Akila Jayawardena was born in Southen province, but currently resides and works in Colombo. An independent photojournalist, Visual storyteller.
His career began as a wedding photographer but later branched out to street photography, where he found his true calling; he knew this was what he wanted to do for a living.
A graduate of the Hegoda School of Photography, Akila’s first job was also at the school as an assistant. After leaving photography school, Akila worked as a graphic designer and developed his post-production skills with both video and images.
Akila started his career in photojournalism in 2017 as a freelance photographer at Ceylon Today, one of the main English newspapers in the country. He is also a regular contributor to Roar Media South Asia-based digital media platform, publishing photo stories on various subjects.
In 2019, Akila joined the Nur Photo Agency in Italy as a contributor, where he received the opportunity to take his images to an international audience. His work during Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 lockdowns as well as the following economic crisis has been published on multiple international news platforms. Locally, he continues to freelance his skills at the Sunday Times, one of the leading English newspapers in the island and he also worked as a freelance photographer for (2019 to 2021) at the Ravaya, an alternative Sinhala newspaper in Sri Lanka.
- Photographer