Do You Want Potatoes with That?

Naattamis at work on 4th Cross Street, Pettah. October 2023.

^{• 14mm • f/4 • 1/400 • ISO125 • Canon R6 & RF14-35/4L •}

Naattamis at Work

Naattamis unload lorries on 4th Cross Street, Pettah, in November 2023. Sacks of dry goods are piled on two-wheeled handcarts and pulled down the narrow warren of streets, to wholesalers and warehouses where they will be carried inside on the backs of these men.

^{• 70mm • f/2 • 1/320 • ISO100 • Canon R6, with an RF28-70/2L from Canon/Metropolitan} 

Morning Tea in Pettah #3

Naattamis take a teabreak after unloading a lorry on 4th Cross Street. Pettah, Colombo. October 2023.

^{• 26mm • f/4 • 1/160 • ISO400 • Canon R6 & RF14-35/4L •}

Portrait of a Naattami #2

Bathed in sweat, a naatami takes a breather after unloading a lorry on 4th Cross Street, in Colombo’s main market district of the Pettah. September 2022.

^{• 35mm • f/2.8 • 1/250 • ISO400 • Canon R6 & RF 35/1.8 courtesy Canon/Metropolitan.}

Portrait of Unemployment

Naattamis (a sort of Sri Lankan urban stevedore, employed to unload produce from lorries in Colombo’s main market district of Pettah) usually begin work before dawn, hauling heavy sacks of vegetables, potatoes, and dry goods on their distinctive two-wheeled carts, labouring until late morning to keep the wholesale stores of the market stocked. But the unprecedented economic downturn in the country has seen an agricultural system scuppered by fertiliser shortages, and transportation hampered by infrequent fuel supplies. The result is a drastic reduction of produce entering the capital from distant farms and fishing towns. When I took this picture at 7.30am, on 4th Cross Street, these naattamis should have been busily racing up and down the narrow warren of lanes; instead, they were sitting around without work, fearing there would be no more that morning, and very little the next day. Pettah, September 2022.

^{• 35mm • f/2.8 • 1/500 • ISO400 • Canon R6 & RF 35/1.8 courtesy Canon/Metropolitan.}

Burdens of the Day

Naattamis on Dam Street. September 2020.

^{*shot with an M6MkII & 15-45mm/3.5-6.3 lens courtesy Canon Sri Lanka.}

Naattamis & Lorries, Keyzer Street, Pettah

Naattamis, take a break and wait for more lorries to arrive to be unloaded. Sri Lanka, January 2020.

What’s All the Fuss About?

Puzzled labourers from the Road Development Authority take a break from repairing Green Path to watch the protest. Scoffed at for being an ESE — English-speaking elite — event, protests such as the Unity Rally have so far failed to mobilize the mass of Buddhists to speak out against anti-Muslim violence instigated by the fascist Bodhu Bala Sena (BBS). Colombo, April 2013