CLOSER.

Downtown LA, 2016

CLOSER…a concept that can help us in photography and all aspects of life.

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Ideas:

  1. Emotionally closer to family, friends, loved ones. Less censoring how you feel about your loved ones…tell them how much you love them. Don’t wait until they die to tell them how you really feel.
  2. Closer to your subjects in street photography. Get close enough you can see the color of their eyes. Closer street photographs are almost always better than street photographs that are too far.

Why are we afraid of closeness?

Hanoi, 2017 #cindyproject

To get close makes you VULNERABLE. We are afraid of getting hurt. For those of you (myself included) who have had their heart broken…we know how shitty it feels when we open up our hearts to others, and then we get fucking stabbed in the back with icy cold steel.

Therefore, to be vulnerable requires STRENGTH, and CONFIDENCE.

Because whenever we make ourselves vulnerable, and when we take off our armor… others can see our weak points. Kind of how Samson revealed to his lover that his strength was in his hair… and then promptly got his hair cut and lost all his strength.

Golden imperfections

To me, an individual of VALOR and MAGNANIMITY doesn’t hide their flaws. Rather, they let their flaws shine radiantly.

In Japanese aesthetics, there is an art called KINTSUGI in which the broken parts of a bowl are re-glued together, but with this beautiful golden color. It highlights the imperfections but shows the beauty in the repair and the imperfection.

I think scars are beautiful. A person with a scar on their face… I have more respect for that person. It isn’t something to hide, but rather something to show off.

On my film Leica MP camera, I love the “brassing” or the patina it shows through the wear and tear. All scratches on my camera has a story. I remember the times I dropped my camera, scratched it or used it. Where I use my camera, a golden bronze sheen reveals itself. The same goes with having a nice pair of RAW DENIM, the more you use it, the more it moulds to your body.

When in doubt, get closer.

MASTERS by HAPTIC

Anyways apologize my digression.

GET CLOSER.

Emotional closeness, close to your subjects in photography, and closer to whatever interests you or whatever you study.

CLOSENESS should be our new life motto.

BE STRONG,
ERIC

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