To be a ‘smith’ is an old word– to be an artisan.
This is the etymology of ‘smith‘ according to Wiktionary.
From Middle English smith, from Old English smiþ (“handicraftsman, smith, blacksmith, armorer, carpenter, worker in metals or in wood”), from Proto-Germanic *smiþaz (“arranger, smith”), from Proto-Indo-European *smēy-, *smī- (“to cut, hew”). Cognate with Dutch smid, German Schmied, Swedish/Norwegian smed.
Therefore, this is what I find interesting:
- You can be a ‘blacksmith’ — someone who takes raw iron, and turns it into a useful tool.
- You can be a ‘wordsmith’ — a poet who takes words, and puts them together in novel formations, to make a poem.
My suggestion:
Be a PHOTO-SMITH; someone who takes the visual pieces of reality, and re-arranges it into a novel way to make photos.
Apparently the archaic word for ‘smith’ also meant ‘artist.’
You are an artist. If you make photos with your heart and soul, you are an artist.
What makes your work unique is how you re-arrange reality.
You are a photo-smith, you decide what to meld. What to remove. What parts to temper with your hammer. Which part to heat up, and which parts to cool down.
How do you see the world differently than others? How can you craft together a visual narrative of how you see the world?
What parts of reality will you CUT AWAY, and what will you keep?
What materials will you work with?
As a PHOTOSMITH, what materials will you use? Gold, silver, marble, bronze, or something else?
In photography, you can work in monochrome, color, or perhaps discover some new material to remix?
However you craft your images– it is up to your artistic vision. High-contrast black and white with ERIC KIM PRESETS, or low-contrast more silver and grey? Shoot film, or digital? Digital medium-format, or your phone?
Master your craft
To fight nihilism and a feeling of ‘purposelessness’ in life — just seek to become the best PHOTOSMITH and master visual artisan you can.
Seek to make more dynamic compositions. Work with unorthodox compositions.
Fuck around. Have fun. But always strive to take your work to the next level, and challenge yourself. Fight mediocrity, by constantly EVOLVING!
Keep shooting until you die, and never give up perfecting your photography.
BE STRONG,
ERIC
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