Cillín Johann Perera | |
---|---|
Born | London |
Nationality | Australian |
Alma mater | Harvard University |
Known for | Photography |
Notable work | Homeless CEO |
Website |
instagram |
Cillín Johann Perera is an Australian photographer, entrepreneur and art collector who is best known for his "HomelessCEO" project. Between 2013 and 2017, Perera documented his travels by uploading a photo of every flight and each day on Instagram. [1] The project encompassed more than 1000 images from dozens of countries and hundreds of flights and has been the subject of a touring exhibition. [2]
Perera is the Founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of companies in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, including Language Direct, an online language teaching company, and Avilinga, a company offering translation for the aviation industry. [3] He is a collector and patron of Australian Aboriginal art and is the founder of Australians for Overseas Representation.
Perera was born in London to an Irish mother and a Sri Lankan father, and grew up in Melbourne, Australia. In 1994 he won the Young Achievement Australia "Young Victorian Business Person of the Year" award.[ citation needed] In 1995, he went to the United States to study visual arts and cinema under scholarship at Harvard University. [1]
As a freshman, he started a non-profit company and a late-night show, Wide Awake with Cillin Perera. [4] In 1997, Perera was assistant director of Joshua Oppenheimer's The Entire History of the Louisiana Purchase, [5] an experimental documentary that won several festival awards. [6]
After college Perera became self-employed, founding Language Direct, an online language teaching company, at the age of 27. [7]
In July 2013, [2] Perera started the "HomelessCEO" project, as a way to express the nomadic lifestyle of the modern CEO. [1] [8] Not spending more than four or five days in any one place, [9] Perera took 168 flights and traveled more than 200,000 miles in 2014. [7]
As of February 2016, Perera has published more than 1000 images from dozens of countries and hundreds of flights. [2]
HomelessCEO is shot entirely on Apple iPod and iPhone. [7] [9] Perera's style puts a strong emphasis on composition and perspective, partly as a result of equipment limitations. [1] For flights, Perera frequently shoots the view from the passenger window; the project contains possibly the world's largest collection of "airplane porthole" shots. [3] Perera's other photographs show "haunting images of architecture, landscapes and urban settings mostly devoid of the human form." [2] He very rarely features people in his photos unless they contribute to the composition of the shot. [1]
In an innovative[ citation needed] pricing strategy, all Instagram-published photographs are printed as uniques, and priced at $1 per " like" as determined by their popularity on Instagram at the time of sale.
Perera is the founder and CEO of Switzerland-based Language Direct, an online language teaching company established in 2004, and UAE-based Avilinga, a company offering translation for the aviation, industry established in 2010. [11] These companies have around 350 remote-working freelancers and clients on 5 continents. [3] [7]
Perera is involved in the support of Australian Aboriginal art through his private collection as well as philanthropic activities in the field. [12] [13] [14]
Before embracing a nomadic lifestyle, Perera lived in Germany and Switzerland, where he had an apartment in Basel. [1] He has Australian, British and Irish passports, [7] and has been a resident of the UAE since 2012. [15]
His partner currently lives in Turin. [15] He has collections of classic British cars (including Rolls-Royce and Lotus), and Australian Aboriginal art.