Amsterdam girl with doll— reminds me of pieta. Amsterdam, 2015 #ricohgrii

What Photos Will Last?

Dear friend,

A philosophical question I was pondering while lying in bed this morning–

“What kind of photos will last, and what kind of photos will not?”

Download PDF: What Kind of Photos Will Last


In studying a lot of philosophers, artists, and poets of the past, it seems that the ultimate test of how good an artist-philosopher-thinker is depends on whether their work lasts or not.

Think about it– in design, art, and life, it is difficult to know what is “good” or “bad”. But generally, whatever has existed for a long time has existed for a good reason (maybe for reasons unknown to us). Nassim Taleb calls this the “Lindy Effect”, generally what is older is better.

In photography, art, and design– consider the “old school” stuff is usually the best.

For example, with camera design, there is a reason why the Leica M-Rangefinder design has been so “timeless” and has lasted from the 1920s until now (around 100 years!).

Another good example is the RICOH-GR series cameras. The original film Ricoh GR 1 camera came out in 1996, and now we have the digital RICOH GR-series cameras that are thriving! The ergonomics of the camera are perfect for a point and shoot camera. At least for the next few thousands of years, our hands won’t change and evolve much. Thus generally things which are designed which fit well into our hands (pens, books) will continue to exist in their present form.


In today’s world, we are drowning in a digital black sea of images. And to be honest, there are lots of really really good images out there now! But the practical question we must address is this:

In a world with trillions of images, which few images do we decide to consume?

It would be silly to try to consume all the images in the world. That’s like trying to eat every single food item in all the fast-food restaurants around the world (Instagram). I would rather say let us take the “old school” route of studying photography books. Why? It cost photographers real money to print their photos into a book, so there is a greater likelihood that the photographs in (printed) photo books will be better images!

And also generally photographers who are dead (who are still famous now) have existed for a long time for good reasons– either because they innovated in photography (Henri Cartier-Bresson and black and white photography, or William Eggleston and color photography), or because their work has merit and is good!


So far, the best (two) human artwork which has existed until now is probably Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad. Generally in literature, authors are remembered for books written. For myself personally, my favorite literature books include 1984 by George Orwell, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, and the Iliad.

For painters, generally painters are remembered for their best (single, stand-alone) paintings. For example Leonardo da Vinci and the Mona Lisa, Picasso and Guernica, or Andy Warhol and the soup cans.

For film-makers, they are remembered for their best films. For example “The Birds” by Alfred Hitchcock, “2001 Space Odyssey” by Stanley Kubrick, or 7 Samurai by Akira Kurosawa.

For photographers, they are either remembered for single images, or books. For example when it comes to photo books: “The Americans” by Robert Frank. Or “The Last Resort” or “Common Sense” by Martin Parr, “The Decisive Moment” by Henri Cartier-Bresson, “Exiles” or “Gypsies” by Josef Koudelka, “The Suffering of Light” or “Istanbul” by Alex Webb.

Also for photographers, we can be remembered for great single images, such as any iconic single image by Steve McCurry (Afghan Girl), The Bicycle Photo or Jumping Man photo by Henri Cartier-Bresson, or Garry Winogrand’s famous “Bi-racial couple” picture with the black man and white woman and the two chimpanzees.


What are my best photos?

Okay honestly we can theorize about art, other artists, etc– but more importantly, we need to judge our own photos. So the practical idea I will give you is this:

You know what your best pictures are based on which of your photos (from very long ago) you still like!

For example, a picture that you shot 5 years ago (that you still like) is probably more likely to be a good photo than a photo you shot 1 year ago (and still like).

So as (another) practical tip, spend some time looking back at your older pictures and re-sharing or re-uploading/experiencing them!

Also as a practical note, spend some more time re-looking at some of your favorite photo books, instead of always buying new books. Re-read some of your favorite literature from the past, and spend more time re-watching some of your favorite old-school films.

Keep it classic.
ERIC


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If you want a quality-education in street photography, I recommend either buying, borrowing, or browsing though some of the books below. Books that are bolded are some of my personal favorites.

  1. Magnum Contact Sheets
  2. Magnum: Degrees
  3. Magnum: Stories
  4. Mark Cohen: Grim Street
  5. Street Photography Now
  6. Bruce Davidson: Subway
  7. Bruce Davidson: East 100th Street
  8. Diane Arbus: A monograph
  9. Helen Levitt
  10. Lee Friedlander: Friedlander
  11. Elliott Erwitt: Personal Best
  12. Richard Kalvar: Earthlings
  13. Andre Kertesz (Editions Hazan)
  14. Robert Frank: The Americans
  15. Garry Winogrand: Public Relations
  16. Garry Winogrand: Figments from the real world
  17. Garry Winogrand: The Animals
  18. Bruce Gilden by Stern Magazine
  19. Bruce Gilden: A Beautiful Catastrophe
  20. Bruce Gilden: Haiti
  21. Bruce Gilden: After The Off
  22. Bruce Gilden: Facing New York
  23. Bystander: A History of Street Photography
  24. Joel Meyerowitz
  25. Jun Abe: Citizens
  26. William Eggleston: Chromes
  27. William Eggleston: Guide
  28. William Eggleston: Before Color
  29. Stephen Shore: Uncommon Places
  30. Daido Moriyama: The World Through My Eyes
  31. Alex Webb: Istanbul
  32. Alex Webb: The Suffering Of Light
  33. Jeff Mermelstein: Sidewalk
  34. Walker Evans
  35. Fred Herzog: Photographs
  36. Vivian Maier
  37. William Klein: Contacts
  38. Joel Sternfeld: American Prospects
  39. Martin Parr: The Last Resort
  40. Martin Parr: Small World
  41. Tony Ray-Jones: Best Of
  42. Josef Koudelka: Gypsies
  43. Anders Peterson: French Kiss
  44. Anders Petersen: Cafe Lehmitz
  45. Zoe Strauss: America
  46. Henri Cartier-Bresson: “The Decisive Moment”
  47. Josef Koudelka: Exiles
  48. Anders Petersen
  49. The Education of a Photographer
  50. David Hurn: On Being a Photographer
  51. David Gibson: The Street Photographer’s Manual
  52. Siegfried Hansen – hold the line
  53. Matt Stuart: All that Life Can Afford
  54. The Photographer’s Playbook: 307 Assignments and Ideas
  55. Trent Parke: Minutes to Midnight
  56. Trent Parke: The Christmas Tree Bucket
  57. Trent Parke: The Black Rose
  58. Harry Gruyaert
  59. Gus Powell: The Lonely Ones
  60. Alec Soth: Songbook
  61. Ping Pong Conversations: Alec Soth with Francesco Zanot
  62. Constantine Manos: A Greek Portfolio
  63. Constantine Manos: American Color
  64. Constantine Manos: American Color 2
  65. David Alan Harvey: Divided Soul
  66. Photographers’ Sketchbooks
  67. Harry Callahan: Retrospective
  68. Slide Show: The Color Photographs of Helen Levitt
  69. Mark Cohen: Frame
  70. Saul Leiter: Early Color
  71. Saul Leiter: Early Black and White
  72. Dan Winters: Road to Seeing
  73. Todd Hido: Photography Workshop Series
  74. Mary Ellen Mark: Photography Workshop Series
  75. The Open Road: Photography and the American Roadtrip
  76. Jason Eskenazi: Wonderland: A Fairytale of the Soviet Monolith
  77. Kaushal Parikh: “Fragments of a Spinning Rock”
  78. Sunlanders by Sean Lotman

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If you love learning, read the books below:

  1. 100 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography
  2. Street Photography by Eric Kim
  3. Photography by Eric Kim
  4. Personal Photography Manual
  5. Street Photography Contact Sheets Volume II
  6. Street Photography Contact Sheets
  7. Monochrome Manual
  8. Street Portrait Manual
  9. Street Photography Composition Manual
  10. How to Overcome Photographer’s Block
  11. Street Photography 101
  12. Street Photography 102
  13. Zen in the Art of Street Photography
  14. Film Street Photography Manual
  15. 31 Days to Overcome Your Fear in Street Photography

Street Notes

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Street Notes is a pocket-sized assignment journal to break outside of your comfort zone:

STREET HUNT: Street Notes Volume 2 Scavenger Hunt Edition

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