Batticaloa Photo-History Archive

The Batticaloa Photo-History Archive is an ongoing independent initiative launched in 2021 by artist Lojithan Ram to preserve and document the rich visual heritage of Batticaloa, Sri Lanka.

This community-based archive collects, digitises, and presents family photographs, personal albums, and vintage imagery that speak to local memory, displacement, and transformation.

The archive serves as both a cultural preservation effort and a visual storytelling project, capturing lives, homes, and moments that have been lost or altered over time.

A selection of images will be made available here soon.

I recall my Brother-in-law giving me some antique cameras a few years ago, and he acquired them from a friend of his.

Despite the fact that these are really ancient cameras, I'm still curious as to where they came from. As a result, many people are left with numerous unanswered questions. We have not yet discussed the early art and photographic history of Batticaloa, and we have no plans to do so.

To preserve the history of Batticaloa for future generations to read, I started gathering testimonials, recollections, pictures, and oral histories.

In the first phase of the project, I started with my family in the hopes of hearing tales about antique studios, vintage photography, and the proprietors of those early studios in Batticaloa from my mother and her sister through their childhood memories.