Dear friend,

FEAR is the golden bricks, which hold you underwater– which prevent you from flying to your own creative heaven.

What do we fear?

We fear judgement of others. We fear not being able to live up to our own potential. We fear making a picture of someone, and having them get angry or pissed off at us.

We are afraid and fearful of losing followers. We are afraid of living our entire lives as photographers and artist– and never having the chance to become ‘famous’, to have our own private gallery show, or to be ‘discovered’ by a renowned publisher, and having our works shared with the masses.

Take life into your own hands; steer your own life!

To me, I was able to conquer fear — by taking life into my own hands.

Rather than waiting to get ‘discovered’ by a middle-man or agent, I sought to make my own platform. I made this blog via 1and1.com and wordpress.org– and now I have equity. I remember when my mom used to work as a waitress at a sushi restaurant– and after slaving away there for 10 years and being ‘let go’ — she had no equity.

I remember when it came to street photography, I was afraid of pissing off people. I was afraid of having others see me as a weirdo or strange.

But now, I’m like fuck it — I am weird. I am proud of being a social outcast. I am proud of going against the social grain. Anyone who knows me in real life knows that I’m pretty fucking weird. I don’t follow social conventions, and I think that is what has helped me become a successful entrepreneur — by taking risks, and not caring what others think of me.

It’s all in your head.

The brain is a nifty thing — it is the closest thing we have to predicting the future. Yet, it isn’t 100% perfect. Actually, not perfect at all.

For example, let’s say you see a person with a face tattoo you want to photograph. You want to make a photograph of that person, but you are afraid that if you ask for permission, the person is going to say ‘no.’ Or perhaps– you are afraid if you take a picture of that person without permission, you will get a knuckle sandwich (get punched in the mouth).

But the only way to overcome this:

Take more risks.

The more risks you take, the better pictures you will make.

1. Whenever you click the shutter, you’re taking a risk.
2. In art and photography — whenever you share your opinion, or share your art, or share your pictures– you are taking a risk of being judged in a negative way.

But know, the more risks you take, the more successful you will be.

Assignments to take more risks:

1. Give fewer fucks what others think of you– by doing more social ‘breaching’ experiments. Do pushups in a public place, make small talk with a stranger, or just ask for permission to shoot a portrait of a stranger.
2. Upload an image that you think might be controversial or piss people off.
3. Try to get people to unfollow you.
4. Assignment: For an entire week, whenever you see a potential street photograph that scares you, you MUST PHOTOGRAPH IT.
5. JUST SHOOT IT.

Be strong,
Eric

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