The Ecstatic Coast
A community update from Sri Lanka’s south coast.
My ‘buy me a coffee’ page shows the impact small groups of people can have in the world. I don’t drink coffee, but have essential photography costs. Anything I raise above, I donate to the causes in these updates.
You can check out my ‘buy me a coffee’ page here.
Photo Gallery
Find my Soul Lanka photo gallery here.
The Ecstatic Coast
Sea spray spreads the south coast.
A mystic glitter sparkling in air.
Seen, felt
it sticks like sand between toes.
The beach path begins in jungle.
The ground firms, supports
beneath a canopy protecting the floor from heat.
A green light to remain bare feet,
playing with dark, dancing to an earthy beat.
Structures surround trees
holding trunks in embrace.
Branches extend, twist in wild movements
reaching towards nothing,
but rooted to everything.
Eyes closed they navigate this jungle.
An entanglement with no bearing.
They don’t know where they’re going
but find a clearing.
Soul Lanka
One night before Soul Lanka, I received the late call-up to photograph.
A conscious community festival by Senses Sri Lanka in Weligama.
Workshops and a billion ecstatic dances. A sober party serving pints of cacao.
All profits, a donation of €2,584, supported the cancer treatment of a member in the community.
Offering my services to the cause felt like the least I could do. I bounced out of bed in the dark with the morning alarm for my hitchhike and double bus journey. My excitement to contribute balanced the holding onto dear life on the bus.
The love of the event was encompassing. Capturing moments feels easier in these spaces where there are endless hugs and smiles.
Women’s Circle
At Soul Lanka I photographed my first women’s circle.
It was interesting learning to capture this as a man. Reading the subtle cues of this open, vulnerable space. Ensuring it remained safe and respectful.
Hasika, the facilitator, led a Hawaiian cleansing practice to apologising and resolving conflict called Ho’oponopono. Seeing the way these women, who many had met in that moment, held each other was powerful.
If you’ve followed my photos in the past, you know I experiment with motion blur. I used it to express the communal regulation in the circle. The energy and support passing from one to the next.
Observations from the Mat
I’m having the joy of more time on and capturing the yoga mat. Unique classes filled the schedule from Techno Yoga to Mythic Movement.
During Mythic Movement, the class was moving through a regular flow. Here the teacher asked, ‘but can you make it poetry?’
This question reminded me of two quotes:
An assistant teacher, Lucy, at the start of my yoga training last year.
"Yoga is the language of the spirit and soul.”Photographer Pie Arts drawing the parallels between photography and poetry.
“…both frame reality to reveal something deeper than what’s immediately visible. They rely on the absence of information, and the space created by it in order to invite personal interpretation to fill in the gaps.”
In practice we move through something.
A feeling. A vibe. An energy.
Whatever you believe, that something is hard to express. Words and images sometimes help us access the experience. On occasion they don’t. The experience goes beyond concept.
It’s here I love leaning into the gaps.
The absence of information.
The language of the spirit and soul needs
space
to move.
Thank you for reading my latest community update from Sri Lanka. My ‘buy me a coffee’ page highlights heart-led projects like Soul Lanka. I hope it can show the impact small groups of people can have in the world.
I don’t drink coffee, but have essential photography costs. Anything I raise above, I donate to the causes in these updates.
You can check out my ‘buy me a coffee’ page here.
