Cillín Perera

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Cillín Johann Perera
Born
London
NationalityAustralian
Alma materHarvard University
Known forPhotography
Notable workHomeless CEO
Websiteinstagram.com/homelessCEO/

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.

Early life[edit]

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]

Homeless CEO[edit]

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]

Technique[edit]

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]

Exhibitions[edit]

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.

Other activities[edit]

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]

Private life[edit]

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.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Liz Durnan (27 March 2015). "The Rich Life of the Homeless CEO". Expedia. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d "Instagram Exhibition HomelessCEO". Adrem. 2 July 2015. Archived from the original on 5 September 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  3. ^ a b c The Ten (24 February 2016). "The Ten with @homelessceo". Ollo Clip. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  4. ^ Alexander D. Laskey (16 December 1996). "Late Night With Cillin". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  5. ^ "Cillin Perera". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 5 January 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  6. ^ "The Entire History of the Louisiana Purchase (1998): Awards". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  7. ^ a b c d e Laura Traldi (5 March 2015). "Il businessman senzatetto" (in Italian). La Repubblica. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  8. ^ Phil Coomes (22 January 2015). "Instagram: The 'homeless' chief executive". BBC News. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  9. ^ a b "The Homeless CEO". BBC World Service. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  10. ^ "Homeless CEO, 02 July – 31 July". London Architecture Diary. 2 July 2015. Archived from the original on 22 April 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  11. ^ "About". cillin.net. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  12. ^ "Aboriginal Australian art history gets the scholarship it deserves through the South Australian Museum". South Australian Museum. 4 November 2016. Archived from the original on 5 September 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  13. ^ "Philanthropic money to fund Aboriginal art history". Australian Broadcasting Company. 10 December 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  14. ^ "Documenting Aboriginal Art History". Community & Indigenous Radio. 8 December 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  15. ^ a b Karen Ann Monsy (22 November 2013). "The World's Their Oyster: Go out and explore". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 1 March 2016.

External links[edit]

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