Blue-tailed Bee-eater's Dream
(Digital long exposure images 65 x 35cm)
As a Sri Lankan immigrant now living in the United Kingdom, my journey has been a tapestry woven with diverse political, social, and cultural threads. Despite only visiting my homeland twice since 2007, the memories of my village and its surroundings are slowly slipping away, like grains of sand through my fingers. Yet, in my quest to preserve these fading recollections, I embark on a deeply personal exploration through my art. In the quiet solitude of early mornings, as I tread the familiar paths of my English village during my extra paper round job, a sense of longing and nostalgia washes over me. The transition from night to dawn mirrors the delicate balance between reality and memory, as I strive to evoke the essence of Sri Lanka in my photographs. Each image becomes a dreamlike tableau, blending the tangible with the imagined, offering fleeting glimpses of a distant homeland.
Yet, amidst the bittersweet ache of remembrance, there is solace to be found. In these tranquil moments of reflection, I find peace and respite from the complexities of adapting to a new life. My photographs serve as both a homage to the past and a bridge to the present, capturing the essence of a journey marked by longing, loss, and the enduring power of memory.