Framing fauna

Ruwini JAYAWARDANA

His work has a twofold purpose: monetising wildlife and creating livelihood as well as doing research on specialist products for educational purposes.

Elephant at Minneriya during the gathering of elephants

Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne

“Until recently, we did not have Sinhala names for the 244 species of butterflies found on the island. So as a start, we copied the English names into Sinhala and Tamil script. For dragonflies, we still do not have a Sinhala or Tamil nomenclature. Whether it is for conservation or making people enjoy wildlife, you need to give them the words to be able to see,” says our ‘Encounter of the Week’, well-known wildlife and tourism personality Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne.

He has authored and photographed over 15 books on nature and wildlife. Some of his most renowned work like Whale Watching, Leopard Safaris and The Gathering of Elephants put Sri Lanka on the map. Be it the ever changing cycle of nature or a once in a lifetime moment, Gehan’s photographs remain to tell the story.

Q: Are you a nature photographer first or a writer?

A: My interest in photography was more evident than my desire to be a writer because I acquired SLR camera equipment when I was 15. However, my reputation as a photographer grew out of the need to take images to support the stories I was trying to put out. I am now equally at ease with being both.

Q: Why did you choose to make nature the subject of your photographs and writing?

Leopard cub at Yala

A: I had an intuitive love for the outdoors and wildlife which was encouraged by my parents, siblings and an aunt and uncle.

I was also very lucky because by the age of three, I was a confirmed leopard enthusiast thanks to my Uncle Dodwel who used to take us to Yala and Vilpattu.

Q: Leopards are conspicuous in your work. What makes the animal a constant subject for your photography?

A: Leopards epitomise grace and power. They can be mesmerising because they are cute and deadly at the same time.

They cast a spell over people. Wildlife photographers can become obsessive over leopards and develop a relationship with individual leopards they get to know. It is similar to a friendship. Of course this passion is not reciprocated by the leopard who sees just another vehicle with a lens sticking out.

Q: You have popularised whale watching as a tourist attraction in Sri Lanka. It has even become part of the Galle Literary Festival. What’s ‘literary’ about whale watching?

A: The GLF committee wanted some excursions to complement the literary activities. Whale watching made a lot of sense because almost everyone in the world wants to see a Blue Whale. The fact that Sri Lanka is the best for Blue Whale is now pretty much established with the media campaign I spearheaded and my 17 articles on marine wildlife.

Blue Whale at Mirissa

A lot of writers and photographers attend the GLF. Showing them Blue Whales also opens doors for Sri Lanka to be featured on TV and in the glossy magazines overseas. There is also a literary connection because one of the most famous literary works in the English language is Moby-Dick; or, The Whale by Herman Melville. More recently we had Philip Hoare at the GLF. He won the Samuel Johnson prize for non fiction in 2009 for his book, Leviathan or, The Whale. In 2009, I was on board with Germaine Greer on a whale watch. It turned she goes whale watching all over the world. Writers have a fascination for these near mythical animals.

Q: How does nature photography differ from other photographic genres?

A: One obvious distinction is that when photographing in the wild, one has little or no control over the subjects. A lot of patience and skills, especially speed of response, is needed. At times, it may entail taking risks, although I would advise everyone to take suitable steps to mitigate risks. You need to read a lot and become a knowledgeable naturalist to be an effective storyteller through wildlife photography.

Q: Is there a picture you want to photograph but the opportunity hasn’t presented itself?

A: I would like to take a image of a crow that wins a competition to demonstrate that it is not the rarity of species which makes a great photograph. In terms of species, there are hundreds of species I still need to photograph because I still have other guide books to do.

Q: Which photographs are the pride of your collection?

A: I take pride in the images which have created livelihood, generated millions of rupees in tourism revenues and helped brand tourism assets for the country. Some of the much published images I took to establish The Gathering of Elephants, Leopard Safaris and Best for Blue are examples. These images have a story behind them.

Q: Is there a market for books related to nature and wildlife?

A: There is a huge appetite but in Sri Lanka, very few people can afford good books. This limits book sales. I have worked with the team in Jetwing Eco Holidays (www.jetwingeco.com) to make a lot of educational material available free on the web.

Q: You have returned to the UK. How does this enrich your work?

A: Meeting and talking to some of the world’s top photographers , writers and celebrity wildlife presenters inspires me. For example, I met and had one to one chats with Bill Bryson, Steve Bloom, Mark Carwardine, Kate Humble, Nick Baker, Bill Oddie and a host of other top names recently. I introduce many of these inspiring people to the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau’s director and staff in London as possible candidates for a press trip. I learn a lot by attending talks by some of the world’s best writers, photographers and adventurers. I also spend a lot of time in the London Wetland Center developing my skills as an all round naturalist.

Q: Are there any more books on the way?

A: There is always one or two books that I am working on. The first to be launched will be a 200 plus page book in the series by the National Trust – Sri Lanka. It will be on animals and cover the animal groups which are popular with the public and wildlife tourists. I suspect it will be the best multi-species guide to Sri Lankan animals to date. A British publisher has also commissioned me to write a 50,000 book on Wild Sri Lanka which is due in 2013.

Q: Who inspires you in the field?

A: There has been an army of quiet heroes in the tourism industry especially at Jetwing and friends and family who have helped me. In terms of visible heroes in Sri Lankan natural history, Rohan Pethiyagoda is on top of the list. He led a team which over-turned the myth that Sri Lanka had been explored well zoologically. He is one of the greatest bio-diversity explorers and natural history publishers of the 20th and 21st centuries.

I have enormous admiration for Professor Sarath Kotagama who took bird watching to a Sinhala audience and has dedicated so much time and energy to educate people.

Thilo Hoffmann who saved Sinharaja, distinguished field scientists like Professors Nimal and Savithri Gunatilke and a clutch of young field scientists who are doing great work such as Channa Bambaradeniya, Ruchira Somaweera and Dinarazrde Raheem are some other people I admire.

Practitioners such as Srila Miththapala and Chitral Jayathilaka who are also monetising wildlife as one way to conserve it, Ornithologist Deepal Warakagoda who has developed field craft and technical knowledge to a level which means professional Sri Lankan naturalist guides are as good as from even the developed countries, inspirational photographers like Dominic Sansoni and Rukshan Jayewardene too fall into this category. The list is endless.

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