Sunday Nov 24, 2024
Sunday Nov 24, 2024
Wednesday, 18 January 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
What happens when two childhood friends share a passion for both the wild and photography? Discover the answer this weekend when Amrit Rajaratnam and Shanik De Silva present ‘The Wild’ an exhibition of photographs that pay tribute to the animals that inhabit the African savannah.
Amrit Rajaratnam, Managing Director of Maitland and Knox Ltd., the managing agents of The Galle Fort Hotel, Thotalagala and The Havelock Place Bungalow, traces his love for the wild back to infancy. When his father subsequently gave him his first camera, his love for photography proved a perfect match for his already ingrained passion for the wild. Having spent several years overseas while he read law at the University of Nottingham and was called to the Bar from Lincoln’s Inn, Amrit returned to Sri Lanka and was devastated by the changes the relentless march of progress has wrought in the quiet wild places he had known. Seeing these same changes across the globe, he was determined to capture the essence of the last remaining wild places, and to share them with a larger audience through his photography.
He found the perfect companion with whom to embark on this endeavour in his childhood friend Shanik De Silva. Also ‘born into the jungle’, Shanik has always been enthralled by ‘that particular magic only known to those who have spent a night on a camp bed under a ‘Palu tree’. Having learned most of his photography on a film camera, he moved on to digital cameras about 10 years ago. Shanik is the Managing Director of Water Mart Systems Ltd. having graduated with an Honours degree in Industrial Economics from the University of Warwick. However he says that nothing makes him happier than being in the wilds of this world with likeminded souls.
‘The Wild’ is the first exhibition for both these photographers and will take place on 21 and 22 January, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Lionel Wendt Gallery.
