honorable mention
Peter Seenan finland
title
Gotabaya Go Home
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entry description
Aragalaya protests, Sri Lanka 2022. For two weeks in 2022 I spent time with protestors at Galle Face Green in Colombo and at other significant demonstration sites in Sri Lanka's capital. The people's movement later named "Aragalaya" (struggle) began in March 2022 and following mass protests culminated in the resignation of Sri Lanka's president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in July of that year. I wanted to witness what I thought would come to be defined a seminal moment in Sri Lanka's post-colonial history, throwing together people from all walks of life. Sri Lanka has been facing what's been called the "worst economic crisis since independence" and the protests were a reaction to that and other factors. In September 2022, a United Nations report said that the economic crisis was a result of officials' impunity from human rights abuses and economic crimes. Sri Lanka has continued to face a shortage of essential items such as medicines, and reforms under the conditions of an IMF support package have and continue to be painful to many.about the photographer
I'm an amateur photographer from Scotland and I'm trying to establish myself as a full-time freelance journalist and photojournalist. I recently left my job in communications to do a Master's degree in investigative journalism and I've had some recent journalistic success with investigations and photographs published in Sweden's Göteborgs-Posten. I've lived in Sri Lanka and studied in India in the past, I lived for the last year in Gothenburg and I'm based these days in Helsinki, Finland. For the last 15 years I've worked as an editor, copywriter, and communications strategist in numerous countries and sectors. I've a particular interest in Sri Lanka and South Asia and I'm researching stories on Sri Lanka at the moment.back to gallery