Different clicks from behind the lens

The exhibition ‘Day and Beyond’ seems to dedicate itself entirely to a celebration of different perspectives. The 10 participating photographers are not only from different parts of the country, they vary widely among themselves in both age and experience.
And while they all work at Sri Lanka Telecom, their only other link seems to be that they were all part of a workshop programme – a programme that began as impromptu lectures over their lunch breaks. Photographer Jagath Dheerasekera, who was responsible for the lectures, and is now curator of the exhibition, guided his little flock through the process of conceptualizing, capturing the images, editing, printing and finally arranging their own exhibition.

The process must have been far from easy – the youngest is in his 20s, while the eldest is in his 50s and their skill levels range from enthusiastic amateur to seasoned professional - but it all seems to have levelled out in the end. The participants themselves say that much of the editing and conceptualizing was accomplished as a group, and as a result there has been a great deal of give and take.

Such interaction required more than lunch breaks to accomplish, a problem that the group solved not only with more meetings but also with their very own blog - http://dayandbeyond.blogspot.com. The blog offers comprehensive introductions to each of the participating photographers.

Aside from Jagath himself, photographers Alefiya Akbarally, Dhanushka Amarasekara and Menika van der Poorten shared their expertise with the participants.

Throughout, the project's focus remained chiefly on documentary photography. The result of their somewhat epic journey is a collection of photographs that, under the larger theme of Day and Beyond, manage to encompass a wide and richly diverse set of themes and styles.

The exhibition is now on at Alliance Francaise on Barnes Place, and continues until May 31 from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sri Lanka Telecom is the principal partner for the event.

Chandima Dharmadasa (Kandy): In ‘Life Beyond Home’ Chandima explores the lives of boarders who must leave their homes behind to live and work in the city.

Dinali Cooray (Colombo): In ‘Lives of Pets’ Dinali documents the close bonds we develop with our beloved animal companions, and the relationships they in turn have with each other.

Harshana Henarath (Kurunegala): In ‘Getting Ready’ Harshana captures those moments just prior to departure where we prepare ourselves to face the day.

Muditha Adikari (Pannipitiya): Muditha’s series ‘Spider Web’ follows the tribulations and successes of the ordinary spider as manifested in its most glorious creation – its web.

Neville M. Gamage (Galle): In ‘Daham Pasala’ Neville captures the quiet serenity of these classes that lie at the heart of Buddhist education.

Niroshana De Silva (Embilipitiya): With ‘My Son’ Niroshana follows his little boy through his usual round of activities which include colouring on the walls and falling asleep in front of the T.V.

Ratnananthan Aroodguhan (Jaffna): A narrative of space, ‘Over the Wall’ documents how a road in the photographer’s hometown first fills then empties in the course of a day.

Sisira Gintotage (Matara): With ‘Beauty and Ugliness’ Sisira captures images of Sri Lankan beaches where natural beauty is juxtaposed with man-made ugliness in the form of pollution.

Thushantha Vidanage (Panadura): In ‘Fisherman’s Life’ Thushantha documents the often harsh lives of the island’s fisher folk.

Vajira Hapuhinna (Hanguranketha): Vajira’s ‘Cell Animals’ is a wordless, yet no less scathing indictment of the imprisonment of animals in cages.