CURRENT MISSION

To live a meaningful life.

ABOUT ME

I'm a documentary photographer and writer. I am interested in tradition, history mythology, religion and time, and this is, broadly speaking, the focus of my photography. I was born in the USSR and then emigrated to America. Before I was interested in photography I was interested in the world and travel. And I remain a traveler first. I've been fortunate to travel far, wide and deep especially in Asia, Africa and South America. For me, the journey remains at least as exciting, interesting and meaningful as the photography.

I've spent more than 20 years of my life traveling, including 6 years in South Asia (India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal) working on a photo book titled "Nostalgia For Eternity," about mysticism, mythology and religion on the Indian Subcontinent. The book was published in 2018.

PHILOSOPHY

I like what Pasternak once said: Man was made to live, not to prepare to live.

Warum ich bei Couchsurfing bin

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've met some amazingly interesting, kind and intelligent people through couch surfing. It's great way to learn and understand how people live, to learn something of their dreams and hopes, and also of their worries and fears — to share stories, experiences, wisdom and knowledge.

Interessen

Photography, History, Mountains, Meditation, Literature, Trekking, Beautiful Things, Wise Things, and, of course, Travel.

• literature
• folklore
• photography
• meditation
• walking
• traveling
• hiking
• history
• religion
• mountains
• mythology
• film

Musik, Filme und Bücher

Books: History, classic literature and travel writing; Movies: Anything intelligent . . . or bad enough to be unintentionally funny; Music: Good Music, I'm particularly fond of samba and opera.

Eine tolle Erfahrung, die ich gemacht habe

Walking with Sufi pilgrims for two weeks through the deserts of Rajasthan; Living with the Himba tribe in Namibia; Waking up in a Tibetan monastery and seeing Mt. Everest from the window; Spending summers walking in the Himalaya; Dawn on the Ganges; Standing at the bottom of Victoria Falls looking up.

Was ich mit Gastgebern teilen kann

Vipassana meditation, photography, travel stories, mythology, maybe some jokes.

Länder, die ich besucht habe

Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, England, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Scotland, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste (East Timor), Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vatican City State, Viet Nam, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Länder, in denen ich gelebt habe

Germany, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, United States

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