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.

This lady had only built half of her house before her money ran out so, for now, she was living in this makeshift shack. Her elderly mother slept on the one bed she had whilst she slept on the floor. Here I wanted to show a hint of the dark interior beyond and give a real sense of the transient, temporary life she was leading, hence the inclusion of the 'sack' walls. It's really wierd talking about composition when you are dealing with more emotive and sensitive issues because you are caught, as a photographer, between making a 'beautiful' image and being sensitive to the people involved. The latter is most important, which is one the reasons why I use a small compact camera rather than a flashy SLR. However you still, to be true to yourself, have to produce interesting, eye catching compositions. So while some of my images for this project were 'snatched' instant moments, others are more staged in that I ask the subjects to stand in a certain position to gain the best composition.

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