The great Indian street food trail
Sephi Bergerson fell in love with Indian street food when he had a pakoda at Paharganj ten years back. Ever since then, the Israeli photographer has been documenting the street food culture in our cities. Joanna Lobo finds out which are his favourite spots
When Sephi Bergerson walks the streets of India, he is "the bald foreigner with a camera who is eating our vada pav". So, when he proceeds to shoot pictures in the middle of a bustling Dadar market or outside Jama Masjid, his subjects are happy to oblige. "I am a foreigner and speak a little Hindi, so it opens people's hearts," says Bergerson happily.
Now he says he wants to share this joy with others. Come February, he aims to take a few like-minded people on a ten-day tour through the streets of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Varanasi.
Biryani at Jama Masjid
Bergerson's love for Indian street food goes back ten years when he moved here from Israel. His first taste of it was a pakoda in Pahargunj. "Someone asked me if I was crazy. I told him the guy had been sitting here for 500 years (sic), he hadn't been thrown out and people still eat it. So I will eat it too."
What he doesn't eat, and therefore doesn't click, is non-vegetarian food, the sole exception being the biryani stall outside Jama Masjid which he could not resist. To him it exemplifies the street food experience in India. "It has the food, the crowd, the beautifully old Jama Masjid. It says India".
Chuski in Old Delhi
Old Delhi is one of Bergerson's favourite places for street food because of the huge variety it offers. "Migrants come to the city, they don't know what to do, so they start cooking something from their own home and selling it on the street," he explains, adding that he loves to see the making of a chuski (flavoured ice).
Bergerson wants to capture this era before it is gone. "You take it for granted because you have grown up with it, but make no mistake, it will change." Much like the falafel in Israel where he grew up, which went from being food sold in a "dirty, greasy hole-in-the-wall" to a "white ceramic and steel glass place that serves fresh salads".
Panipuri at Chowpatty
Mumbai's quintessential street food, vada pav barely made it to Bergerson's collection, despite being a personal favourite. "I wanted a good picture of the experience of vada pav and not the bun itself which is ugly." He has similar feelings about another favourite, pani puri. It was on an assignment to click panipuri when he realised that it just doesn't look good in a close-up. But he realised that eating a panipuri can get messy which makes people go into contortions. So he kept his distance, and used a long lens to capture what has become one of his favourite pani puri images.
Kulhad chai at Kolkata
The first time Bergerson visited Kolkata, he walked for five days but shot only two 'satisfactory photos'. The second time round he got the picture he wanted. It was on his way from the airport, when a jolt of blue on an otherwise drab street caught his eye. "Kolkata is not colourful. If I had to give the city a colour based on its energy, the life there and my experience, it would be black". He did not know which street the stall was on, so he patiently retraced his route to the airport. When he did find it, the vendor refused to get his picture clicked. Unfazed, Bergerson bided his time, shooting something nearby, smiling at him from the middle of the road, ordering chai from the stall. "He was quite tired of having me hang around there and I finally got my picture."
Jalebi in Jaipur
Bergerson always ate everything he clicked, except this one time in Jaipur. He was ambling along a bylane when he noticed a vendor carrying jalebis. A quick run, about turn and he got the vendor in the frame. "Just before he got too close, there was sunlight that lit him up from behind and made the jalebis shine," he smiles in recollection.
Sephi Bergerson fell in love with Indian street food when he had a pakoda at Paharganj ten years back. Ever since then, the Israeli photographer has been documenting the street food culture in our cities. Joanna Lobo finds out which are his favourite spots
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When Sephi Bergerson walks the streets of India, he is "the bald foreigner with a camera who is eating our vada pav". So, when he proceeds to shoot pictures in the middle of a bustling Dadar market or outside Jama Masjid, his subjects are happy to oblige. "I am a foreigner and speak a little Hindi, so it opens people's hearts," says Bergerson happily.
Now he says he wants to share this joy with others. Come February, he aims to take a few like-minded people on a ten-day tour through the streets of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Varanasi.
Biryani at Jama Masjid
Bergerson's love for Indian street food goes back ten years when he moved here from Israel. His first taste of it was a pakoda in Pahargunj. "Someone asked me if I was crazy. I told him the guy had been sitting here for 500 years (sic), he hadn't been thrown out and people still eat it. So I will eat it too."
What he doesn't eat, and therefore doesn't click, is non-vegetarian food, the sole exception being the biryani stall outside Jama Masjid which he could not resist. To him it exemplifies the street food experience in India. "It has the food, the crowd, the beautifully old Jama Masjid. It says India".
Chuski in Old Delhi
Old Delhi is one of Bergerson's favourite places for street food because of the huge variety it offers. "Migrants come to the city, they don't know what to do, so they start cooking something from their own home and selling it on the street," he explains, adding that he loves to see the making of a chuski (flavoured ice).
Bergerson wants to capture this era before it is gone. "You take it for granted because you have grown up with it, but make no mistake, it will change." Much like the falafel in Israel where he grew up, which went from being food sold in a "dirty, greasy hole-in-the-wall" to a "white ceramic and steel glass place that serves fresh salads".
Panipuri at Chowpatty
Mumbai's quintessential street food, vada pav barely made it to Bergerson's collection, despite being a personal favourite. "I wanted a good picture of the experience of vada pav and not the bun itself which is ugly." He has similar feelings about another favourite, pani puri. It was on an assignment to click panipuri when he realised that it just doesn't look good in a close-up. But he realised that eating a panipuri can get messy which makes people go into contortions. So he kept his distance, and used a long lens to capture what has become one of his favourite pani puri images.
Kulhad chai at Kolkata
The first time Bergerson visited Kolkata, he walked for five days but shot only two 'satisfactory photos'. The second time round he got the picture he wanted. It was on his way from the airport, when a jolt of blue on an otherwise drab street caught his eye. "Kolkata is not colourful. If I had to give the city a colour based on its energy, the life there and my experience, it would be black". He did not know which street the stall was on, so he patiently retraced his route to the airport. When he did find it, the vendor refused to get his picture clicked. Unfazed, Bergerson bided his time, shooting something nearby, smiling at him from the middle of the road, ordering chai from the stall. "He was quite tired of having me hang around there and I finally got my picture."
Jalebi in Jaipur
Bergerson always ate everything he clicked, except this one time in Jaipur. He was ambling along a bylane when he noticed a vendor carrying jalebis. A quick run, about turn and he got the vendor in the frame. "Just before he got too close, there was sunlight that lit him up from behind and made the jalebis shine," he smiles in recollection.
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