Kalpesh Lathigra's work occupies the space between documentary and  art practice.

Born in London, England in 1971 and studied photography at the London College of Printing.

After leaving the course in 1994,  he was awarded  The Independent Newspaper Photographer Traineeship. Kalpesh worked for The Independent as a staff photographer for one year before freelancing for the national newspapers in the UK for 6 years covering news and features. In 2000 , he gave up working for newspapers and made the decision to work on long term projects and magazine and commercial assignments. In the same year he was awarded a 1st Arts prize in the World Press Photo.

 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. 

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 engagement and disengagement. Peri had full control after the photographs had been made and advised on research  from her background in Art History and Museology. The work contains three pieces of writing from Lathigra and three from Rabrindranath Tagore. 

 Kalpesh has been a visiting Lecturer at Syracuse University ( USA) and London College of Communication , London and numerous academic institutions across the United Kingdom. 

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

Selected Exhibitions

 2022 Memoire Temporelle – Solo show – Have A Butchers Gallery / London

 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 

Residencies

Lightwork Syracuse  2014 

Artist Lectures 

 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