Category: transport

Rush Hour in Pettah

David BlackerLeave a comment
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Naattamis move out with their distinctive two-wheeled handcarts heavily laden with produce that has just been unloaded from the lorries on the left. Everything from salted fish, grain, flour, potatoes, and fresh produce is trucked into Colombo each morning from the nearby port, rural rice mills, coastal fishing villages, and farming cooperatives in the Central Highlands. Once they reach the narrow streets of the Pettah, however, they must be unloaded and carried in the carts and on the backs of these naattamis (Sri Lanka’s street version of the dockside stevedore), into the many small stores and wholesalers that pack Colombo’s huge market district. Without the naattami, the markets of Pettah would grind to a standstill. 4th Cross Street, September 2022. 

• 35mm • f/2.8 • 1/640 • ISO200 • Canon R6 & RF 35/1.8 courtesy Canon/Metropolitan

Behind the Beach #3

David BlackerLeave a comment
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A National STD/AIDS Control Programme (NSACP) outreach worker conducts a mobile clinic for beach boys in the Sri Lankan tourist town of Hikkaduwa, registering sex workers, conducting blood tests, and handing out condoms and educational literature. Shot on assignment for Panos Pictures and The Global Fund, in January 2022.

• 47mm • f/4 • 1/4000 • ISO800 • 5DMkIV & EF 24-105/f4L courtesy Canon/Metropolitan

Naattami, Old Moor Street

David BlackerLeave a comment
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Pettah, September 2020.

• 35mm • f/6.3 • 1/200 • ISO400 • M6MkII & EF-M 15-45mm/3.5-6.3 courtesy Canon/Metropolitan.