Work
With a focal interest in travel photography, Jan focuses on landscapes, street scenes, and people, creating work that seeks unique perspectives.
Location
Jan was born in Sri Lanka and has been living in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, for the last 30 years.
About Me
Photography has been a passion for most of my adult life. My journey as a photographer has gone through many evolutions with some twists and turns.
My initial foray into photography was using the 35mm film format. While I always had a good "eye" for photography, I did not make significant progress in this phase, barring the occasional photo that was inspiring. When I got my first DSLR in 2004, a Nikon D70, I started to learn about photography and make meaningful strides. In that phase, my photography pursuits were mostly limited to local destinations in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a strong focus on wildlife for the most. Then, life happened. With three young kids and a nascent business in the technology space, the photos I took in the next few years were of the family interspersed with a few random clicks on a family vacation.
After a break for close to 10 years, I embarked on my second phase as a photographer. This time around, the evolution was rapid, where I soon outgrew my aging equipment. In 2014, I invested in a full-frame Nikon D750 and other accessories, which was pivotal in driving my interest to spend more time on photography and hone my skills. I took the vast majority of images presented on this website during this phase. I also seamlessly moved to landscape photography as my primary focus and street photography as a secondary focus, with an occasional flirtation with wildlife photography. While most photographers settle on a particular genre, I like to have the freedom to follow my passion and not be pigeonholed into a specific genre.
Landscape photography has always been a core interest and fits well with my love for nature and travel. There is an element of the thrill of the chase involved in landscapes, from researching locations to finding the optimal weather conditions and then experiencing the elements come together to create unique images. On the other hand, street photography is very different since it's dynamic. There isn't that one photo; every photo can change dramatically from one moment to the other with an abundance of opportunities, making it incredibly exciting when you find the right location.