Palaces of Memory: Stuart Freedman's love affair with Indian coffee houses

Stuart Freedman's photographs of Indian coffee houses pay tribute to a near-lost egalitarian idea of affordable food, democratic spaces and familial ease

A family of four is sitting at the table, two plates in front of them. One child, barely visible in the frame, is lying sprawled across the Rexene chair. The other, a pajama-clad boy, is standing by the table, eating off his mother’s plate. It is a homey, intimate photograph which captures the ease and informality of the Indian Coffee House. 

“When I look at this photograph, I get the curious sense that the image echoes some of the inexpensive outings I had with my family, growing up in a working-class home in London,” says British photographer/ writer Stuart Freedman.