Billy Dosanjh's exhibition 'Paths You Walk' at the New Art Gallery Walsall features epic photographic reconstructions of Sikh life in Walsall during the 1960s-70s, using local residents as models and oral histories collected with a National Heritage Lottery Fund grant. The images capture Punjabi migrants working in foundries, socializing in pubs and cafes, and navigating the harsh winter of 1962-63, blending documentary authenticity with cinematic beauty reminiscent of Edward Hopper and Jeff Wall.
The exhibition matters because it counters racist tropes and provides a nuanced, humane portrayal of the South Asian immigrant experience in the post-industrial Black Country, a story often overlooked in British art. Dosanjh's work also preserves vanishing histories—both the physical landscape of deindustrialized Walsall and the lived memories of first- and second-generation migrants—while demonstrating how photography can serve as a tool for psychological and historical reconnection.