UPOLTHA
Joya Berrow
Words courtesy of the photographer.
A series of photos from the land @ulpotha A red rice farming community hidden in the Sri Lankan jungle. For half the year, it transforms into a global retreat — entirely off-grid, with no electricity, meals cooked on fire, and water drawn from springs that feed the wetlands.
Life at Ulpotha flows by ritual: creative acts, communal meals, and barefoot connection to the land. Time slows, the nervous system softens, and simplicity becomes a way of being. The villagers lead by their lifestyle, with their quiet rhythms reminding us to move slower and belong more deeply to the world around us.
Joya Berrow
Joya is a film director & photographer focused on human stories that connect us to people and planet, told through a stylised documentary lens. Seeking to reconnect individuals to the world around them, telling stories that remind us of our shared humanity and the landscapes that shape us. Based in the UK between Dorset & London. She is drawn to work at the intersection of environment, food, farming, fashion, lifestyle and to collaborate with brands who are looking to the future, progressive with environment and society in mind. Selected clients include : Volvo, Louis Vuitton, Toast, Barbour, Fortnum & Masons, Belmond, Breitling, Moët & Chandon, Doen, VICE, You Swim, BFI, National Geographic, Red Bull, Textile Exchange, Sky Atlantic, Nowness, Guardian.
