My travels around this little country have put me in contact with a diverse and fascinating mix of people. From the tea-pickers of the hill country to the fish sellers in the south coast markets, to Colombo’s rich and trendy, the people of Sri Lanka never fail to impress me with their warmth and kindness. This is a small collection of some of my favourite portraits from the last four months I’ve spent here.
Tamil tea picker in Ella, Sri Lankas highlands.
Man dancing at a wedding in Bentota
1st year birthday celebrations in Hikkaduwa
Traditional dancers at a mini perahera festival in Kandy
woman in traditional sari at a club in Colombo
Man spear fishing in Trincomalee – and yes, that’s a baby lobster on his head!
tea-pickers in the hill country
schoolboys on the train lines just outside of Nuwara Eliya
little girl in the kitchen on Sri Lankan new years day, Hikkaduwa
My friend shows me his bird collection in Hikkaduwa
Love these photos, Natalie! Keep the portraits coming..
Thanks mum! ^^
Awesome pictures! I love the traditional dancers and the sari. I rarely hear about Sri Lanka, it is great to see pics
Thanks Jess
Yeah, the sari is amazing. I want one like that!
So lovely !
Great photos, Natalie! I love how you can glimpse a country’s culture by merely seeing photos of its people. Also, the male dancer is sexy, as is the woman in the traditional sari. You’ve inspired me to make a post like this about Korea.
Thanks Sarah,
Yeah people have always been my favorite thing to photograph, but probably one of the hardest things to get right. There’s been so many amazing-looking people that I wanted to take photos of but didn’t because it was either inappropriate, I was too scared to ask, or their expression was lost in the moment and replaced with a cheesy grin when the camera came out. I was really glad to get these few great shots, although my camera skills/camera are really not up to the job of taking proper photos yet! I am working on it, however, following the tips on your blog! Love all the photos you put up, so beautiful and they really inspire me to start trying to get more out of my camera.
Can’t wait to see a post like this on Korea, bet you have some fab people shots by now, and there’s such a mix of faces in Korea from the wrinkly ajummas to the doe-eyed plastic faced business women. I’m sure it will be a great post
xxxxx
aww, thanks. ^^
I know how you feel– I’m often too scared to ask people to take their photo, and afraid to take photos without asking permission. Especially in poor countries / areas, I don’t want people to feel like they are a spectacle. However, I am getting a little braver. Mainly, this is because Koreans take so many photos anyway. I don’t feel like the odd foreigner pulling my camera out.
I really should make a photo essay titled, “The Plastic Faces of Apgujeong.” But– that would probably be too offensive to post without asking their permission. Thoughts?
Oh god, I know exactly what you mean about apgujeong, but perhaps its rather a delicate subject to touch upon in photos and could be taken as mockery. Perhaps you could just do comparisons of old to new Korea. I think that the divide between the old and the young in Korea is so intriguing. After all, anyone over the age of 50 grew up in relative poverty, in an entirely different Korea to the one we see today, but the young people….well they’ve grown up in an economic boom. Everything from their physical features to their dress sense, their faces (artificially) and their attitudes have changed as a result of the money pouring in to the economy. If you can sum this up in photos I think it would be amazing.
What great photos. Also, what a cool concept to have your mom participate by writing about Fes. I’m nominating you for the Sunshine award. Check out my blog for more info.
Oh thanks Sean!!
Lovely photos! I like how you captured so many different people in such varied settings.
Thanks Audrey, and great blog by the way