Sri Lanka: Under a Dark Sun
For fifteen years from the early eighties to the mid nineteen nineties I made many trips to Sri Lanka.
Initially I was captivated by the beauty of this small island, its coastal life, the ancient cities, the rivers and mountains terraced with paddy fields and tea estates, the village culture with its elaborate and dramatic healing rituals, and the strange and colourful religious festivals celebrated by Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians. But this rich cultural diversity also gave rise to ethnic tensions between the Buddhist Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority, and I witnessed the gradual descent of the country from ethnic conflict to a brutal and traumatic civil war which continued for 25 years resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands. The abiding beauty of the people and the country is contrasted with the tragedy of this conflict which, although it ended in 2009, has left deep scars in the national psyche, the memories of which endure like a shadow cast on the diverse landscape of this island nation.
Adam's Peak, mountaintop shrine sacred to all faiths, with the sunrise shadow.
Recumbent Buddha, Kelanyi Temple, Colombo
Moonrise and Adam's Peak viewed from Horton Plains
Yapahuwa ruins of 13th c. capital of Sri Lanka.
Young conch shell player, Independence Day celebrations, Colombo
A limeburner's daughter, Lime Kilns, South Coast
Fisherman in outrigger boat on a lagoon, South Coast
Buddhist monk writing sacred text on a palm leaf book, Aluvihare Temple
Buddhist monks during poya (full moon) festival.
Buddhist monk at a window, monastery, Southern Province
Buddhist monks leaving their temple for Poya (Full Moon) Festival, Colombo
Buddhist Nun, Kataragama Temple, Southern Province
Novice monks at initiation, Southern Province
Novice monk having head shaved. Southern Province.
Young Buddhist monks at their temple, Southern Province.
Boy dancer during Perahera festival, Colombo
Kandyan dancers, Navam Perahera, Colombo.
Stilt fishermen, South Coast
Fisherman at fish market, South Coast.
Beaching the outrigger after a night's fishing, Galle, South Coast.
Fisherman at a market, Negombo, West Coast.
Onion seller and his daughter, Negombo market, West Coast.
Worker at a tile factory, Waikal, West Coast.
Bus station, Nuwara Eliya.
Banana stall, Negombo market, West Coast.
Fisherman folding his net, Negombo, West Coast.
Two boys with kites in rice fields, Kandy District
Tea workers on an estate, Central Province.
Rice paddies, Southern Province.
Catholic devotees lighting candles during St. Sebastian's Day, Negombo, West Coast.
Shanty-dwelling Family in a Colombo Informal Community
Catholic devotee praying during St. Anne's Day, Talawila, Kalpitya.
Effigy of Jesus being carried during an Easter Passion Play, Ja-Ela.
School girls dressed for a Buddhist Festival, Colombo.
Muslim Ladies College, Colombo
Miss Sri Lanka Contest, Colombo
Beauty Queens share a joke during Miss Sri Lanka contest.
Two girls at a folk dancing school, South Coast
Exorcist preparing during Suniyama Healing Rite, Southern Province.
Ecstatic trance dance during Mahasona Healing Rite, Southern Province.
Penitents at Kataragama during the yearly pilgrimage in August.
Elephant leading procession during the Water-Cutting Ceremony, Kataragama.
Hindu devotee hanging by hooks, Kataragama.
Sufi Zikr ceremony during Kataragama Pilgrimage.
Sufi dervish pierces another's cheek during "Zikr", Kataragama Pilgrimage.
Devotees during the Water-Cutting Ceremony, Kataragama Pilgrimage.
Tamil Eelam Youths at a checkpoint in Chenkaladi, East Coast.
Armed Tamil Tiger cadres, Kilinochchi District, Northern Province 1992
Video Poster outside Hut, Kalmunai, East Coast
Tamil refugees, East Coast.
Pregnant Tamil woman in refugee camp, Batticaloa, East Coast.
Children in refugee camp, East Coast
Young man in mosque after an attack during prayers, Batticaloa, East Coast.
Body of Opposition Leader after assassination, Colombo.
Funeral of Opposition Leader.
Funeral of Opposition Leader, Colombo.
Mother with framed photograph of her missing son. Southern province 1989.
Skull unearthed from mass grave found near Sri Lankan army camp, Southern province, 1993.
Bullet scarred walls with white doves, Jaffna.
Widow in trauma clinic, Jaffna Hospital.
Amputee in Army Hospital, Colombo.
Nurses treat shrapnel wounds from the battle front, Northern Province.
Woman during visiting hours in Army Hospital, Colombo
Jaipur Artificial Limb Centre, Jaffna Town.
Disabled six year old Amarasiri was caught in crossfire. His father shows his scarred body after Tamil Tiger attack on their village, Northern province.
Tamil refugees, Eastern province.
Tamil Tiger during training session, Jaffna.
Woman with photo of her dead husband, killed by security forces, Northern Province.
Student Sanathani Mahesan, 16 yrs. in Art Class with her painting following bombardment of Jaffna by Sri Lankan Airforce. 1992
Armed police at polling booth during election.
Bullet scarred image of Saraswati, Goddess of Music, Art and Nature, outside ruins of Jaffna Library.
Tamil woman riding bicycle after a bombing raid, Jaffna
Father Godfrey Cook, 92 yrs. at St. Michael's Jesuit College, Batticaloa.
Aftermath of the truck bomb blast outside the Central Bank Colombo 1996
Casualty of the truck bomb being helped out of burning building, Central Business District, Colombo.
Boy in rain shower with rainbow at a cemetery, West Coast.
Tamil women hold hands during Hindu ceremony upcountry, Bandarawela.