This Golden Mile — Tom Booth Woodger

This Golden Mile - Kavi Pujara

Kavi Pujara began to photograph the neighbourhood around Leicester’s Golden Mile as a way to reconnect with the city, its residents and his own past after 30 years of living in London. The resulting images form This Golden Mile which will be exhibited at Martin Parr Foundation in October to coincide with a book of the project published by Setanta Books.

“This Golden Mile is not about the one-mile stretch of Melton Road that turns into Belgrave Road with its sari shops, Indian restaurants and jewellers. It’s about the arteries and veins that come from it, giving life to the parts of the neighbourhood away from the central commercial thoroughfare. This Golden Mile exists in the poetry of homes, temples and street corners; it’s down the alleys and through the gaps in steel fencing leading to crumbling industrial plots. This Golden Mile is both an entry point and an ending, the last mile of a long journey to Britain.”

- Kavi Pujara

Year: 2022
Pubisher: Setanta Books
ISBN: 978-1-915652-00-3
Printer: MAS Matbaa
Printing: CMYK + Varnish
Cover Printing: Offset + Foil Blocking
Binding: Rounded Spin Hardback
Size: 230x280mm
Pages: 112
Images: 50
Paper: Gardapat13 Kiara 135gsm + Wibalin Natural 120gsm
Font: Bookmania, Noto Serif Gujarati

→ Available to purchase here

“Documenting various aspects of the predominantly South Asian neighbourhood and community along and around Leicester’s “Golden Mile”, Pujara explores, embraces, examines and celebrates the intricacies and complexities of the immigrant experience in Britain – in the short-term and long-term – as well as the vibrancy and vitality it both contains and contributes to the country at large. With Brexit and increasingly restrictive and punitive immigration policies serving as its backdrop, This Golden Mile counters the isolationist rhetoric of recent years using tenderness, empathy and real love, reminding us of the longstanding importance, benefits, beauty and power of diversity and multiculturalism – as he explains, “We have a multicultural society because Britain is the product of a multicultural empire; communities like this are not an erosion of British values or its culture, but a vital part of our intertwined colonial histories.”

→ Photobooks of 2022: Aaron Schumaan

“It has been great to follow Kavi on his journey from the beginning through to the completion of this work. Photographs from the Golden Mile in Leicester. Kavi’s beautiful portraiture and understanding of the community shines through. A wonderful book designed by Tom Booth Woodger who seems to own the Midas touch. Printed at Mas Matbaa in Turkey who also don’t screw things up! All round first class.”

→ Photobooks of 2022: Matt Stuart