Michael Sarnacki (BA ’72, Sociology, MA ’74, Audio Visual Media) first traveled to Sri Lanka in 1995 and has since made ten additional journeys to fully capture the beauty of the Kandyan festival and the culture of Sri Lanka.
“This body of work in Sri Lanka is beautiful, compelling, spiritually moving, entertaining, and even shocking. It is —in short— the best work of my career,” Sarnacki explained.
The culmination of this work is available in his book, “Sri Lanka and the Kandy Esala Perahera: Discovering the Spirit of Buddha in the Land of Elephants”
The Esala Perahera is a grand Buddhist procession where pilgrims travel from around the globe to worship a relic of the great Lord Buddha. It includes hundreds of drummers, dancers, torchbearers, and elephants—for ten consecutive nights. This is Sri Lanka’s most sacred procession and renowned national pageant.
Sarnacki’s book is available for advanced purchase on his website and on Amazon.com—only 1,200 copies of the first edition are being printed. There will be a Premier Exhibition and Book Signing from May 31st to June 14th at the Swords Into Plowshares Peace Center
“I was inspired to be a photographer at Western by Professor David Curl. That spark has taken me to places and events that I would never have dreamed of, sitting in classes in Sangren Hall those many years ago, “ Sarnacki said. “I have been totally dedicated to photography, but also incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to work as a photographer since the day I graduated.”
To learn more, please follow the links below:
WEBSITE—MICHAEL SARNACKI
AMAZON.COM—SRI LANKA AND THE KANDY ESALA PERAHERA
WEBSITE—SRI LANKA AND THE KANDY ESALA PERAHERA