Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sabyasachi Bera. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sabyasachi, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?

After doing some portrait photoshoots with my friends, I did a photoshoot with a professional model for the first time on May 3rd, 2016. We discussed the concepts and decided to shoot at Stone arch bridge and Minnehaha falls in Minneapolis. After a 3-hour photoshoot, I earned $100. Not much in terms of $ value (specially after accounting for sorting and editing time), but it was a happy moment. I vividly remember that I was HELLA nervous before the photoshoot, but it went pretty well. I am sharing one image from this photoshoot taken at the stone arch bridge.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a Minneapolis based Indian fine art photographer. Shortly after coming to the USA as a PhD student in Statistics at University of Minnesota in 2013, I bought my first digital camera and began practicing photography as a hobby. I started to take photography seriously after a trip to the Big Apple back in 2016 as I was going through a journey of self-discovery. I am graduating this (2023) summer, moving to the east coast and looking forward to starting the next chapter in my photography journey. As of now I have traveled to 17 countries, 35 states in the USA, conducted well over 200 photoshoots and submitted several of my works for magazine publications.

These days my focus is on fine-art portraits, fashion and editorials; but I also do travel, landscape, wildlife and wedding photography occasionally. I think as a fine art photographer, I have a distinct ethereal and colorful style. However, my style is always evolving, so who knows!

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Back in 2016 my photography journey primarily started as a long term exploration and personal development project since as an Indian STEM PhD student I was struggling to find relevance and a genuine sense of belonging in the USA. A lot of things needed to improve and I realised I need to add another dimension to my existing academic identity.

Although there are now more Indian American actors, comedians, fashion designers and public figures in mainstream American media than ever before, due to varieties of reasons (such as being only 1.5% of the total population, lack of historical presence, limited access to media and entertainment industries, cultural differences, racism, STEM/nerd stereotypes etc.) Indians do not have significant relevance in mainstream American life. On the flip side, as most 90s Indian kids would be able to relate, “the highway” to level up in life back in India was through INTENSE studying/memorizing mostly STEM subjects during childhood and adolescence. Because of that a lot of us (including me) developed little to no life skills other than obtaining good grades before coming to the USA to pursue higher education.

Due to these reasons along with PhD related stress, once the initial “honeymoon phase” is over it is very common for first gen Indian PhD students in the USA to experience loneliness, mental health issues and lack of belonging. It is well documented that these issues persist long after settling down in the USA and consequently affect the next generation.

In this context, my journey in photography has helped me to develop very important social and cultural life skills, provided me with a creative voice, sense of belonging and social capital in the USA, and made me a truly global citizen. I must point out that neither the purpose of my photography journey so far has been to achieve only these (it is an important objective nonetheless) nor photography is the only way to achieve these. In-general, staying open minded, traveling with intention, learning about art, history, cultures, politics etc. and pursuing a hobby/profession that allows you to communicate with people from all walks of life will go a long way!

Going forward, while my exploration and personal development project will continue, I want to be more intentional about inspiring and mentoring under-represented communities in the photography and fashion industry, amping up their voice and creating a safe environment to express themselves.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Although I do NOT agree with how he ended Game of Thrones, I do agree with David Benioff’s following quote:

“There are a few moments in your life when you are truly and completely happy, and you remember to give thanks. Even as it happens you are nostalgic for the moment; you are tucking it away in your scrapbook.”

I think the most rewarding aspect of being creative is that those moments will occur more frequently than a non-creative on an average, at least in theory. Creatives literally sacrifice other aspects of life to max on this aspect!

Now whether in real life other non-creative activities such as taking afternoon strolls to the nearby park with your puppies, purchasing a Birkin bag, being a Swiftie or believing in communism can also give you those moments more frequently is a very good question, and I don’t have an immediate answer for that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sites.google.com/umn.edu/sabyasachi-bera/home
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sabyasachi.bera/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sabyasachi.beraJB/