front of Palestinian demonstrators holding up their national and the Turkish flags during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the village of Maasarah, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, on June 4, 2010. (AFP/Musa Al-Shaer)
Israeli soldiers stand guard during a demonstration against the Israeli controversial separation barrier in the West Bank town of Beit Jala near Bethlehem on July 4, 2010. Israeli and Palestinian officials said they expected to start indirect peace talks within days, following the Arab League's endorsement of a US-brokered plan to end the impasse. (AFP/Musa al-Shaer)
An Israeli soldier stands guard in front of a Palestinian youth who was stopped at a checkpoint following an ambush on an Israeli police car in the south of the occupied West Bank in which security officials said two Israeli police officers were wounded and one dead, on June 14, 2010. (AFP/Hazem Bader)
With Israeli soldiers, photographers shoot with no constraints because they know they won't get in trouble with the army, and editors can't get enough of these images.
The same standards don't apply to Hamas, simply because photographers really fear running afoul on Hamas.
