This photo was taken for a post-tsunami recovery project based in Madampagama on the south west coast of Sri Lanka. The project is a joint effort between The Sustainable Trust in the UK and The Centre for Environment and Development in Sri Lanka. For more details on this project click here.

The spinning of coconut coir into rope is very much a skill dominated by the women in the village. At one end nimble fingers tease out the coir whilst the twisting action is performed by a lady turning a 'bicycle wheel' spinning wheel at the other. As the ladies move further away from the wheel, rope appears in the gap between. Then the same nimble fingers tied up the rope into neat piles before repeating the whole process again. By capturing the tying process I was able to get both ladies facing the front whilst the end product was being completed. I like the slight blur on the bottom of the rope as it swings.

 

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