Burning Faith

Tomb of the Sufi saint Sheikh Usman Waliyullah. Dewatagaha Mosque, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo. Shot on assignment for Panos Pictures and Die Zeit in June 2023.

^{• 70mm • f/2.8 • 1/100 • ISO800 • Canon R6 & RF24-70/2.8L •}

Victims of the Fire

In her little Maligawatte home, Nona Farida describes how the body of her husband was confiscated by the state and burned in 2020, after health authorities decided he had died of COVID-19, and that burial would pose a risk to the public. Islam forbids the cremation of the dead, but in early 2020, Sri Lanka legislated a ‘cremation only’ policy for all pandemic casualties, regardless of religious sensitivities, and in spite of World Health Organisation directives permitting burial. On 1st December 2020, the Sri Lankan Supreme Court blocked petitions challenging the policy, and the forcible cremations continued in spite of protests by religious groups and human rights organisations. The law was eventually suspended in February 2021, but too late for hundreds of Muslim families who had the bodies of their loved ones – including babies as young as three weeks – seized by the authorities and burned. Shot in December 2023, for the soon to be published Oddamavadi Project.

^{• 70mm • f/2.8 • 1/100 • ISO800 • Canon R6 & RF24-70/2.8L •}

Refuge from the Pyre #4

A young Muslim man visits the grave of a loved one buried in Oddamavadi, in eastern Sri Lanka. When the country’s authorities finally ceased, in 2021, the forcible cremation of Covid-19 dead, almost three thousand Muslim victims of the pandemic were allowed to be buried in this designated cemetery in Oddamavadi, in the Batticaloa District. Visits by families of the dead are arduous and expensive, as the site was selected for its remoteness, and has become a pilgrimage of sorts. Shot in February 2024, for the soon to be published Oddamavadi Project.

^{• 70mm • f/2.8 • 1/2000 • ISO100 • Canon R6 & RF24-70/2.8L •}

Jumu’a

Sri Lankan Muslim men at Friday prayers, at the Dewatagaha Mosque, in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo. Shot on assignment for Panos Pictures and Die Zeit, in June 2023.

^{• 14mm • f/4 • 1/80 • ISO1600 • Canon R6 & RF14-35/4L •}

Refuge from the Pyre #3

Muslim families visit the graves of their loved ones buried in Oddamavadi, in eastern Sri Lanka. When Sri Lankan authorities finally rescinded, in 2021, the racist legislation ordering the forcible cremation of all Covid-19 dead, regardless of religious practice, almost three thousand Muslim victims of the pandemic were allowed to be buried in a designated cemetery Oddamavadi, in the Batticaloa District. Visits by families of the dead is arduous and expensive, as the site was selected for its remoteness, and has become a pilgrimage of sorts. Shot in February 2024, for the soon to be published Oddamavadi Project.

^{• 70mm • f/2.8 • 1/2500 • ISO100 • Canon R6 & RF24-70/2.8L •}

Steel Buffaloes at Rest #2

Rice farmers wash the mud off their tractors, just as their fathers and grandfathers would have once done with their plough animals; behind them, a long day of ploughing the rain-filled paddy fields of Sammanthurai, in eastern Sri Lanka. October 2023.

^{• 24mm • f/8 • 1/125 • ISO250 • Canon R6 & RF24-70/2.8L •}

Early Start

Fishermen on a morning fuel run. Oddamavadi. October 2023.

^{• 35mm • f/4 • 1/250 • ISO200 • Canon R6 & RF14-35/4L •}

Wudu

Muslims perform the ritual act of purification – washing of the face, head, arms, and feet – before midday prayers at the Dewatagaha Mosque, in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo. Shot on assignment for Panos Pictures and Die Zeit in June 2023.

^{• 24mm • f/2.8 • 1/125 • ISO500 • Canon R6 & RF24-70/2.8L •}

The Dewatagaha Mosque

Named after the dawata tree (Carallia brachiata, or corkwoood) next to which a Sufi saint made a miraculous appearance in 1820, parts of the mosque, in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, are believed to date to the mid-19th century. Shot on assignment for Panos Pictures and Die Zeit in June 2023.

^{• 14mm • f/4 • 1/1600 • ISO100 • Canon R6 & RF14-35/4L •}

Mangoes with a Smile

Fruit stall on Hill Street, in the southern Colombo suburb of Dehiwela. Shot on assignment for Panos Pictures and Die Zeit in June 2023.

^{• 14mm • f/4 • 1/60 • ISO400 • Canon R6 & RF14-35/4L •}