Archives for December 2013

My Top 10 Street Photography Lists for 2013

I have never been the type of person to reflect on life. I generally tend to always live in the present moment– and don’t spend too much time thinking about the past or the future. But the quote that always comes to me from Socrates is: “The life unexamined is not a life worth living.”

Ever since I got laid off my job (June 13, 2011) life has been zooming past before my eyes ridiculously quickly. It has been around 2 years and 6 months since I have been doing street photography “full time.” and wanted to use this opportunity to just share some of my thoughts and what I am grateful for.

Don’t Miss Out! One Week Left for Early-Bird Pricing of my Seattle 3-day Introduction to Street Photography Workshop (Jan 10-12, 2014)

There is one-week left for the early-bird discount (Sunday, Jan 5th) for my first Seattle Introduction to Street Photography Workshop! Don’t miss out on this beautiful unique location, especially if you live in the area!

Have you ever walked on the streets and saw a moment that you wanted to capture, but you were too scared to take the photograph? Do you want to become more confident shooting in the streets and learn how to better interact with your subjects? Do you want to meet other street photographers that are as equally passionate about street photography or interested in learning like you?

“Kimology”: Exploring the Sanctioned North Korea by Steve Richmond

Steve Richmond is a London based photographer, originally from Northern Ireland. You can see the full “Kimology” series on Flickr here.

Embracing Surrealism and Symbolism: Video Interview with Dimitris Makrygiannakis in Stockholm

Dimitris Makrygiannakis is one of the up-and-coming rising stars when it comes to street photography. He has only been shooting seriously the last two years, and has made a huge leap in his work. I love the sense of surrealism, symbolism, and emotion in his work. He also breaks the “street photography” boundaries by embracing multiple types of work: posed portraiture and “still life” work.

See more of Dimitris’ work on Flickr. You can also see my past feature with his work here. Read more to see the entire transcript.

11 Lessons Jacob Aue Sobol Has Taught Me About Street Photography

“The most difficult thing for me is to take pictures from far away.” – Jacob Aue Sobol

Jacob Aue Sobol is one of my favorite contemporary photographers. Not only are his images visually powerful and stirring– but they exude a sense of emotion that pours from the seams. His emotions have depth and soul to them– something that we all as street photographers can learn from him.

While Sobol wouldn’t call himself a “street photographer”–his way of wandering the streets and photographing strangers is something street photographers can all relate to.

I recently received a copy of “Veins” a book he co-authored by Anders Petersen and have been thinking more about Sobol’s work. Therefore I wanted to write this article to better get inside the mind of Sobol and share his inspirational images and thoughts about photography to you.

Warning: Some of the photos in this article may not be safe for work.

On Criticism and Street Photography

Photos in this article are from my Gallo Boxing Series in Michigan. You can see all the GoPro POV videos on YouTube here.

“To try to please everybody is to please nobody” – Publilius Syrus

For those of you who follow my blog (or even worse, my YouTube channel) know that I have a lot of critics. Many people often ask how I deal with the criticism. I’ve had some people tell me that I must have a thick skin, and commend me for it.

However in reality, I actually have very thin skin, and when people do criticize me, it hurts me a lot.

Conquer Your Fears and Meet New Peers in 2014! Upcoming Street Photography Workshops in Seattle, SF, Amsterdam, NYC, Istanbul, Toronto, LA, Vancouver and More!

Hey streettogs,

I am excited to announce my new calendar of street photography workshops for 2014 in Seattle, SF, Amsterdam, NYC, Istanbul, Toronto, Vancouver, Vietnam, Seoul, Tokyo, Sydney, Melbourne, Stockholm, and London! If you want to meet new peers and conquer your fears, join us at a workshop coming to you below!

If you cannot attend one of my upcoming in-person street photography workshops yet want to learn from the comfort of your home, you can also join me for one of my special Online 1:1 Street Photography Workshops via Skype.

Join over 500+ students for an experience you will never forget! Read more to see my full schedule below!

Street Photography Workshops 2014

January 10-12th

Seattle – Introduction to Street Photography Workshop – OPEN!

February 1st

San Francisco – Introduction to Social Media for Photographers Workshop – Info TBA

February 7-9th

San Francisco – Introduction to Street Photography Workshop – OPEN!

February 28-March 3rd

Amsterdam – Introduction to Street Photography Workshop – OPEN!

March 7-14th

Dubai – Gulf Photo Plus Workshops (Intro, Intermediate/Adv, Urban Landscape) – OPEN!

March 28th-30th

New York City – Introduction to Street Photography Workshop – OPEN!

April 4-6th

New York City – Intermediate/Advanced Street Photography Workshop –OPEN!

April 21-25th

Istanbul – Week-Long Travel Street Photography Workshop with Charlie Kirk – Register Intent

May 2-4th

Toronto – Introduction to Street Photography Workshop – OPEN!

May 16-18th

Los Angeles – Introduction to Street Photography Workshop – OPEN!

May 23-25th

Los Angeles – Intermediate/Advanced Street Photography Workshop – OPEN!

June 6-8th

Vancouver (BC) – Introduction to Street Photography Workshop – OPEN!

June 30-July 4th

Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City) – Week-Long Travel Street Photography Workshop – Register Intent

July 25-27th

Seoul – Introduction to Street Photography Workshop – Register Intent

August 15-17th

Tokyo – Introduction to Street Photography Workshop – Register Intent

August 22-24th

Hong Kong – Intermediate/Advanced Street Photography Workshop – Register Intent

August 29-31st

Sydney – Introduction to Street Photography Workshop – Register Intent

September 5-7th

Melbourne – Intermediate/Advanced to Street Photography Workshop – Register Intent

November 7-9th

London – Introduction to Street Photography Workshop – Register Intent

November 14-16th

London – Intermediate/Advanced Street Photography Workshop – Register Intent

December 15-19th

Bangkok – Week-Long Travel Street Photography Workshop – Register Intent

For more information, check out my Eric Kim Street Photography Workshops page. If you have any questions, email my manager Neil Ta at neil.ta@erickimphotography.com

On Neomania and Street Photography

I hate advertising in a lot of ways. Although I think there are some beautiful advertisements (that I think can double as art) at the end of they day, they are just trying to get you to buy something. And with that– advertisers and marketers often create false wants (which we get confused with “needs”). For example, I “need” a new iPad Air, rather than I “want” a new iPad Air.

Not only that, but one of the great psychological tricks that advertisers/marketers use is to create a sense of dissatisfaction with what you already own. Sure, you already have the iPhone 5, but you suddenly feel that you are missing out by not having the iPhone 5S (it has a marginally better camera!)

Capturing Harmony on the Streets through Graphical Images: Interview with Siegfried Hansen

Eric’s Note: This is an interview with Siegfried Hansen, one of the finest contemporary street photographers who hails from Hamburg, Germany. What I love about his work is how he is able to combine strong graphical elements in the streets – and make simple yet beautiful images. See his fine images and advice for street photographers in this interview below.

Street Photography Composition Lesson #13: Multiple-Subjects

I think one of the most difficult compositional techniques in street photography is to incorporate multiple subjects in the frame — without it becoming too cluttered or overwhelming. Generally the problem is that most photographers that try to incorporate multiple subjects have some of the following problems:

Overlapping subjects
Distracting backgrounds
No central subject
Not enough points of interest

In this article I will share some of who I think are the finest photographers to have used multiple-subjects in their photos. I will analyze the images, and hopefully provide practical tips to anyone trying to incorporate more multiple subjects in the frame.

25 Practical Tips from Elliott Erwitt for Street Photographers

I recently attended Elliot Erwitt’s “100+1” exhibition at Fotografiska, which will be in Stockholm from December 6, 2013 to March 2, 2014. We were given a brochure with great practical advice for street photographers– which I have shared here. This text for the article is extracted from the foreword dedication written by Elliott Erwitt for the book “Personal Exposures.”

In Praise of Slowness in Street Photography

Photos in this article are from my road trip from Michigan to California.

One thing I hate about the modern world is our addiction to speed. We want everything to be done faster, more efficiently, and better optimized. We are frustrated when we are loading up a website on our smartphones and it takes longer than a few seconds. We hardly have the patience to cook anymore, so we just pop something in the microwave. We then inhale our food in a few seconds so we can get back to work and be more “productive.”

5 Psychological Biases You Must Avoid in Street Photography

Besides street photography, I have a great interest in sociology, psychology, and philosophy. What I love about all these side-fields is that they overlap and add unto one another. Not only that, but I have probably learned more about street photography from these outside fields than from the field of photography itself.

A field I have been quite fascinated with is called “behavioral economics” the idea that us humans act “predictably irrational”. This means that we all have similar cognitive biases in certain circumstances. Although we like to think of ourselves as rational beings– we are far less rational than we’d like to believe.

In this article I want to share some insights I have learned from “behavioral economics” (which tends to fit into the field of psychology and cognitive science).