Tag: crowds

Open to the Public

David BlackerLeave a comment
https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/08/img_8244.jpg
Protestors stroll freely in and out of the once heavily barricaded rear gate of Temple Trees, the official residence of the prime minister of Sri Lanka, unhindered by the police. On 9th July 2022, protestors stormed several government buildings in Colombo, including President’s House and the Presidential Secretariat, in spite of initial resistance by the authorities, who used water cannon, tear gas, and even live ammunition on the advancing crowd, holding them off until President Gotabaya Rajapakse had made his escape. In contrast, the president’s brother, Mahinda Rajapakse, who had been forced to resign as PM in May, under the weight of public demand, abandoned Temple Trees well in advance of the protestors. The president himself would announce his resignation later that afternoon, and flee the country four days later, leaving the country in the hands of a caretaker president, Ranil Wickremesinghe who, in late July and August, would oversee the arrest and detention of many protestors, charging them with petty violations, such as trespassing, vandalism, and disturbance of the peace.

• 18mm • f/3.5 • 1/200 • ISO1600 •

Advertisement

Forbidden Ground

David BlackerLeave a comment
Special Task Force policemen look on as protestors stroll unrestricted through the grounds of Temple Trees, the official residence of the prime minister of Sri Lanka, once one of the most heavily guarded and fortified spots in Colombo. 9th July 2022. Forced, by the weight of public protest, to resign in May, Mahinda Rajapakase had fled earlier that day.

• 18mm • f/3.5 • 1/100 • ISO800 •

Gota, Go Home

David Blacker1 Comment
https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/07/img_7854.jpg
Except for its flag seemingly at half-mast in deference, the façade of the US Embassy remains impassive to the Sri Lankans protesting before it, on Galle Road, in Colombo, on 9th July 2022, demanding President Gotabaya Rajapakse resign. A former dual citizen, Rajapakse gave up his American nationality to run for the Sri Lankan presidency in November 2019. There is now speculation, however, on whether he had divested himself of his US citizenship at the time of his nomination, leading to further queries on the legality of his presidency. By the end of the day, Rajapakse would announce his resignation and, three days later, would be refused a visa to enter the USA. On 13th July he would flee to the Maldives, and on to Singapore, accused of corruption, ineptness, and creating the biggest economic catastrophe in Sri Lankan history.

• 18mm • f/3.5 • 1/3200 • ISO400 •

Court of the People

David BlackerLeave a comment
https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/07/img_7918e.jpg
Young protestors celebrate as news arrives on social media that Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapakse has agreed to step down. Galle Face Court, Colombo. 9th July 2022. Months of public protest culminated in violent clashes between demonstrators and the authorities, and the storming of the presidential palace and several government offices. Rajapakse would flee to the Maldives four days later, accused of corruption and ineptness, and causing the biggest economic disaster in the country’s recorded history.

• 18mm • f/3.5 • 1/2500 • ISO400 •

Captive Ground

David BlackerLeave a comment
https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/07/img_8167.jpg
Pushing through the once forbidding gates, protestors crowd past one of the temple trees for which the official residence of the prime minister of Sri Lanka was first named in 1856. It was the third government building to be occupied on 9th July 2022. Earlier that day, the frontline of the protest had braved gunfire, teargas, and baton-wielding police to capture first the Presidential Secretariat at Galle Face, and then President’s House, in the Colombo Fort, the official residence of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapakse. In contrast, Temple Trees, in Colpetty, was taken with relatively little resistance, its occupant, former PM Mahinda Rajapakse (he had been forced to resign, but not vacate, two months previously), having already fled.

• 18mm • f/3.5 • 1/100 • ISO400 •

A Break in the Aragalaya

David BlackerLeave a comment
A tired protestor celebrates as news arrives on social media that Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapakse has agreed to step down. Galle Face Green, Colombo. 9th July 2022. Months of public protest culminated in violent clashes between demonstrators and the authorities, and the storming of the presidential palace and several government offices. Rajapakse would flee to the Maldives several days later.

• 35mm • f/4 • 1/250 • ISO400 •

The Rank and File of the Revolution

David BlackerLeave a comment
https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/07/img_7965.jpg
Galle Face Green, Colombo. 9th July 2022. Hundreds of thousands of protestors march in support of the demand that Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapakse resign. Accused of corruption and ineptness, and causing the greatest economic disaster in the country’s recorded history, Rajapakse would flee to the Maldives four days later.

• 200mm • f/5.6 • 1/1000 • ISO400 •

A Day Too Late for Smiles

David BlackerLeave a comment
https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/07/img_7919.jpg
Two young Tamil men from the north who had travelled a long way to be at the protests in Colombo on 9th July 2022. The placard accuses Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapakse and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe of playing games while the country was in ruins. They insisted I take their picture and, as word began to trickle through the crowd that Gotabaya had announced he would resign, I asked them to smile. They replied that though they were happy, it was too late for Sri Lankans to smile.

• 18mm • f/3.5 • 1/4000 • ISO400 •

“Api Awa Colombata, Gota Epa Kiwwata!”

David BlackerLeave a comment
https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/07/img_7987.jpg
“අපි ආවා කොළඹට, ගෝටා එපා කිව්වට!” (“We came to Colombo, though Gota said no!”) chant hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans covering the Galle Face Green promenade in downtown Colombo, on 9th July 2022; the culmination of months of demonstrations demanding President Gotabaya Rajapakse step down. Since the protests began in April, Gotabaya’s brothers, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and Finance Minister Basil Rajapakse have been forced to step down, accused of corruption and ineptitude that has caused the worst economic catastrophe in the country’s recorded history. After protestors overran President’s House and several other government offices and official residences on the 9th, and burned down the home of current Prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that night, President Gotabaya Rajapakse fled the country, though he continues to issue decrees while in exile, amidst mounting tension and clashes between protestors and the in Sri Lankan police.

• 50mm • f/4.5 • 1/2500 • ISO400 •

“Jaya Banda Lowe, Dhaja Lelawa Apey, Api Enawa Mage Amme!”

David BlackerLeave a comment
https://sonofthemorninglight.files.wordpress.com/2022/07/img_8103.jpg
“ජය බන්දා ලොවේ ධජ ලෙළවා අපේ, අපි එනවා මගේ අම්මේ!” And they did, with Lion Flags waving and drums pounding, packed into convoys of lorries carrying water and supplies for the struggle, in tuk tuks, and on lone scooters and, in their hundreds of thousands, on foot, overrunning downtown Colombo, demanding that Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapakse step down. 9th July 2022.

• 200mm • f/5.6 • 1/250 • ISO400 •

Continue reading ““Jaya Banda Lowe, Dhaja Lelawa Apey, Api Enawa Mage Amme!”” →