"Photographs should be provocative and not tell you what you already know. It takes no great powers or magic to reproduce somebody's face in a photograph. The magic is in seeing people in new ways.” - Duane Michals
My first solo photography exhibition, Sri Lanka Woman focuses on my love of portraits and my natural style of photographing people. The exhibition is a journey of getting to know a number of women and their unique qualities that make them interesting contemporary Sri Lankan women. My aim is to display the instinctive and natural manner in which I photograph people, which I believe has become evident in the resulting images.
The images are a small portion of the work that I undertake, and a means of showcasing what I am capable of doing photographically. The theme of Sri Lankan Woman was chosen to show the different aspects of the modern Sri Lankan woman, as individuals and professionals, as well as mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends. Each woman’s individuality and personality come through in this exhibition.
In addition, using a non-studio approach, the backgrounds used for the photographs are intended to show contemporary Sri Lanka, as a means of recording the current surroundings which can later serve as a means of cultural history.
The individuals appearing in this exhibition are all volunteers and not professional models. They volunteered their time to help a friend launch her career.
"Everything around us, ourselves included, is in constant change. Photography is our means of capturing now - and to remember where we've come from." - Amanda Van
