Ranjani Perera shines at this year’s Photography Society exhibition
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Ranjani Perera receive the PSSL gold medal for her work “Retro” from British High Commissioner James Dauris
From an elderly lady laughing as she carries a large stack of driftwood on her back, to the amicable stare down between a rhinoceros and myna bird and the exclusion of a young girl as she gazes at a group of friends whispering to each other – a picture does speak a million words.
These were some of the images on show last weekend at the Mihilaka Medura, BMICH when the Photography Society of Sri Lanka (PSSL) held their annual 62nd International Competition and Exhibition of Photography.
Dating back to 1906, the Photographic Society of Sri Lanka has a rich history of promoting photography as a hobby and art.
Initially founded as the Amateur Photographic Association of Ceylon by Henry Lorenz Wendt, father of Lionel Wendt, the society was renamed and revamped by Lionel who further developed the work. The movement went on to attract a small group of photography enthusiasts namely; P.J.C. Durrant, B.G. Thornly, Joe de Livera and B.P. Weerawardena.
Even after Lionel Wendt’s untimely passing the society continued – conducting their annual competition and exhibition since 1934 and later upgrading it to an annual international competition in 1954.
The competition, one of the highlighted events in the society’s calendar attracts many local and foreign entries. Patronage from prestigious photography bodies like the Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP), Royal Photographic Society (RPS) and Global Photographic Union (GPU) make the exhibition a sought after event.
Ravi Tennakoon’s picture titled “I can fly” (above) also received an award. Pix by Sameera Weerasekera
British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives James Dauris and Helen Dauris were present at the opening and over 80 awards were presented. Current president of the society Hiran Weliwitigoda opened the exhibition stating that exhibitions like this were “pinnacle” moments for photographers everywhere. “The majority of our members are not professional photographers,” Hiran said, adding that there are IT engineers, architects, doctors etc. among them “united by their passion for photography.”
This year the competition welcomed close to 2100 entries from participants across 20 countries who submitted entries along the given themes of Open Colour, Open Monochrome, Creative and Nature. A total of 200 images, handpicked by two Singaporean and four Sri Lankan judges were displayed at the exhibition.
Scoring big that evening was Ranjani Perera as she was awarded the PSSL Gold medal for the highest number of acceptances received by a local participant for her picture “Retro”.
Ravi Tennakoon was also awarded the DCL Amarasinghe Memorial Challenge Trophy for the Best Local Show for his stunning capture of a young leopard cub in mid air titled “I can fly” and Achim Koepf of Germany was awarded the FIAP Blue Pin for Best Author.