Lens on Sri Lanka: Beyond the Instagram Photos

If you’ve been following a number of travel Instagrammers on the famous social media app, chances are you’ve seen them visit Sri Lanka, the country that made some of the top travel destination lists since 2018. The photos these Instagrammers shared were usually stunning, showing the famous swing on the beaches of Unawatuna, the Sigiriya rock further inland and of course the famous blue train of Ella crossing over the nine arches bridge. The photographs undoubtedly stirred a little bit of envy and reawakened the wanderlust in anyone who’s seen them. I, for certain, was one of those people who poured over these images and dreamt up my own journey to this seemingly magical place. However, I suspected that Sri Lanka had more to offer than just its famous and slightly overly popular sites. As a travel photographer, I wanted to explore beyond the invisible borders of what is considered instagrammable and dive a little bit deeper into what the country really is. 

As most photographers will tell you, making great images requires time and patience, the two factors that are often as equally important as light and composition. Unfortunately, time was not going to be my friend on this trip, as I only had about 10 days to explore Sri Lanka and wanted to hit at least some of these famous places bloggers rave about. This is usually my biggest problem when traveling: I always want more time! However, as on all my previous trips, I decided to give it my best, immerse myself as deeply as possible and create the most honest images with whatever I had at the moment. 

Fortunately, Sri Lanka makes all of this quite easy. To start with, it is an incredibly picturesque country with varied landscapes offering something to the most capricious of all photographers. From the beaches along its coastline and mountains of the inner region through wildlife of the national parks, Sri Lanka truly has something to offer for everyone, no matter their taste. As always, my favorite part of the journey was photographing the streets and taking portraits of local people. To say that these two did not disappoint would be an understatement. As it turned out, the people of Sri Lanka were incredibly warm and friendly and curious about the travelers visiting their country. Since the wounds of the recent terrorist attacks still run deep, Sri Lankans were eager to engage in conversation and assure us of the safety and friendliness of their homeland. They didn’t mind being photographed, but also loved to click the shutter themselves: many a times I became the subject of their photos or found myself posing for a selfie with a group of locals on their cell phone camera. It wasn’t difficult or intimidating to strike up a conversation and to make images. I will definitely say that if you are a novice, but want to practice street and portrait photography, Sri Lanka is a great place to start, as most people will gladly oblige to be photographed (as always, please honor people’s wish to refuse a photo and be respectful in all instances).

The true challenge in making images in a place like Sri Lanka, where there is a photo opportunity on almost every corner, lies in creating a cohesive series and portraying the spirit of a place. So how do we do that? How do we come back with a set of photographs that say something truthful and encompassing about the place we just visited? What kind of images will tell the complete story? 

Perhaps there is no way to do that, as most stories can be told from many different angles, but if we can create a set of photographs that make a viewer feel like they’ve been there and feel what we’ve felt when we pressed the shutter, then perhaps we have succeeded. What is the point of travel photography anyway? To show a place we visited in the most honest possible way and to tell the stories of the landscapes and the people we’ve encountered on our journey. To some of our viewers, those might be the only stories they’ll ever hear or get to experience for themselves. The more honest and cohesive our stories are, the closer we get to capturing what the place is truly all about. Artistic subjectivity aside, travel photographers have a sense of obligation to show the place as they truly saw and experienced it. 

But I digress somewhat. What I really have been wanting to say is that Sri Lanka is an absolutely wonderful place to visit and photograph and I encourage everyone who travels there to experience the country beyond the famous social media sites. Explore the hidden streets of Colombo, drive along the coast and stop for a refreshing coconut juice, stay at a local guest house instead of a big famous hotel and join a Sri Lankan family for a spicy curry dinner. And all along the way, document what you saw and felt and share honestly about your experiences inspiring others to travel or at least show them a different world than they are used to seeing. In that lies the power of travel photography.