Closing Time on Keyzer Street

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Shutters begin to fall with the twilight in Pettah, Colombo’s shopping and market district. January 2023.

• 35mm • f/4 • 1/125 • ISO4000 • R6 & RF14-35/4L •

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Karawala Mudalali

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A dry fish merchant (or karawala mudalali), surrounded by his pungent stock. Keyzer Street, Pettah. January 2023.

• 22mm • f/4 • 1/125 • ISO4000 • R6 & RF14-35/4L •

A Soupçon of Refreshment #2

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Bowls of hot soup are served up from a cart on Prince Street, for porters, vendors, and evening shoppers in Pettah. January 2023.

• 35mm • f/4 • 1/60 • ISO400 • R6 & RF14-35/4L •

Afternoon Over Thalangama Lake

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Kotte, Sri Lanka. February 2023.

• 14mm • f/4 • 1/800 • ISO100 • R6 & RF14-35/4L •

Evening on 2nd Cross Street

Pedestrians, traffic, and pavement hawkers vie for space in Colombo’s major bazaar, the Pettah. January 2023.

• 35mm • f/4 • 1/125 • ISO800 • R6 & RF14-35/4L •

Dinner in Pettah

A kiosk on Keyzer Street provides a light takeaway to weary workers heading for home. Colombo, January 2023.

• 35mm • f/4 • 1/125 • ISO4000 • R6 & RF14-35/4L •

No 13A in Tamil Town

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A busy Friday evening in Pettah, Colombo’s main shopping and market district. January 2023. Interestingly, while the city of Colombo is mostly Tamil-speaking (over 60% of the residents are Tamil or Tamil-speaking Moors), the sign in the foreground prohibiting parking is only in Sinhalese (the majority language of Sri Lanka), reflecting decades of Sinhalese-dominated governance that many believe has contributed to ethnic conflict. The controversial 13th Amendment to the Constitution, passed by Parliament in 1987, legislated that, amongst other things, Tamil be elevated to the status of an official language, alongside Sinhalese, and that all official communications be in both languages. However, more than thirty-five years later, many clauses of the amendment remain unenforced, despite Tamil demands for equal treatment.

• 35mm • f/4 • 1/100 • ISO2000 • Canon R6 & RF14-35/4L •

Sometimes Life Gives You Oranges

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Six for two-hundred bucks, on 2nd Cross Street, Pettah. January 2023.

• 35mm • f/4 • 1/125 • ISO1250 • R6 & RF14-35/4L •

Rush, Rush, Rush

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Daylight begins to fade on Prince Street, in Colombo’s Pettah area. January 2023.

• 14mm • f/4 • 1/125 • ISO2500 • R6 & RF14-35/4L •

Evil Eye

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Sri Lanka’s Lotus Tower is probably the most easily noticeable symbol of the government corruption and ineptitude that brought on the worst economic catastrophe in the island nation’s history. Ordered by former President Mahinda Rajapakse in 2012, the tower, the tallest in South Asia, and visible from practically every part of the capital, Colombo, is viewed by many as a vanity project, costing as much as $104 million to build, but with little use beyond glorifying the leadership of the former president and his party (the Sri Lanka Podujana Pakshaya’s symbol is a lotus). This photograph was taken from 5th Cross Street, in the city’s market district of Pettah, in January 2023.

• 35mm • f/4 • 1/100 • ISO6400 • R6 & RF14-35/4L •