UNDER GODS
STORIES FROM SOHO ROAD

Along the two-mile stretch of Soho Road in Birmingham, UK, religion has become people’s identity marker, rather than culture or race. Here there are more than 30 places serving religious groups from over 120 different nationalities. 

 
Soho Hill
Annual Birmingham Faiths Forum dinner, Birmingham Town Hall
Building Gurdwara Babe Ke
Mrs. Little’s home communion
Sikh wedding, Nanak Nishkam Gurdwara
Soho Sweet Centre
Polish Catholic carol singers
Bedtime bible reading in cassock alb
Minba Chair, Terraced house Pakistani mosque
Cannon Street Baptist’s church biannual baptism
Vietnamese Buddhist Temple community hall
Mrs. Adina Clarke’s church hats
Sikh yoga at the Gurdwara
Reverend Greg visiting the twins
Sri Lankan Buddhist monks dormitory
A. Jain’s personal prayer room
The visitor from India
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Indian Buddhist Temple
First prayer mat
The Jesus Army community house dining room
Thai Buddhist Monk feeding the ducks, Handsworth Park
Sabbath meeting at the Rastafarian headquarters
Daughter of an Irish Catholic and Bengali Muslim
Gatka at the community centre
Backyard
The Monstrance, Monsignor Fallon’s Kitchen
Painted prayer, Catholic convent
Disabled Hare Krishna devotee chanting
Hare Krishna temple flowers
Sanskrit tattoos
‘Preacher’, Thai Buddhist Temple founder
Temple maintenance by Thai monks
St. Francis Catholic primary school
Couple dressing for mosque
Mrs. Little’s King James audio bible
Muslim teenager’s one in five prayers
Jain and Catholic neighbours
Palm Sunday crosses on the bed
Polish Catholic chef
Hare Krishna book distribution outside a parish church
Exhibition at VAC gallery, University of Austin, Texas
Under Gods object collection. Installation, St Mungo’s Museum, Glasgow

Over two years I lived with and documented diverse religious communities, including Rastafarians, the Jesus Army, Sikhs, Hare Krishnas, and Thai Buddhists, all living on this one road. The project was made with the support of a two-year FABRICA research centre (link) scholarship. Dewi Lewis published Under Gods stories from Soho Road in the UK and Editions Intervalles published the French edition.