Eight senior photojournalists, half of them former Lake House staff, were felicitated by the Photojournalists Association of Sri Lanka at the first ever photo-journalism exhibition at the J.D.A. Perera Gallery last Friday (26).
The chief guest President Maithripala Sirisena speaking to reporters said, “I appreciate the creativity and the skill of these photojournalists. Different issues in society of different eras are portrayed - especially issues related to universities, civil war and politicians.”
The four former Lake House photographers felicitated were Sena Vidanagama, Walter Perera, S. Chitrananda and Bandu S Kodikara. The other four were the late Sri Lal Gomes, U N Perera, Alfred Silva and Saranapala Pamunuwa.
The function was well-attended with prominent politicians, including Minister of Housing, Construction and Cultural Affairs Sajith Premadasa, making an appearance.
“Taking photographs is my hobby, something I learnt from my late father, a keen photographer, especially of wild life. He guided and taught me to derive satisfaction from this satisfying hobby,” said Minister Premadasa. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya interestingly gave away the top award - the gold medal, to Lahiru Harshana, for his click of the Speaker coming under the ‘chilli powder attack’.
From a grand total of 252 entries, of the 26-member association, 43 had been accepted for exhibition - masterful photographs that relived the moments captured.
An exclusive collection of the veteran’s were also on-show. Both the accepted and the exclusive corner had emerged from extra-ordinary and historical moments.
A pick of them were the chili powder attack, during the 52-day political coup in parliament, the late Rajiv Gandhi ducking a rifle assault, politically significant scenes and students and policemen manhandling each other.
The first-of-its-kind exhibition, will be open to viewing till this evening (28), concluding at five.