188 - Kavi Pujara

A Small Voice: Conversations With Photographers

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:

• Joel Meyorwitz
• Mike Muschamp
• Tony Ray-Jones
• Garry Winogrand
• Dario Mitidieri
• Asif Kapadia
• Smoking In Bed: Conversations with Bruce Robinson
• Kalpesh Lathigra
• Sathnam Sanghera
• Sian Davey
• Keith Cullen
• Jason Taylor

Website | Instagram

“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.”

• Become a full tier 1 member here to access exclusive additional subscriber-only content and the full archive of previous episodes for £5 per month.
• For the tier 2 archive-only membership, to access the full library of past episodes for £3 per month, go here.