The islanders

The island of Sri Lanka is a country of great natural beauty. But it also bristles with life and people, particularly in its bustling cities and towns. During my recent trip, I found my camera turning towards its people. Some of them I met and asked to take their photographs, sending them copies of their portraits when I returned home.

There was Lala, a pleasant, polite man who showed me the local village and Mr Silva the sarong seller who looks careworn in his picture, but waved and smiled at me after our encounter. I didn’t meet the lady in white seen on Kandy’s main street – but she seemed to gaze straight into the lens.

Other Sri Lankans were observed and captured from a greater distance, while there was no shortage of street and crowd scenes on a busy festival day in Kandy. Sri Lanka also boasts a wide variety of animal life, from cheeky monkeys to a docile cow who watched the sunset on the beach and then lumbered away. Faces become even more fascinating when they’re less familiar…

Click first image to launch the gallery

Tags: candid, cow, Kandy, monkey, nature, photography, portraits, portraiture, Sri Lanka, street photography, tourism, travel, vacation, Wadduwa, wildlife

14 thoughts on “The islanders”

ckponderings on February 22, 2016 at 06:33 said:

Ooh! Mike Does Street Photography! And I’m really liking the results! Lala’s a great portrait and I love the framing of Tailors. The Sundown Cow too! A really beautiful set of images, Mike.

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- mikeosbornphoto on February 25, 2016 at 20:05 said:
  
  Thanks so much, Richard. Yes, put me somewhere unfamiliar and I do unusual things – including taking portraits of people I barely know! Sri Lanka is a great place to do it as the people are very amenable to this idea.
  
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  - ckponderings on February 26, 2016 at 00:26 said:
    
    And, worse case scenario, you’ll never see them again! :)
    
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    - mikeosbornphoto on February 26, 2016 at 08:48 said:
      
      So you always have a memento of that meeting :)
      
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      - ckponderings on February 26, 2016 at 11:05 said:
        
        :)
        
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The Crazy Crone on February 21, 2016 at 17:45 said:

Great photos, Mike, really enjoyed the range of people and their activities.

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- mikeosbornphoto on February 21, 2016 at 18:17 said:
  
  Thank you very much, Mo. I hope you enjoyed the furrier/fluffier varieties too :)
  
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Cos on February 21, 2016 at 14:58 said:

Great photos of the beautiful people of Sri Lanka. I love it when you’re making photos of people <3

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- mikeosbornphoto on February 21, 2016 at 15:03 said:
  
  Thank you Koos. I’m trying to do more of this in 2016. I wonder if the people of the Netherlands will be unfamiliar enough to photograph?…
  
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  - Cos on February 21, 2016 at 15:07 said:
    
    Well…, ehm…, everybody thinks he/she’s a model in the Netherlands. We all are used to get photographed these days.
    
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    - mikeosbornphoto on February 21, 2016 at 15:11 said:
      
      You all possibly seem too familiar to your island cousin…!
      
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      - Cos on February 21, 2016 at 15:18 said:
        
        We’re so close to each other, even a #brexit can’t change that ;-)
        
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        mikeosbornphoto on February 21, 2016 at 15:37 said:
        
        I think you want to come with us! Hopefully we’re not going anywhere.
        
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        Cos on February 21, 2016 at 17:18 said:
        
        I hope so too, Mike!
        
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