ADCO employee's love for photography and the wild is captured in brillliant prints
There's a story behind Shantha Weerasinghe's 30-year-old passion. When his wife gave birth to their first son back in Sri Lanka, the excited father called her from Abu Dhabi to tell her about the gift he had bought to celebrate the birth of their child.
He did not have to reveal the nature of the gift to his wife.
"I knew in my heart it had to be the most expensive Hasselblade camera he had longed to have," recalled Weerasinghe's wife of many years. She knew only too well her husband's blind love for his hobby.
As a bachelor, an enthusiastic Weerasinghe had never spared a thought before pouring all his earnings into buying the not-so cheap darkroom equipment and other photography equipment.
Today, Weerasinghe, who took up photography when he was just 15, owns more than 15 expensive cameras. His collection includes a 35mm Mamiya format camera, a Leica, Nikons, Minox, Hasselblade and others.
Why photography?
"Words tell much but in a visual medium such as photography, an image of the creator can often reveal more. In the end, the work must talk..," says the ADCO (Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Operations ) employee. But essentially, Weerasinghe believes he was fascinated by a "technique which could capture anything on film".
"Essentially, I loved mastering the technique of being able to photograph anything with the right exposure and the right timing. Can you imagine you can even shoot a dark and dim cave by placing a camera on a tripod and shooting with the right exposure?" he said.
Weerasinghe's collection
