JKCS Staffers celebrate “Perfect Moments 2011”

The staff photography exhibition and contest “Perfect moments” showcased and celebrated the creative talent of JKCS Staffers for the second consecutive year. It is the JKCS’ way of living up to John Keells Group’s HR vision of creating “more than just a workplace”. The event took place at JKCS’ corporate head quarters at Vauxhall Street from 7 to 18 November.

Every year a unique theme is given to this exciting event held at JKCS. This year’s theme “Perfect Moments” portrayed a collection of 146 magnificent moments captured on camera in the categories of Birds and Wildlife, Close ups and portraits, Funny and Amazing Moments, Culture and traditions, and Landscapes and Sceneries. A workshop was held prior to the exhibition to give guidelines to the participants and tips on how to improve their skills.

JKCS COO JC Ekanayake said, “Photography is a hobby encouraged in the IT Sector predominantly and we at JKCS established this annual photography exhibition and competition mainly to ensure that our Staffers get an opportunity to divert from their routine work and enhance and display their creative talent. Photography is an art to be mastered and it takes a significant amount of talent to master it. By this exercise we not only aim to encourage Staffers in a hobby as enjoyable and creative as photography but we also encourage them to travel and experience the moments captured first hand.”

The chief organiser of the event, Dilini De Alwis, QA Manager of JKCS Responding in Agreement mentioned, “Photography is all about capturing the right moment in the most creative way.  For me it was an event that created a lot of enthusiasm among the employees of JKCS giving them an opportunity to be creative and share their “perfect moments” with their colleagues.  Towards the closing date of the competition photos started filling up the site and when we closed the competition there were 146 submissions in total.  The passion for photography just caught on and eventually we had 23 photographers joining the competition.  It was a launching pad for some of them since they discovered their talents as a photographer once they decided to join the competition.  Exhibition was a great hit since there was not a day when there was no one gazing at the photographs.  Not only from JKCS, but many from the group came to see the exhibition.  Perfect Moments Photography Awards 2011 held on the 18th of November brought the competition to a close,   making the winners proud of their achievements.  This was the second consecutive year for JKCS to organise such an event.  Every year the competition gets better, whilst for the photographers competition becomes more of a challenge.”

Perfect Moments concluded with an awards night and after party held at JKCS on the 18th of November at JKCS office complex where the winners from all five categories were given awards for their outstanding skills.

The judging panel consisted of four professional photographers of the Photo Lanka Group which included Milinda Gunasena, Upul Rodrigo, Hiranya Malwatta and Isuru Wakkumbura. On behalf of the judges Rodrigo had this to say, “Perfect Moments is a professional level photographic exhibition by highly talented JKCS staff. Their interest in photography have made them skilful and talented serious enthusiasts, in par with professionals in the field. Judging was an extremely difficult job as there were so many good competitors. Organising a photographic competition and an exhibition is not an easy task. Yet organisers have done a commendable job in making Perfect Moments 2011 a grand success. JKCS management has done right thing by choosing the right passion, right people and encouraging them to share their captured perfect moments.”

JKCS Staffers Saminda De Silva, Gayan Subasinghe, Chathura R. De Silva, Jayaranga Subasinghe, Malin Wickremesinghe, Vishni Kugathasan, Sameera Jayasekara and Sanjaya Kasthuri Arachchi received awards in the various categories while Malik Ismail Ahamed won the Photographer of the Year Award - by winning a place in most categories.

When asked about his experience in participating in “Perfect Moments 2011, Malik Ismail Ahamed (Photographer of the Year) mentioned that, “It was a great opportunity for us at JKCS to showcase our talent. It made me realise that my hobby for photography not only results in capturing unique moments and places but also helps us to collectively bring out Sri Lanka as a key tourist destination. I was able to participate in all categories and thoroughly enjoyed exploring the beautiful places all over the island in doing so. It was a great experience overall and I am thankful to the organisers and judges for making it an unforgettable one. Perfect Moments 2011 has already got me looking forward to next year’s exhibition.”