Caskets At The Train Station

Saturday, January 29th, 2011

Maybe the most unexpected encounter during my traveling through Sri Lanka where those caskets on the platform of Batticaloa train station. As the east coast companies offer substantial lower prices for finishing and decorating, it pays for Colombo funeral parlors to send the casks on two 12h+ train transports to Batticaloa. In comparison to the casks, the full metal cash box looked much more as it would belong to there.

Tags:backlight, casket, platform, train station
Posted in Colombo, Sri lanka | Comments Closed

Target Group

Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010

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.

Tags:farm, kid, rainwater harvesting, village, woman
Posted in Colombo, Sri lanka | Comments Closed

Rhythm

Tuesday, December 21st, 2010

As we are nearing Christmas (C-4 to quote Earl), I decided to switch subject.

Tags:feet, kid, street, two
Posted in Colombo, Sri lanka | Comments Closed

Not IKEA

Sunday, December 19th, 2010

Found next to Beira Lake, in the center of Colombo.

Tags:blue, facade, mast, pole, yellow
Posted in Colombo, Sri lanka | Comments Closed

Pioneer Properties

Saturday, December 18th, 2010

Colombo, Duplication Rd.

Tags:billboard, door, wall
Posted in Colombo, dahoam (at home), Sri lanka | 2 Comments »

Health+

Monday, December 13th, 2010

Colombo mural, Duplication Rd.

Tags:billboard, garbage dump, mural
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Rising High

Sunday, December 12th, 2010

Found near Thurstan Rd. (if the GPS coordinates are correct) and on Galle Rd., Colombo.

Tags:deutsche bank, facade, high riser, street, threewheeler, tuk tuk
Posted in Colombo, Sri lanka | Comments Closed

Classical Colombo

Saturday, December 11th, 2010

Tags:classical, column, modernism, pillar, post, wall
Posted in Colombo, Sri lanka | 1 Comment »

Barefoot Staff

Friday, December 10th, 2010

Lack of colonial knowledge makes me wonder about the connection between authorized vehicles and barefoot staff.

Tags:colonialism, door, neo, sign
Posted in Colombo, Sri lanka | 3 Comments »

In The Heart of Colombo

Thursday, December 9th, 2010

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.

Tags:billboard, discrepancy, misplaced
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Wishful Thinking, Urban Style

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010

Found in Jayawardane Mawatha, Colombo.

Tags:facade, high riser, potemkin, reflection, sky scraper
Posted in Colombo, Sri lanka | 3 Comments »

Larger Than Life

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010

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.

Tags:buddhism, capitalism, christmas, religion
Posted in Colombo, Sri lanka | 1 Comment »

Colombo Shrines

Monday, December 6th, 2010

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.

Tags:buddhism, christianity, religion, shrine, symbol
Posted in Colombo, Sri lanka | 4 Comments »

Colombo Trees

Sunday, December 5th, 2010

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.

Tags:street, tree
Posted in Colombo, Sri lanka | 4 Comments »

Sri Lanka Gem Exchange

Saturday, December 4th, 2010

Found during a morning stroll through the streets of Colombo.

Tags:facade, people, street
Posted in Colombo, Sri lanka | 2 Comments »

Multilac

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010

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.

Tags:billboard, street
Posted in Colombo, Sri lanka | Comments Closed

Tea Wholesale Trader

Thursday, November 25th, 2010

Checking the image files, I found a matching scenery for yesterday´s timber trader, this time from Colombo.

Tags:guard, tea, trader
Posted in Colombo, Sri lanka | Comments Closed

The President Is Watching / Icecream

Saturday, November 20th, 2010

To take up the topic that I’ve started with a project contribution on Martin Storz’s Public Eye Blog: Yesterday was the inauguration ceremony for Sri Lanka’s president Mahinda Rajapakse. There are some doubts about the elections and their preliminaries, and whilst many of the people in Colombo welcome his presidency in the light of him having ended 30+ years of a bloody civil war, concerns about the way this country now is governed by the Rajapakse family remain. For more details just have a look at the wikipedia. Optically his inauguration was impressive, to say the least. Thousands of his portraits were distributed throughout the city of Colombo, together with flags of Sri Lanka, – a personality cult hitherto unknown in this country – and chains of lights now illuminate his posters at night (and I didn’t bring a tripod!).

Today’s images are only a starter, I have yet to decide if I make up a small gallery of the best of the rest, or if I serve them one-by-one.

Update: I just had to learn that the English Wikipedia, unlike the German Version, does describe Pres. Rajapakse in an almost exclusively positive way, highlighting his achievments in fighting the worlds no. 1 terrorists. This should ring a bell with you… Maybe better also look at the pages of Amnesty International and Reporters without Borders.

Tags:personality cult, portrait, president, Rajapakse
Posted in Colombo, Sri lanka | Comments Closed

Colombo Christmas

Saturday, November 20th, 2010

To take up Martina’s last comment

: Yes, Colombo takes up many European, or better Western, patterns. Though being an officially Buddhist country, without a separation of state and religion as we know it, especially the business parts of other relgions, like Christmas here, get incorporated and playfully put on stage. Of course this shopping mall is more for the well-offs, but as everywhere, they set the trends. The Sri Lankan influence however is clearly visible in the shapes of the decoration: tusks, as they are venerated for example in the temple in Kandy.

Tags:christmas, decoration, shopping mall
Posted in Colombo, Sri lanka | Comments Closed

Rover

Friday, November 19th, 2010

Seen on Duplication Road, Colombo.

Tags:empty, shop window, street, woman
Posted in Colombo, Sri lanka | 1 Comment »

Colombo Streets I

Thursday, November 18th, 2010

Walking the streets of Colombo – something the better-off people in Colombo would always try to avoid – led me into a bounty of sceneries, and even a shy guy like me, who doesn’t want to bother people with his camera out of respect for their privacy, found more than enough food for his lens.

Some of the street scenes reminded me of Carl Weese’s recent cyclus “Two walls”. And the weariness after a sleep-deprived night between Europe and Asia did not stop me, maybe focused my visual sense even more.

Tags:bus, sri lanka, street, travel, wall
Posted in blog action day, Colombo | Comments Closed