Arts

As I look up at the big cat lying lazily across the branch, tail swatting the air, it seems to me that standing in front of a Studio Times picture is like being in conversation with an incredibly eloquent person. These pictures speak – theirs is the language of our heritage, their accent, the beauty of our land, their words the faces of our people. They are more than images; they are moments when life – in all its variety and glory - stood still for one person with a camera.

“We take photographs of places people have never seen, and of places that people pass every day but never really see,” says a smiling Anu Weerasuriya, presently the managing director of Studio Times. Anu is one of several photographers whose work will be on display in the Studio Times exhibition titled ‘With the Dawn.’ In celebration of the publication of the book by the same name, the exhibition will feature the work of renowned photographer Nihal Fernando, along with that of the studio team which includes Anu, Christopher Silva, Roshan Perret, Devaka Seneviratne, Ben Samarasinghe and Isuru Perera.

This is their first big exhibition in two years, and while there are many wildlife photographs, the exhibition will also be rich in images of archaeological sites and landscapes. A small section is to be devoted to images captured in the devastating aftermath of the tsunami.

Extensive captions have been written to complement nearly 200 visuals, while the images taken from ‘With the Dawn’ itself will be placed alongside text taken from the book and written by Herbert Keuneman. The prints will be in black and white, colour and infra-red, and will include a few extra large enlargements.

These photographs are valuable not only for their beauty, but also for their service as documentaries. “Many of the things that were photographed 10 years ago, are not there today,” reveals Anu, explaining that ignorant vandals will often unthinkingly damage or destroy a beautiful artefact.

Their photographs, Studio Times hopes, will stir public awareness, inspiring attempts to conserve and preserve the rich cultural and ecological wealth of our tiny island.

It is not only the subjects of the photographs that are facing oblivion, but an entire style of photography in itself. Because they shoot for most part on film, these photographers require a degree of skill that someone working with a digital camera need not possess.

“These will soon be relics of the past,” says Christopher, explaining that that digital photography seems to be not only cheaper, but easier. No one need spend years mastering the camera or even hours patiently waiting for the light to be just right – Photoshop can take care of it all for you.

But for photographers like Christopher, it is in the traditional way of doing things that the real artistry lies. For the others too, it seems that a good picture is worth a great deal of time and effort.

That is why, behind some of these images are hard days spent trekking through unforgiving forests and living in rough camps. You might very well ask why anyone would take up a job that meant they began work at 5 a.m on a weekend and went on till late at night? The answer is simple – they love it…and that simple fact shines through.

A presentation of Marguerite Yourcenar’s short story “How Wang-Fo was saved?” adapted and presented by Mark Amerasinghe will be held tomorrow, September 11, at 7 p.m. at The Alliance Francaise de Colombo, 11, Barnes Place, Colombo 7.

Marguerite Yourcenar (1903-87) was the first female writer to be elected in 1980 to the Academic Francaise. To her, writing was a religion and she consecrated her whole life, with passionate devotion, to her literary works. These were innumerable, of diverse genres, and inspired by her travels abroad, by a love of art, philosophy and love itself, and a wide and sensitive reading of the classics of the West and the East. The short story ‘How Wang-Fo was saved’ (Comment Wang-Fo fut sauve) is from the slender volume of short stories, ‘Nouvelles Orientales', written mainly in the 1930s influenced largely, as the name suggests, by the folklore on the Orient.

‘Comment Wang-Fo fut sauve’ is an inspired devotional hymn that sings of the supremacy of the world of love, beauty and art over that of our mundane, material existence. The original French is sheer poetry, where the author uses words to paint a canvas as magically colourful, vivid and vibrant, as the works of the master painter – Wang-Fo - were reputed to be.

Attempting to capture, in translation, something at least of the magic of this little gem, was a risk-laden and daunting task.

The presentation takes 1 hour and 15 minutes.

The world renowned diary of the young Jewish girl Anne Frank who suffered under the Nazi regime has been brought to the stage by veteran dramatist Ravindra Ranasinha. The Sinhala theatre adaptation titled ‘Sevanali’ (Shadows) will be performed at Lumbini Theatre on September 15 at 6.30 p.m. for World Peace Day.

‘Sevanali’ (Shadows), is an anti-war docu-drama, which depicts the psychological trauma caused to children by war. It presents multi-media images on the current war situation in parallel to the story of Anne Frank. This play, which shows the plight of civil society, minority groups, journalists and others who are affected by war, is presented by ‘Subodhi’, Institute of Integral Education in Piliyandala and sponsored by the Nelung Dance Academy.

The cast includes Nilmini Fernando, Theekshana Pramuditha, Gayani Keshika, Kavya Aloka, Rohana Handunneththi, Lalani Fernando, Saman Manikkarachchi, Wickramasena Hettihewa, Jeevan Handunneththi, Shayama Edirisinghe, Ashen Priyankara, Piyori Niranjan, Gihan Silva and Gihan Anuradha.