Visiting Mihintale Buddhist Ruins in Sri Lanka
Overview of stupa, surrounded by palm trees, at the historically important Mihintale Buddhist site in Sri Lanka.
Here's a few images I made in Mihintale Sri Lanka way back in 1992. The beautiful stupa and the huge, white Buddha statue featured in this post are important elements at this historically important site.
Sri Lanka A Land of Serendipity
The former name for the country of Sri Lanka was Ceylon. Prior to that it was called Serendip, from which the word Serendipity is derived.
The word Serendipity which describes the good fortunate associated with making beneficial discoveries, seemingly by chance, is an absolutely apt description of Sri Lanka.
Should you journey to Sri Lanka you may well experience many happy accidents. All you have to do is to get out and about and explore this most beautiful country with an open mind and heart.
Medium Format Hasselblad Film Cameras
The original images in this post were made on a Hasselblad 500CM medium format camera with a Hasselblad 150 mm Sonnar f/4 lens attached.
The film used was Kodak Ektacolor 160 Professional negative film from which I made my own prints in a color darkroom.
While considered to be the bees knees of cameras for its time, I always found the Swedish made camera to be clunky.
Nonetheless, the quality of the German made Zeiss lenses and the camera's relatively large negative size (6cm x 6cm) produced outstanding image quality.
Sadly the scans made from these original film images are very old, going back to the days of the Kodak Photo CD, and don’t do the original images justice.
One day I’II be in a position to digitise several thousand negatives and slides and look forward to updating this post with higher quality images.
A serene buddha statue at Medirigiriya in rural Sri Lanka.
Squares and Rectangles
One thing I particularly liked about the classic 120 film-based Hasselblad camera was its square format.
I sometimes feel that images composed within the bounds of a rectangular frame, whether portrait or landscape orientation, somehow effects the way the image is read.
I'm suggesting that the meaning we derive from a photograph can, to a degree, be associated with the format and orientation of that image.
In the world of the graphic designer horizontal lines suggest stability, steadiness and repose. Picture a horizon in a seascape as an apt example of this concept.
Vertical lines are a little more aggressive and powerful. Think of pin strip suits and ties in the corporate world.
In the context of landscape and architectural photography vertical lines can also suggest spirituality. Think of a steeple in a christian church.
Now let’s explore combining vertical and horizontal lines together in the same composition.
By placing a vertical line on top of a horizontal base an interesting result can be produced.
Any builder or home handyman knows that this action will produce a particularly stable and solid result.
Indeed an image, based around such a construction, suggests reliability and safety which are the notions life insurance and traditional banking institutions would want associated with their brands.
You can be sure that's a part of the brief given to graphic designers vying to produce corporate logos for such institutions.
Re-orientating Your Frame of Reference
As far as the photographic frame is concerned I see horizontal orientated images as being somewhat grounded.
Likewise I consider portrait or vertically oriented images offer a potentially more transcendental or spiritual reading of the image.
Does choosing one orientation over the other embed an image with these qualities? Of course not.
But just as light, color and gesture effect viewer response, so does composition. And image orientation is a key to good composition.
That makes image orientation another thing to consider when your intention is to make compelling images that explore or communicate a particular message or theme.
I always felt that the square format was unbiased. It’s a blank canvas onto which the image is composed with no messages, themes or metaphors inherent to the format.
A huge Buddha statue, perched high on a hilltop, against a dark sky in Mihintale, Sri Lanka.
The Promise of a Bright Future
I see this image of a huge white Buddha statue at Mihintale as being a metaphor for the country of Sri Lanka.
It’s long history, ancient architectural achievements (e.g., stupas, reservoirs) and evolved spiritual practices deserve recognition.
Sri Lanka has achieved so much in the past and what remains in the historical record can be seen as a sign of the greatness that’s still to come.
I loved Sri Lanka. It's far less crowded and polluted than India and has a much more relaxed ambience.
Sri Lanka offers the intrepid traveller marvelous historic sites, beautiful and varied landscapes and a gentle and spiritual people.
The opportunities for great photography are all around you in Sri Lanka, particularly for those folk who’re prepared to get out and about and take a somewhat physical approach to their photography.
When I visited there were security concerns associated with the countries protracted civil war. Now that the war is over I hope for a safer, fairer, more inclusive and economically stable society.
There have been problems over recent times but, overall, Sri Lanka is a safe and peaceful country and I’d be happy to travel there again.
The good people of Sri Lanka deserve a happy and prosperous life and, after so many years of hardship and uncertainty, I hope that’s what comes their way.
