Sri Lanka’s Struggle Through The Lens of Photographer Ushan Gunasekera
Sri Lanka’s Struggle Through The Lens of A Photographer: Images Captured By Ushan Gunasekera
Written by Shamindri De Sayrah
A photo diary of Sri Lanka’s ongoing protests captured by photographer Ushan Gunasekera. When asked why he was doing this his answer was simple,
“The New York Times shared news of what’s going on here with images that only show the bits and pieces of violence that occurred. These reputed media outlets tend to sensationalize our struggles for the sake of clout, and those images can easily mislead the public eye of the world really quickly. Well guess what, this is not India. My people can protest peacefully even if it’s against a corrupted regime as the one we have now. Get yourself a proper editor. Maybe a proper Sri Lankan photographer too.”
His goal is to show people and to show the world why we are doing what we are doing, and that we are doing it peacefully, to show people why we protest, why we raise our signs and our voices, and why we won’t stop until there is change.
“Police stationed inside the Presidential Secretariat alongside STF and other security staff. Had an interesting chat with one of them today (not pictured here). He said they all feel bad about this too, they know what/who they protect deserves all the hate brewing outside. But duty bans them from crossing over to the other side of the fence here. With every swear I made at the regime, he nodded in agreement.
I felt that.”
“The voice of the people is louder than all you Rajapaksas together.”
“Fathers, brothers, sons, all united against one enemy.”
“How much of suffering does it take for you Rajapaksas to understand that enough is enough?”
“Everybody has come out to the streets. Everybody.”
“Age doesn’t matter. We’re all fighting this together. if not for us, for them!”
“In the midst of all the commotion around, I found it quite fascinating how this monk maintained such a calm, quiet composure as he observed us all.”
“Gota, just go home!”
“Our relentless spirit is unmatched.”
“A traffic police officer watches on as protesters pass by engaging in support, right from their vehicles.”
Ushan is among one of the many photographers out there who has been capturing the strife of the Sri Lankan protests and telling the stories of what has really been going on. We have seen our people come together during this time in an incredible way, we have seen people young and old fighting for this cause, we have seen people of all religions taking care of one another all because of the dedication of the photographers who have been there to capture these moments during these times. Ushan will continue to do what he can for this cause both behind the Lense and behind a sign, and he urges all photographers out there to share their work in the same way.
“I am no Chris Hondros or Daniel Berehulak, but I’ll try my part with what I can do for my country and for my people.
I urge all my friends who take pictures or videos there to take, record and share the true story of how things are over here. I was here all day today, I will again wait through the night until my batteries die out, then I’ll wave the flag instead to protest alongside my people.”
If you want to check out his full album you can have a look here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=ushan.ezio.gunasekera&set=a.10227822019524436
