PHOTO ESSAY  
  The Poverty Portal photo essay competition  
     
     
 
Winner  
Ketharasarma Ladchumanasarma
3rd mile post lane, K.K.S Road, Kokuvil, Jaffna.
 
Story
The Dark side of My Land These photos were taken by me in various parts of Sri Lanka, in various occasions, with very different circumstances. All of them were taken in dark light and mostly in low colours, as I believe his reflect the dark sided of the country.
 
The Estate worker  
This photo was taken in Demodara, a village in the central highlands of Sri Lanka. It was a special evening for me and my friends, enjoying the cool breeze and the beautiful landscapes, but not for this lady. It was just another evening for this lady, who was walking to her estate home after the day shift in the estate, carrying her family load of firewood along the railway track through the tunnel. She walked in a steady phase through the dark tunnel and the light filled track as their living standards remains the same for decades.
   
The boy in the sand  
I took this photo at Galle face in an evening filled with joy for me and my friends, hopefully for most of the people who were with us in the green grass. Anyhow, not much for this boy, who was selling kites for the children of his same age. He was sitting in the sand, filled with the footsteps of the millions of people passed him, by looking at the dark sky, after the sun set. He was one of the many unfortunate children in our country who had to work to win the war with hunger.
   
The shade on the cracks  
This photo was taken in the middle of the salty dry land in Jaffna. When me and my friend had to stop for a break in the deserted dry lands, we spent some time to walk around the dry lands. I took this shot as my friend's shade was covering the cracks. It reflected me the families lost their breadwinners due to the conflict, and heading a scattered life.
   
The sunset behind the barbwires
I took this photo from the boundary wall of the Jaffna fortress on (date). The 30 years war and the security regulations has restricted the access of livelihoods, and transport for several families in the country and forced them to shrink their horizons. I set this frame, as it reminds me the life of the people around me, and what forced them to live as poor in their own land where they lived a rich life a couple of decades ago.
   
The visually disabled piano player
It was in kathirkamam, or commonly known as Katharagama. When all my companions were busy with rituals, I was waiting next to this visually disabled man, playing an old piano for his family. He would have been an ordinary beggar for many people passed him on their way, but the confidence in his face made me stop and observe him. He was a symbol of hope for me. In a country where disability is still considered as a burden and end of hope by a majority, he was a brave man and an example of hope for me.
 
     
     
     
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