Do the trains still stop at the Unawatuna station?

Posted on by

Anthropologie, memory, melancholy.

Turbanhead offers a poignant post that takes a unique view of the Tsunami’s aftermath via Anthropologie, of all things. I’m amazed at how a decision some art director made can end up being so meaningful later on…

You might want to check it out.

10 thoughts on “Do the trains still stop at the Unawatuna station?”

  1. Good me: Stylish photography and interesting scenery to highlight the earthy complexion of the models and, more importantly, their clothing. Anthropologie’s homage to the tragedy?

    Horrid cynical me: Tsunami-hit locales probably need money and advertising so bad that they gave this operation a deep discount.

    The boys (I claim the one on the right!) are probably models, too? Did anyone notice the desi beauty, too?

  2. i think turbanhead’s post sounded like the editorial shoot was done BEFORE the tsunami, hence why it was so moving. a “look at what was lost” sort of sentiment.

    call me pollyANNA, but i find it hard to believe that anyone is going to choose sri lanka for a photo shoot a month after a tragedy…i’d think there would be infrastructure issues at the very least. AFAIK, fashion magazines and the like do stuff wayyy in advance.

  4. That’s true. Come to think of it, the Unawatuna sign may not even be there any more. I just didn’t think many fashion shoots happened in Sri Lanka, but what do I know of that world?

  5. Maitri- I completely agree re: boys. Wow!! I would love to see an article about South Asian male models.

    yummy.

  6. Out of curiosity, I thought I’d try to find out the answer to the title question. So, do the trains still stop at the Unawatuna Station? As of Feb. 21, the answer seems to be yes.

  7. The shoot apparently occurred three days before the tsunami. Anthropologie has been able to account for almost everyone, including children, involved with the shoot. Employees started a fund for victims and corporate’s matching it and donating some revenue from clothing.

    As for who would shoot an ad just after disaster… Following an earthquake and some tornadoes, NGO’s came in and shot pictures of their workers doing their thing in Mexico and Iowa. Wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it.

    As for who commercially capitalized on the tsunami: Google, NYT and Dell:

    “… Dell Computer is holding its new spot, which made a direct reference to the tragedy. By coincidence, the ad showed a customer asking Dell’s 24-hour support line if he could still get help during various disaster scenarios. Tsunami was among the situations…”

    Cynicism aside, this was a good post.

  10. Yeah! Trains do stop at Unawatuna. Trains from Colombo stop at Galle for engine change, time long enough to take a Tuk-tuk [Rs.150/-] to Unawatuna