Tashiya de Mel

Tashiya de Mel is a photographer, conservationist, and communications specialist from Sri Lanka who uses visual storytelling to create narratives that drive social change.

Tashiya’s photographic practice explores the nature and possibilities of documentary image-making and deals with themes such as colonial histories, representation, heritage, family, landscapes, and the climate crisis.

Tashiya is driven by a curiosity to forge connections with diverse disciplines such as art, history, and science and find ways of bridging these disciplines through different forms of image-based media. She is the recipient of multiple awards and grants including the Visura grants for freelance visual journalists in 2023 for her project ‘Great Sandy River’ as well as Stroom talent award in 2024. She was selected for the 2024-25 FOTODOK Lighthouse Program and was nominated to the Futures Photography platform in 2025. She is the founder of 'Lost in Lanka’, a platform for adventures, storytelling, and activism in Sri Lanka.

Tashiya is a recent graduate of the ‘Photography and Society’ masters programme at the Royal Academy of Arts in the Hague (NL), and is currently based in Colombo.