Jagath Dheerasekara

PERSONAL STATEMENT:

Returning to Sri Lanka from France in mid 90s, I started to engage in documentary photography in line with social and contemporary themes.

I have presented my work in a number of selected group exhibitions and solo exhibitions. My work has been accepted and exhibited at international photographic exhibitions held in several countries, the most recent being the Chobi Mela V – International Festival of Photography in Bangladesh in January 2009. Also, my photography was presented at the Singapore International Festival of photography 2008 and the Fisher’s Ghost Festival 2008 in Australia. I was also a member in the photo project, the Urban Changes, organized by Goethe-Institut Mumbai in Mumbai, India in 2007. The Urban Changes exhibition travelled to many cities in the south Asian region.Prior to that he took part in ‘Imagine Tropics’ a project by Goethe-Institut Colombo, Sri Lanka where he documented lives of cinnamon peelers.

I teach photography and in 2005 I worked with Photo Voice, a UK based organization to conduct photographic workshops for youngsters affected by the Tsunami. My most recent project was Day and Beyond, held in collaboration with the Alliance Francaise Colombo in 2008 where i conducted a long duration workshop for 10 photographers coming from different parts of Sri Lanka and curated the exhibition of documentary photography, Day and Beyond (http://dayandbeyond.blogspot.com/ ).