Dhobi Men

Wekanda, Slave Island; one of the many Colombos in the City of Colombo. April 2024.

^{• 14mm • f/4 • 1/1250 • ISO100 • Canon R6 & RF14-35/4L •}

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

^{• 35mm • f/4 • 1/160 • ISO100 • Canon R6 & RF14-35/4L •}

^{• 35mm • f/4 • 1/80 • ISO100 • Canon R6 & RF14-35/4L •}

Washing Out the Sin

A young Muslim performs the ritual act of wudu, or purification, before morning prayers. Katukele Mosque, Kandy. January 2024.

^{• 70mm • f/2.8 • 1/640 • ISO800 • Canon R6 & RF24-70/2.8L •}

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 •}

Looking for the Blues

Moonstone miners wash pegmatite gravel that has just been raised from a deep shaft in Meetiyagoda, in southwestern Sri Lanka, the world’s primary source of blue moonstones. Shot on assignment for Explore Sri Lanka magazine. My photo story, ‘Moonstones of Meetiyagoda‘, ran in the February 2014 issue.

Refreshment on Tap, Manning Market, Pettah

A truck driver washes at a public tap after his presumably long night drive, hauling fresh fruit, vegetables, dry goods, and other commodities to the Manning Market, the heart of Colombo’s market district of the Pettah. Sri Lanka, April 2018.

Quarantined Fruit

Apples bought from a door-to-door vendor in Colombo are washed and left outside for several hours, before being taken indoors, to kill any possibility of coronavirus infection.

Colourful Gintupitiya

Gintupitiya Street, in the Kotahena area of Colombo, Sri Lanka. April 2016.

Cleanliness Before Godliness

A Muslim washes before Friday morning prayers at the Jami Ul-Alfar Masjid, more commonly known as the Red Mosque, on 2nd Cross Street, in the Pettah area of Colombo, Sri Lanka. April 2016.

600D+EFS24/2.8+polariser@1/80,f/2.8,ISO400.

Posted in belief, explorations, life, people, street, urbanTagged 24mm, 2nd Cross Street, 600D, belief, blue, Colombo, devotees, feet, Hoya, Islam, Jami Ul-Alfar Masjid, Muslims, people, Pettah, pillars, pond, pool, Red Mosque, religion, Sri Lanka, stripes, washing, water, worship

Shake Off the Dust of Your Feet

A dusty traveller washes his sandals in the Modergam Aru after riding his motorcycle along the only road south from Mannar, a dirt track through the Wilpattu National Park. The Modergam Aru forms the southern border of Wilpattu, Sri Lanka’s largest nature reserve. February 2016.

600D+EFS18-200/3.5-5.6+polariser@80mm,1/50,f/5,ISO400

Posted in activities, explorations, life, people, waterTagged 18-200mm, 600D, black & white, bridge, causeway, crouching, Hoya, Modergam Aru, people, reflections, ripples, river, river crossing, sandals, squatting, Sri Lanka, travel, traveler, washing, water, Wilpattu