TSUNAMI: A Photo Essay

By Ravi DeSilva

The destructive power of the Asian Tsunami in December 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 was shocking on a unique level. Only a few times in history have there been such massive natural disasters capable of captivating an audience spanning the globe. The press coverage brought the disasters and the associated suffering into the homes of billions of people.

Like many, I wanted a more intimate awareness of both disasters: to identify the medical problems and to explore the psychological impact of such disasters on the people who now lived in these wholly transformed landscapes. I traveled to the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka and the streets of New Orleans hoping to discover exactly what had and had not been done in the six months after each respective disaster.

My initial impression of the devastation in both places was simply awe of their similarity. No two worlds may have initially been assumed to be further apart-simple fishing villages along the Indian Ocean and a major American city. And yet standing amidst the rubble, the two settings seemed anything but half a world away. The broken buildings, uprooted homes, and displaced communities in both countries echoed each other in a somber tone.

Standing in those places long after most media coverage had turned its attention elsewhere, I chose to aim my lens toward what remained. I wanted my research and my photographs to capture the lasting effects of the disasters, long after the waters had receded. The photographs became a reflection on both the despair and hope that exists for people throughout these lands-the shattered lives of those that lost everything, as well as the challenges for those that are trying to press forward.

These images remind us that any natural disaster may be transformed into a human disaster if we not only forget to intervene in the immediate devastation but also fail to change the long term realities of the people who were affected. Indeed, we are now charged to try to understand what occurred during these disasters and how such tragedies may be prevented in the future.

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