Aragalaya coverage wins international recognition
The Aragalaya coverage by two Sri Lankan photojournalists working for foreign news agencies AFP and AP has been recognised by their peers.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) photojournalist Ishara Kodikara won recognition at the Human Rights Press Awards 2023 for his work during the political upheavals that eventually led to the ouster of Gotabaya Rajapaksa from the presidency in July 2022.
Aragalaya pictures taken by Associated Press (AP) photojournalist Eranga Jayawardena made the news agency a finalist in a Pulitzer Prize breaking news photography category.
In a media statement, AFP said Mr. Kodikara, 41, won an honourable mention in the “photography series” category of the awards organised by the New York-based Human Rights Watch, Arizona State University and the Reynolds Centre for Business Journalism.
“This award is a recognition for your hard and excellent work covering the daily protests in Colombo last year,” AFP’s Hong Kong-based Photo Director for the Asia-Pacific region, Mladen Antonov said.
“On behalf of all of us here in Hong Kong and from the photo management in Paris, please accept once more our warm congratulations!”
Ishara joined AFP in 2008 and is attached to its Colombo bureau. He has also photographed political upheavals in the Maldives and the 2015 earthquake in Nepal in addition to covering international cricket tournaments in Sri Lanka and abroad.
AFP’s Kabul bureau won the first prize in the breaking news category and recognised for their work “under deadline pressure with speed, accuracy and high-quality writing on a single human rights-related news event.”
Already renowned for its text and photo production, AFP is now also recognised internationally for the quality of its videos, which is attested to by its constant gains in market share and the many awards it receives. Images, which are increasingly the key element of news coverage, now account for half of the agency’s turnover, and live video broadcasts (around 40 a day) are among the most popular products. We publish today some of Ishara’s award-winning pictures on this page.
Meanwhile, AP said its pictures from Sri Lanka captured the full range of human emotion. Photojournalists Eranga Jayawardena and Rafiq Maqbool captured protesters pumping their fists in the air shouting anti-government slogans, shielding themselves from tear gas and water cannons, crowds storming the office of the prime minister after the president fled the country, and others celebrating inside the president’s official residence by jumping in the pool and using the gym equipment. Some of their pictures are reproduced on this page.
Sri Lankan journalists, including photojournalists, are also felicitated at the annual journalism awards jointly organised by the Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka and the Sri Lanka Press Institute. The awards night is expected to be held in September this year.
