Perfect blend
Merit winners of a tea-themed competition with Dilhan Fernando in the centre. Pix by Jonathan Kane Houldsworth & Alex McVinnie
Athithya Murugananthavel was assailed by doubts. Having taken up photography, she thought her older sister, Karthiga, who had persuaded her to engage in this hobby, was far superior to her.
Never in her wildest imaginings did she assume that photography would pave the way for her to visit a land of immense and diverse landscapes at the far corner of the world. It was while she was busy with her work as an engineer at Ericsson Telecommunications Lanka Pvt Ltd. that her other sister sent her a link about a photography competition.
It’s tea-time with Dilmah Founder Merrill J. Fernando at the Art Deco Weekend
Athithya was not that interested but during a free moment on a hectic working day last year she clicked on the link and found that many people had uploaded photographs to ‘capture’ the prize. “The competition seemed meant for me,” she laughs, for though she had looked at the link on the closing day of December 18, last year, the deadline had been extended by a few days.
“Let me try,” 26-year-old Athithya thought, and followed up with an effort to take different types of photos. Picking work colleague and friend, Thavindri Prajapa Wijerathna, whose photos she had clicked many a time before, she ‘set’ her in different places for what she thought was the right picture.
One was the rooftop of the building in which her brother’s apartment was. “It was around noon on a cloudy day, with a hint of a drizzle in the air,’ she says.
A gentle breeze was teasing the locks of her stunning model, as she sipped a steaming mug of tea with the ‘cityscape’ behind her. Titling it ‘Perfect view and weather for a tea’ and captioning it…….‘Just awesome to have a hot tea while a soft breeze meddles with the hair,’ Athithya submitted it and thought no more about it.
Athithya: “It’s like a miracle” and above the winning photograph: ‘Perfect view and weather for tea’. Pic by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
It was on February 7 when she clicked on the competition website that up popped the winning photograph. Athithya was the ‘International Winner’ of the Dilmah ‘Tea in the City Photo Enthusiast Competition’ to celebrate the art of tea by capturing the timeless tradition of tea, redefined in the contemporary urban landscape.
“Among the many interesting competition entries, I chose (this) photograph because from the beginning (it) stood out from other applications through its structure, beautiful frame, a great approach to the subject and impeccable technique. This image probably will long be in my memory,” declared the Judge, a professional photographer from Poland, Izabela Urbaniak, who picked it from among nearly 700 entries that had flowed in from across the world. Judge Urbaniak whose claim to fame came with a series titled ‘Summertime’ depicting holidays in the countryside without television and computers, herself like Athithya does not use much digital manipulation, only careful observation.
And while exciting times awaited Athithya, for the tantalizing prize was an all-expenses paid 10-day trip for two to New Zealand, she was also a much sought-after guest at the ‘Tremains Art Déco Weekend’ in Napier. (See box)
“Speechless,” is how she describes herself when she found that she was the winner, but soon after, got activated to call her ‘model’.
Accompanied not only by her Mum who was her choice of partner on the New Zealand trip, she was overjoyed when her Dad funded himself to come along with them, she says. The busy Art Déco Weekend was followed by a thrilling eight-day bus tour for Athithya and her parents, drinking in the diverse sights of New Zealand. Mountains and waterfalls, inactive volcanoes and mud-pools, they saw them all, while they also island-hopped in a boat. “There were lots of cows and sheep,” she says.
Athithya recalls with wonder the “small, small” houses they saw when they visited Hamilton and the sets of the ‘Hobbit’ movie and also the location where ‘Lord of the Rings’ had been filmed, while the cultural show of the Maoris kept them spell-bound.
Now back in Sri Lanka, she looks back on how a single photo changed her life. It is like a miracle, she says, adding that she is ever thankful not only to her model but also to her camera for her success. From Athithya comes some advice to aspiring photographers. “The idea is important and thinking how a photograph should be taken. Lighting is vital. Plenty of photos need to be taken from different angles,” she says. Another essential element is being positive. When there is positive thinking, anything can be achieved.
| A taste of vintage charm The task was challenging, for Athithya the winner had to turn Judge along with Dilhan, son of Dilmah Founder Merrill J. Fernando and Canon NZ Ltd’s Brad Gibbons to choose the winner of the ‘Tea in the City’ competition held at the Tremains Art Déco Weekend in Napier.The verdict was unanimous and the winning photograph was by Adam Wardle for his ‘Tea break at hospice’ which captured workers at the Gallagher Family Hospice in Hamilton taking a break during construction, trying to echo the 1930s Rockefeller Building workers, but with the lush Hamilton tree canopy in the background and more health and safety. Adam is due to visit Sri Lanka which is his prize in mid-2015. The Art Déco Weekend, in its 27th year, celebrates the heritage of Napier, stepping back into the 1920s and ‘30s and paying tribute to how the city rose from the debris and ashes of the 1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake in just 22 months. The weekend remembers and rejoices in the Art Déco fashion, music, vintage cars, plane and steam trains, dance and charm as well as the beautiful buildings, the era, the rebirth of the city and the spirit of the people who rebuilt the city, states the blurb about the event. As part of the tea celebrations at the Art Déco Weekend, Dilmah stalwarts and international tea aficionados Merrill, Malik and Dilhan Fernando dressed in bygone finery demonstrated an early morning vintage-style High Tea. Served on vintage china, it brought out the complexities of tea, with participants having the chance of tasting this beverage. Then there was also the Dilmah Tea Lovers’ Lecture hosted by Dilhan after which the Dilmah team along with one of New Zealands most creative “mixologists” taught the mixing and presenting of tea cocktails and mocktails. Collectible edition tea caddies containing luxury leaf infuser tea bags of the Ceylon Single Region Earl Grey Tea, meanwhile, from the Dilmah Heritage Collection were also on display. |