Kalpesh Lathigra is a British artist, His work occupies the space between documentary and art practice. Both the found and staged image are democratic.
Born in Forest Gate, London, England in 1971 and studied photojournalism at the London College of Printing.
He was awarded a 1st Arts prize in the World Press Photo in 2000.
In 2003, he embarked on a project documenting the lives of Widows in India, receiving The W.Eugene Smith Fellowship and Churchill Fellowship.
It was during this time he moved away from photojournalism towards an art based practice.
Lathigra was awarded a Lightwork Residency in conjunction with Autograph in 2014 and in 2015 A Photoworks Commission for the Brighton Photo Biennial 2014 working in collaboration with South African artist Thabiso Sekgala to produce new works " A Return to Elsewhere "
His first book “ Lost in the Wilderness” , a body of photographs on the Oglala Sioux and Pine Ridge Reservation was published in 2015. Noted by Sean O Hagan - The Guardian critic as one of the photo books of the year. Lost in the Wilderness explores the weight of colonialism on a community and the shared experiences of the artist's background.
Memoire Temporelle was published in Spring 2022 reflects on real and perceived memories based in Bombay, using his South Asian lineage as a foundation for the work. It explores the ideas of nostalgia, the insider/outsider view and melancholic longing for the notion of home. The work was made in collaboration with Emmanuelle Peri who edited the photographs and sequenced the subsequent book. The collaboration allowed for both an engagement and a disengagement. A working methodology was put into place where upon , Peri had full control after the photographs had been made with no interference or dictate by Lathigra. Peri advised on further research using her background in Art History and Museology. The work contains three pieces of writing from Lathigra and three from Rabrindranath Tagore.It is the first part of a trilogy of works.
Kalpesh is currently working on a series titled A Democratic Portrait, using a Polaroid Passport Camera and Fuji FP 100C film which is no longer made, alongside What Remains is All I See, a body of photographs that reflect his evolving practice as an artist interrogating his process.
Kalpesh is a Senior Lecturer in Photography at the London College of Communication (UAL), prior to this he was an associate lecturer at Southbank University as well as working with Syracuse University , on their international exchange programme. Alongside his teaching , he continues to contribute to international magazines/commercial clients as well as his personal projects.
Selected Exhibitions
2023 Tender as Asphalt - Group Show - Sherbet Green Gallery
2022 Memoire Temporelle – Solo show – Have A Butchers Gallery / London
2021 Memoire Temporelle - Solo Show - Ananhita Contemporary / Berlin
2022 Bridging Landscapes – Group Show - French Riveria Gallery / London
2021 Facing Britain - Group Show - Kunsthalle Darmstadt, Germany.
2021/2022 Becontree – Solo Show - Royal Institute of British Architects
2020 With Monochrome Eyes - Group Show - The Borough Road Gallery
2019 Nationwide UK (Various location ) – Sixteen Project
2016 Webber Gallery – Lost in the Wilderness
2016 BituFest - Lecce, Italy - Lost in the Wilderness
2014 Brighton Photo Biennial / Main Commission - A Return to Elsewhere
2014 Johannsburg Photo Umbrella – A Return to Elsewhere
2013 Renaissance Prize
2012 Terra Cognita / Noorderlicht
2010 Taylor Wessing Portrait/ NPG London
2010 Warzone/ Noorderlicht
2010 Sifest/ Italy
2009 Descrumbientos PhotoEspana
2006 Another Asia - Noorderlicht Photofestival
Publications
Memoire Temporelle - 2022
Lost in the Wilderness - 2015
Vidva – 2007
Collections
V&A Permanent Collection
Lightwork
Martin Parr Foundation
Education
Postgraduate Diploma in Photojournalism – London College of Communication
Awards
2022 : The Tree of a Man named Beohha - Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
2014 : Brighton Photo Biennial Commission “A Return to Elsewhere”
2014 : Lightwork Residency, Syracuse 2014
2010 : Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize
2009 : PhotoEspana Descrumbientos
2007 : PhotoEspana Descrumbientos
2005 : Winston Churchill Fellowship - Brides of Krishna
2004 : W.Eugene Smith Fellowship - Brides of Krishna
2000 : 1st Prize Arts and Entertainment, World Press Photo
Residencies
Lightwork Syracuse 2014
Artist Lectures
The Photographers Gallery
Syracuse University
London College of Communication
Southbank University
Canterbury Christ Church University
Portsmouth University
University West of England
Brighton Photo Biennale
Photo Market Workshop Johannesburg