₿LOG
“Happiness: take away from your desires, not to add to your riches.†– Epicurus
Today is American Thanksgiving. It is a time of the year to appreciate what you have— to spend time with friends, family, and eat lots of (dry) turkey. I think about Thanksgiving as a chance to really “give thanks†— here is what I am grateful for in my life:
With the end of the year holiday season only just around the corner, I thought it would be fitting to write about Can Giving Make Us Happy?
Dear friend,
I am writing this as a practical instructional manual in terms of how to start your own photography blog. Note that none of this is “truth†or “rules†— these are simply guidelines that I wish I knew when I started a photography blog. I will share some tips, pieces of advice, and lessons which can help you practically when starting a photography blog.
Dear friend,
I am addicted to G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome). I always want to buy new shit— the newest iPad (Epic), cars (Mustang), phone (iPhone 6s or Nexus 6P), clothes (hipster $200+ raw denim), coffee makers ($500+), and tons of other stuff in my Amazon gift list. Here are some practical tips that have helped me (partially) combat G.A.S.:
I love to buy shit. It makes me feel great. I feel cooler, handsomer, sexier, more powerful, and more important. I always feel that if I just bought “X†I would become happier. For example, if I bought a Leica, I would feel more “creativeâ€, “inspiredâ€, and become a better photographer. Not only that, but I would be more “respected†if I had a Leica.
Ugh, I just woke up and haven’t had my espresso yet (fortunately it is being made right now).
Anyways— I wanted to share an idea that I had when I was rolling out of the couch today: practice random acts of kindness.
This weekend I’m teaching a “how to find your unique voice†street photography workshop in Downtown LA. One of the things I love most about teaching a workshop is that it gives me the opportunity to come up with new posts to share with you.
Dear friend, life is brutally short; live a life of leisure.
I own a lot of shit. I don’t think it is bad to have a lot of material possessions. However I find for me, more stuff, more problems.
This is part two of my review on Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb, ‘On Street Photography and the Poetic Image‘.
For part one, click here.
Hey Neil,
Happy birthday man. I’m not 100% sure how old you are now, but all I know is that you’re about a decade my senior. I wanted to write this letter to wish you a happy birthday, and share some personal thoughts of how grateful I am to have you in my life.
Dear friend,
I want to share some ideas with you– specifically about “personal” street photography. I’m going to ramble a bit before that, so please be patient with me.
Dear friend,
I wanted to share some ideas with you on my mind; one of them being on happiness.
Interview by A.g. De Mesa, photos by Harvey Stein
The thing about any creative pursuit, specifically photography, is that it is easy to pick up but only a few can stay with it let alone be good at the same time.
I’m in a plane to LA from Oakland (Southwest), and wanted to use this hour or so to write and share about my experiences shooting 100 rolls of Kodak Tri-X Film pushed to 1600 this summer.
(A.g.: In the spirit of Open Source here on Eric’s Blog, this is a German translation of Eric’s 10 Things Henri Cartier-Bresson Can Teach You About Street Photography made by photographer Lukas Beinstein).
Aperture have released a book collection called ‘The Photography Workshop Series‘ and currently have four in that set. I recently bought the co-authored one from Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb, ‘On Street Photography and the Poetic Image‘. As Alex is one of my favourite photographers, I wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to gain knowledge and guidance from such a great photographer. Especially as it’s unlikely that I’m going to get the chance to meet him in person, and what better alternative than with a book.
Simon: I recently took part in Eric’s workshop in New Orleans and during one of our daily critique sessions Eric asked if I’d like to write a post about the top 5 things I learnt.  After taking the time to reflect on the week I really struggled to cut it down to 5 and decided to share the top 10 – sorry Eric!
Before I get into what I learnt about photography I want to share a couple of other things I learned from this trip:
See the most recent version of this book (Version III): “100 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography.”
Learn from the masters of street photography, with 82 practical lessons and assignments that will push you outside of your comfort zone, and take your work to the next level.
I’ve been in the “social media†game for as long as I can remember. Let me tell you a story:
I just turned 21 years old, and I got 100+ “happy birthday†messages on Facebook. No phone calls. Two text messages (one from Cindy and one from my mom). No presents. No hugs in real life. I felt sad, shallow, and neglected.
(A.g.’s Note: We’re glad to have Observe Collective back on the blog again with some highlights of their recently held Under Construction exhibit in Germany. Check it out!)
Dear fellow streettog,
I want to live my life to the fullest. I want to die without regrets.
Often I piss away my days, live a life according to the opinion of others, and desire shit that I don’t need (materialistic things like cars, a lot of money, fancy cameras, shiny devices, and a big house).
As a reminder to myself, I always try to remind myself of “The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying.” A hospice nurse wrote a list of 5 common regrets people had on their death bed.
