Born in Sri lanka, Avi Ratnayake emigrated to the UK in 1994. Having studied Fine Art at university in Bristol, he went onto studying Photography at the City of Westminster College in London.

Avi Ratnayake’s ongoing project looks at space between, things that last a short time and a significant length of time. Using analogue cameras to capture landscapes in exposures up to 4 months long, he makes solagraphs that make a record of the larger or more permanent. He uses photographic paper to record these images. However, they cannot be displayed as they start to deteriorate once exposed to light. The image that is slowly made over the months of exposure is prone to the various elements, especially light, so it must be digitised when taken out of the camera.

His latest work also involves cyanotypes and experimenting with lensless photographic chemistry combined with digital photography and digital collages.  

Avi has been practicing as an artist and photographer since 2003 and has had exhibitions in both UK and Ireland. His work has taken him through digital, analogue, and camera-less photography and explores various interfaces. Most of his work looks at the liminal spaces between cultures or any other intersection between disparate bodies, and often finds his subjects in making portraits. He is currently living and working in Galway.