Matt Walker, The Farmer of Galle - A Life in the Paddy Field (PEOPLE 2026)

Our friends Lou and Danny, who own a property near Galle on the south coast of Sri Lanka, have a long association with the farmer who works the field adjoining their land. They say he labours there from morning until dusk, every day—always. Through monsoon rains, oppressive heat, and extreme weather, he tends his paddy no matter what. Even after a cobra bite to his leg, he wrapped it and kept working. The land is his livelihood—his life. Now in his seventies, I am told by locals, he is among the last of Sri Lanka’s true farmers. When we visited Lou and Danny, the “farmer” stopped by for a quick beer, and I had the opportunity to photograph him. After seeing my images, Lou arranged to have one printed and beautifully framed as a gift. When they presented it to him in his home, it was a deeply emotional moment. He hung it proudly on his wall—the only photograph he has of himself, and the only one he has ever owned.

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