Well, on New Year’s Evening, a widely thrown out net could be a suitable starting point for a long, personal reflection about the coming year. And with that image I wish all of you, around the world, a Happy and Healthy New Year!
Koduvamadu/Periyapullumalai, Sri Lanka, 2010. See also here, 2009.
Summarizing what is all our work about in one picture: Providing clean drinking water to families who couldn’t afford up to now. See also here, here, or here – many of the posts in the Batticaloa category target this subject.
These images are exemplary for the joy I have in photography afterwards. When visiting beneficiary families to inspect the rainwater harvesting tanks, photographs first of all serve documentary purposes. Making images for another purpose has to remain subordinate, especially when there are some 30 more places to visit. But during the talking with the families about their experiences, wishes and recommendations, opportunities for “the other” photography sneak in. And the quality of these images I can only evaluate at home, when there is sufficient time. And sometimes there are images that I really enjoy.
Roughly 3.500 km to the west, in the middle of the Arabic world, the Commercial aspects of christmas seem to overcome all religious sensibilities or regulations applicable outside of the touristic money machines.
I could have known that Dec. 24th would need a post prepared well in advance. So here is, for the given reason, the image of a mother with her son in the village of Koduvamadu, a place where our project has built rainwater harvesting tanks. I like the open and optimistic smile of the lady, despite her difficult situation. Well suited as image for this day.
A Merry Christmas to you all. May love and peace be with you.
Christmas without doubt is the most child centered event in the western culture. This fact of course makes it an easy target for economic exploitation, something which evokes grimmer feelings the elder I grow. But this increasing distance in age and the experience with my own kids also grows genuine interest in kids’ lives and in their prospects. Securing our common future begins with respect even for the small kids. And when we take their lifespan as criterion, some decisions and some lifestyle just disqualifies itself.
![Click to enlarge: Target Group 1 [f/9, 1/125 sec, 45mm-e, ISO 200, Sony A700]](http://markus-spring.info/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/dsc43170bb.jpg "Click to enlarge: Target Group 1 [f/9, 1/125 sec, 45mm-e, ISO 200, Sony A700]")
![Click to enlarge: Target Group 2 [f/11, 1/60 sec, 28mm-e, ISO 200, Sony A700]](http://markus-spring.info/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/dsc43182bb.jpg "Click to enlarge: Target Group 2 [f/11, 1/60 sec, 28mm-e, ISO 200, Sony A700]")
When evaluating possible project sites for rainwater harvesting tanks, we were visiting several villages. For a very simple reason the women were most interested in these units: They are the ones who toil and sweat when the traditional well provides no water during the two annual dry seasons, and they suffer with their kids and elders when they fall sick with infections due to dirty drinking water.
So when we had meetings, the women sat in the first rows, and they spoke first.
As we are nearing Christmas (C-4 to quote Earl), I decided to switch subject.
Found next to Beira Lake, in the center of Colombo.
Colombo, Duplication Rd.
I found those two matching garage doors not far from each other in the small town of Oddaimavadi on the east coast of Sri Lanka.
![Click to enlarge: Beach Soccer [f/14, 1/320 sec, 50mm-e, ISO 200, Sony A700]](http://markus-spring.info/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/dsc43021bb.jpg "Click to enlarge: Beach Soccer [f/14, 1/320 sec, 50mm-e, ISO 200, Sony A700]")
Found in the southern town of Galle in Sri Lanka. As it was the very begin of the tourist season, the beach still belonged to the locals.
Galle, Sri Lanka. The shutter did actuate itself.
Note the excellent pelvis move of the gentleman in white. Only seconds before he had somewhat posed when descending from the bus, but then the driver got annoyed. You can listen to some seconds of the original sound here:
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Colombo mural, Duplication Rd.
Found near Thurstan Rd. (if the GPS coordinates are correct) and on Galle Rd., Colombo.
![Click to enlarge: Barefoot Staff [f/8, 1/60 sec, 35mm-e, ISO 1600, Sony A700]](http://markus-spring.info/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/dsc42740bb.jpg "Click to enlarge: Barefoot Staff [f/8, 1/60 sec, 35mm-e, ISO 1600, Sony A700]")
Lack of colonial knowledge makes me wonder about the connection between authorized vehicles and barefoot staff.
R. A. de Mel Mawatha, Colombo. Those oversized billboards already at home create a feeling of them being somewhat out of place. In places like Colombo, this becomes overwhelming.
Found in Jayawardane Mawatha, Colombo.
Just taking up the relationship between religion and money, started in the comment section of yesterday’s post: Despite of the strong influence of the Buddhist religion in Sri Lanka, the originally christian custom of giving wrapped presents for christmas has gained strong foothold here as well. Just think of the christmassy decorated tusks here. F.Y.I. tusks are an important religious symbol in Buddhist Sri Lanka, you find many of them in the Tooth Temple in Kandy.
But in the end, it’s all about money. Very simple.
The Jesus sticker on the wall in yesterday’s image sparked a short conversation with Martina about the presence of private religious symbols in the streets of different countries. Carl Weese from time to time shows such shrines in the U.S., mostly in suburban gardens, if I remember correctly.
Despite being a Buddhist country, where the religion plays a major role in politics (and most of the time an unhealthy one, unfortunately), symbols and shrines of all religions can be seen in the street. Those two I found in Duplication Road, separated by only a small distance.
Both trees I found in Duplication Road, Colombo 3.
Strange enough, in my previous visits, Colombo seemed in a photographic sense very unattractive to me. Not that I am searching those blue sky touristic images, but the dust and noise (and grime) had always left me quite desolate and more or less unable to see. This time it was different, and whilst the lack of project burdens and responsibilities may play a role in this – being there as an NGO expert is somewhat different from being managing lead partner of a international cooperation project – I think my mindset has changed in the 18 months since my last visit: Having read Robert Adams, having looked at many photographs of Minor White et. al. (which had seemed ‘difficult’ to me beforehand) and having developed a less ‘cramped’ attitude of seeing and replaced thinking with knowing maybe were the key factors here. Technically I have not changed much, same camera, same software, same lenses. Oh, regarding the latter there was a change: I need less. The 16-80 mm-e became sufficient for 90% of the images, to be replaced with a fast prime only when it became really dark. Super wide angle and long tele zoom have been left mostly unused in the bag.
Found during a morning stroll through the streets of Colombo.
Not really christmassy, this year’s december wallpaper shows monsoon clouds over the beach of the Bay of Bengal. But then, it is tightly connected with christmas, as the houses in the area were given to the victims to the tsunami of Dec. 26th, 2004.
In this resettlement area of Thiraimadu, Batticaloa, funds of the City of Munich were used to give houses to 42 women headed families that hat lost family members and posessions in the Tsunami. It was a joy to learn that those families do well, and especially that they care very much for the education of their children, even if the available funds for daily life are minimal. At least for them the terror of the tsunami was to a small bit compensated by the donations of Munich’s citizens.
On the way to the airport our car had to wait quite often in traffic jams, and freed of all duties and preparatory thoughts now, I used these opportunities to capture roadside sceneries.
During framing those I had not much opportunities to deliberate about composition – it was more immediate reacting – but reviewing the images I was fascinated of some of the color arrangements, positions of people or the amount of small details like in the first of today’s images.
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