‘Monochrome Magic’, a centenary tribute to the photographer L.H.R. Wijetunga will be held at the Lionel Wendt Gallery on July 28 from 9.30 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. A visual storyteller, Wijetunga whose career spanned five decades, sought to preserve the history, culture, and fleeting human emotions of a rapidly changing world. This centenary exhibition provides [...]
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‘Monochrome Magic’, a centenary tribute to the photographer L.H.R. Wijetunga will be held at the Lionel Wendt Gallery on July 28 from 9.30 a.m. to 7.30 p.m.
A visual storyteller, Wijetunga whose career spanned five decades, sought to preserve the history, culture, and fleeting human emotions of a rapidly changing world. This centenary exhibition provides an opportunity to look back at the work of a maestro who defined an era of photography.
Images from the Wijetunga collection and right above, the artist Manjusri
Wijetunga’s photographic career spanned over 50 years. He was recognized for his mastery of traditional film photography, darkroom techniques and use of chemical development processes to curate high-quality compelling monochrome images.
An engineer by profession and the first Director of the former Department of Telecommunications (1980), he was a dedicated member and the Secretary of the Photographic Society of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), heavily contributing to the development of the photography community in Sri Lanka.
Over the years, his work was featured at exhibitions both locally and internationally and won many prizes and awards. He exhibited in several European and Asian countries, including Austria, France, Germany, Norway, Rumania, Czechoslovakia, Japan, the UK and Pakistan.
His overseas awards include a silver plaque at the Berlin International Photo Exhibition in 1967 and prizes from The Asia-Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU) at photo contests conducted in Japan and by UNESCO on several occasions. Notably, he was the only Sri Lankan whose work was published in the French publication “Children of the World” sponsored by the Fédération Photographique de France with the Fédération Internationale de l’Art Photographique (FIAP) in 1970.
In 1996 he represented Sri Lanka as a member of the UNESCO Jury for the selection of prizewinning works at the annual competition held in Tokyo for the Asia Pacific region.
He launched his book ‘Portraits of a Nation – A photographic essay of the people of Sri Lanka’ in 2002-compelling black and white portraits of a broad spectrum of Sri Lankan society.
He was honoured with the first State Lifetime Achievement award ‘Chayaroopa Abhimani’ by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Sri Lanka in 2016 in recognition of his invaluable contribution to the art of photography in Sri Lanka.
A century after his birth, the images captured by Wijetunga remain alive. His archives serve as a bridge between the past and the present, reminding us that while technology evolves, the power of a single, well-captured moment remains eternal.
The exhibition is being organised by his family to celebrate his 100th birth anniversary.
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Print Edition – The Sunday Times, Sri Lanka
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