Nations Trust WNPS Monthly Lecture on 19 June

• Internationally celebrated wildlife photographer Lakshitha Karunarathna to speak on “Wired for the Wild: Innovation, Empathy and the New Age of Wildlife Photography” 

The Nations Trust WNPS Monthly Lecture will be held on 19 June at 6 p.m., at Jasmine Hall, Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH). 

In this thought-provoking and visually rich session, internationally celebrated wildlife photographer and Sony International Brand Ambassador Lakshitha Karunarathna takes the audience on a journey that bridges art, technology, and conservation.

With years of immersion in wild landscapes across continents—from the remote forests of Sri Lanka to the vast plains of Africa— Karunarathna will share how today’s wildlife photography is undergoing a quiet revolution. He explores how cutting-edge camera technologies, advanced features, and creative field improvisations are enabling photographers to go beyond documentation and instead create powerful, immersive visual narratives.

A significant portion of the lecture will be dedicated to the process of innovation in the field—from designing custom rigs and modifying everyday tools to solve real-world challenges, to experimenting with unconventional angles and perspectives to capture wildlife in ways that evoke both wonder and urgency.

But beyond the gear and the craft, this lecture digs deeper into the why. Karunarathna will present a series of carefully selected images, each backed by a compelling backstory—sometimes adventurous, sometimes heartbreaking—that exemplify how images can serve as a force for education, empathy, and action.

A central theme of the session is the role of photography as a conservation tool. Drawing from his most recent projects—including field documentation of Sri Lanka’s escalating human-elephant conflict, the catastrophic impacts of erratic waste disposal on endemic wildlife, and the irreversible effects of habitat fragmentation— Karunarathna shares how his camera has become not just a storytelling device, but a medium for advocacy and scientific awareness.

The lecture will also touch on how to balance creativity with conservation priorities, how to approach vulnerable species and human-wildlife conflict zones with sensitivity, and how visual storytellers can be allies to researchers and policy makers.

Karunarathna is an internationally celebrated wildlife photographer and tea taster by trade, who believes in the power of photography to ignite meaningful conservation change.

A lifelong student of the natural world, Karunarathna has spent the past decade documenting wildlife across continents—seeking not only the rare and remarkable, but also the overlooked moments that reveal nature’s deeper truths. His distinctive, artistic approach to wildlife photography has earned him global acclaim, including the Grand Prizes at the Nature’s Best Photography Windland Smith Rice Awards and Africa Photographer of the Year, a Special Award from Wildlife Photographer of the Year by the Natural History Museum in London, and two prestigious headline wins from the Sanctuary Asia Wildlife Awards — among a broad spectrum of global achievements.

A Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society in the UK — and the first and only Sri Lankan to receive this honour — Karunarathna is recognised for his artistic excellence and contribution to the field of photography on the international stage.

He is also known for pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the field by harnessing modern photographic technologies to their fullest potential. For him, the camera is not just a creative tool—it is a catalyst for awareness, empathy, and urgent action. He sees each image as an opportunity to advocate for the natural world and inspire lasting protection for the species and ecosystems we stand to lose.

He also serves as an International Brand Ambassador of Sony, representing the brand’s global commitment to empowering visual storytellers who push creative and technical boundaries in the wild.