the one world foundation is a free education unit in ahungalla, sri lanka, south of colombo and close to the indian ocean. the vienna based ngo paint for life awarded me a two month residency, teaching classes in photography and carrying out a documentary about the school as such. my stay has been a great adventure and provided endless opportunities to discover sri lankan culture. paint for life generously sponsored the purchase of digital photo equipment and accessories that I managed to take with me. I happily introduced ten digital pentax slr cameras and zoom lenses to the students. classes began with experimenting and trying out the new gear and I remember there was a lot of curiosity around. however, the understanding of technical equipment appeared to vary considerably: some students had barely ever touched a camera of some kind, others were fairly familiar with technical gadgets because of friends or family. so teaching basic theory appeared challenging, also due to language barriers and hesitation of some students to ask questions or raise concerns. it felt important, though, to teach in an open manner and I designed classes in a workshop style with all participants involved in exchange and teamwork. creative work should be fun, in spite of the technical aspects of photography. in total some 40 students were involved in class work and I arranged a project period in the second half of my stay.

the projects ranged from still photography and documentary work to action shots(!) and my students proudly presented their work to the public on january 28, 2010. this photo gallery features a small selection, a blog provides further information about my residency at the owf.

I pursued two small photo projects on the side, featuring portraits of school children as well as a documentary about a garment factory of ran malu fashions in biyagama, close to colombo.

many thanks to kathrin messner, the founder of the one world foundation and her remarkable staff, as well as to the founding members of paint for life, kerstin kussmaul and andreas barth. the school principal prabath wijesekara de zoysa, michele riedmatten, vitus barth, roman berka and walter bosch have been of great help during my stay and supported me in all possible ways.

last but not least a big thank you to all my students at the owf for welcoming me every day with a smile, for their trust, support and endless curiosity.