Cortes displays 45 photographs that give an insight into the architectural influences of these spaces, which range from Persian and Hindu to European and Islamic designs. Excerpts from an interview: Debesh Banerjee

How and when did you first encounter the Bohra community?

It was in 2008 after a magazine editor shared a very poetic description of Sidhpur that left me enchanted. Her family was from this area and she felt that it was important to save it from destruction and bring it into the wider public domain. Cities or towns, which have for some historic, social or economic reason fallen off the map, have always attracted me. Sidhpur emanated the same kind of atmosphere that you find in abandoned mining towns in the American west, or cities in southern Italy that once had great commercial importance.

How many Bohra families have you engaged with through this project ?

Not all the houses I visited were inhabited by families. The loss of past memories is a key element in this project as the sense of family heritage that lingers on the walls has now been given up to the needs of modernity. The ground reality of Sidhpur is that of a magical cinematic set that its leading actors have abandoned.