Sephi Bergerson is an international reportage and documentary photographer. He has also authored coffee table books that cover street foods, wedding traditions, polio eradication and trucking, all across India. Currently based in Goa, India, h

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Listen to his journey from growing up and studying photography in Israel, and travelling the world, to now working on a bunch of personal photography projects that allow for spiritual explorations.

Sephi stumbled onto wedding photography when on of his friends invited him to document her sister's wedding. Later, he went on to become one of most sought after artists to shoot wedding ceremonies among India's upper middle class.

Sephi first ventured into the bustling and chaotic cities across the country. He captured a delicious assortment of 50 street foods that are enjoyed in India. You can buy his book Street Food of India.

Portraits in Lockdown

Sephi used Facetime to create portraits of individuals, couples, and families during the historic lockdown period through 2020.

Horn Please: Trucking in India showcases the lives and realities of truckers in India.

SILK by Sephi Bergerson is a specialty luxury wedding photography service offered by Sephi Bergerson and a curated team of freelance photographers. Discerning couples can commission him to capture memories of your big day in a candid and photojournalistic style.

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Also mentioned in this episode
23 Hours to Kill - A Canticle for Leibowitz - Adam - Aghora: At the left hand of God - Aghoris - Alfred Hitchcock - Ambassador car - Amber Bergerson - Analog photography - Andres Serrano - Ansel Adams - Arizona - ASMR - Bengali wedding rituals - Better Photography - Blade Runner - Carlos Castaneda - Chakras & Yoga - Chess - Conde Nast - Curlie's - David Bowie - Delhi Photo Festival - Devika Daulet-Singh - Elon Musk - Eva Bergerson - Exodus from Egypt - Facetime - Falafel (different types) - Glenn Richmann - Gordon Hempton - Greenwich Village - Jama Masjid - Jerry Seinfeld - Hyderabadi Muslim wedding - India - Israeli military - Israeli army knife - Israeli falafel - Jaffa - Jimmy Days - Josh - Kashmiri Pandit wedding - Ladhaki Buddhist wedding - Leah Bergerson - Life - Manhattan - Marijuana - Mick Jagger - Moses - National Geographic - New Mexico - New York - Old Delhi - Old Testament - Pharaoh - Pita bread - Piss Christ - Poi - Polaroid - Triumph Over Polio (polio eradication drive in India) - Prickly Pear - Quiet Parks International - Raëlian - River Nile - Roger Ballen - Sandro Botticelli - Scarface - Sex on the Beach - Shefi Carmi-Bergerson - Siddharth Dhanvant Sanghvi - Sikh wedding rituals - Street food in India - Sunaparanta Goa Center of Arts - Syrian Christian wedding - Tam Brahm wedding rituals - The Big Lebowski - The Birth of Venus - The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly - The Leela Kovalam - The Teachings of Don Juan - Traditional Indian attire - Udaipur - Vada Pav - Vogue - Woodburns - World Health Organization - Yellow badge - UNICEF - Zone-system

Timestamps for reference
03:37 Woodburns Whisky
04:25 Sephi's bartending and other adventures in New York
18:06 The seed of Sephi's interest in photography
20:06 From analog to digital photography
24:49 Is it the art or the artist? Importance of working on personal projects
30:48 Shooting weddings in India
34:29 Documenting stories and photographs for the books
40:32 Street foods in India & in Israel - the book and more
49:55 Portraits of Lockdown, and remote photography
01:00:03 Is the party over for photography as a career?
01:04:54 Shooting for NGO projects
01:10:07 Learning about relationship while shooting weddings
01:13:45 Talking about religious rituals
01:19:15 Sephi's project on religion
01:27:23 Other controversial works on religion
01:30:26 Having a diverse portfolio
01:36:09 Religion reprise
01:38:40 Random ASMR of drinking water
01:39:22 A bit about quiet spaces and nature
01:43:32 Is religion natural? Is it an organism?
01:51:43 Questioning stories in religious scriptures
01:55:24 Are humans being harvested?
01:58:03 Psychedelics, religion, and art
02:00:56 The Overview Effect
02:01:50 Understanding patriotism, geographical and social sentiments
02:03:43 Humans and animals respecting each other in this ecosystem
02:04:34 Education, and our sources of knowledge
02:08:41 Sephi is still on a spiritual quest to find himself through photography
02:12:52 Sephi's idea of spirituality
02:19:05 A little backstory about Nikhil Shankar
02:22:01 More conscious stuff, the five layers of yogic experiences
02:27:28 Talking about Roger Ballen
02:35:31 A case for more art to be in public spaces
02:43:00 SILK by Sephi Bergerson
02:46:29 Learning photography in institutions
02:48:40 Influences of being a photographer on family life and parenting

*******

Show cover jingle courtesy of Icons8
Music by Nordgroove from Fugue

Episode background tunes courtesy of YouTube Audio Library
A Quiet Thought by Wayne Jones
Angel Guides by Jesse Gallagher
Fresno Alley by Josh & The Overtimers
Song of Sadhana by Jesse Gallagher

All photographs by Sephi Bergerson, unless otherwise stated.
Sephi's black and white portrait by Joe McNally