188 - Kavi Pujara
© Kavi Pujara
Kavi Pujara (born Leicester, 1972) is a self-taught photographer. He has a BSc in Software Engineering and an MA in Screenwriting and he works as a film editor for the BBC alongside independently making personal, long-term documentary photo projects. His work has been included in the touring group exhibition Facing Britain, he was also one of the winners in the British Journal of Photography, Portrait of Britain 2020 and was the recipient of a Martin Parr Foundation photographic bursary in 2020. Two of his portraits have also this year been selected for the National Portrait Gallery’s Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition and will be on display in London from 27 October - 18 December 2022. His first book project, published by Setanta Books, is This Golden Mile. Photographed against the backdrop of Brexit, the Windrush scandal, and a government intent on reducing net migration, Kavi documents Indian migration to Leicester, where he was born, exploring themes of identity, home and Britishness. An exhibition of the work will open next weekend at the Martin Parr Foundation in Bristol.
On episode 188, Kavi discusses, among other things:
His family history
Growing up in Leicester
Experiences of racism growing up and on TV
Escaping Leicester to do a degree and discover music and books
Discovering cinema and film editing
His experience of screenwriting
Winning the MPF bursary
How moving back and the Brexit vote inspired This Golden Mile
Patriotism towards the UK amongst his parent’s generation of immigrants
The process of making the pictures for This Golden Mile
The Nationality and Borders Act
The value of having the mentorship of Martin Parr…
…and the two most important nuggets he imparted.
Referenced:
“The spark [for the project] came from that moment of relocating back to Leicester and within two weeks of that was the EU referendum result. Both of those moments, the personal and the political were in the space of a few weeks and I wanted to use photography to reconnect with the community I grew up in…but it was impossible to ignore the shift from that point. It was almost night and day. I really took it to heart and found it quite depressing, that societal turn towards anti-immigrant populism.”
This episode of the podcast is sponsored by Flow Photographic, a small but internationally renowned fine-art photographic print studio in central London specialising in print making, scanning, retouching and preparing photography for photo books.
This episode of the podcast is sponsored by the Charcoal Book Club - the latest and greatest photobooks, expertly curated and delivered to you door with free shipping and no hassles.
INFORM THE MIND, INSPIRE THE SOUL
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