ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER #2: Life Update from Saigon, New SUITS Print Book, and New Orleans Workshop!

Dear friends,

A life update from Saigon:


MAROU CINDY Processed with VSCO with a6 preset - tea

Currently as I write these words at ‘The Coffee House Signature’ (probably the most beautiful coffee shop in the world, second after ‘La Viet’ in Dalat), I wanted to share some exciting news and just give you a life update.


First of all, we only have less than week left here in Saigon! Our next stop is Singapore, where Cindy is presenting her research on Vietnamese Libraries at the Singapore National University, and I am also teaching a street photography workshop.

Afterwards, back in Sunny Southern California at Cindy’s mom’s house in the suburbs of LA!


Pizza 4p's in Saigon with Cindy and Jennifer, 2018
Pizza 4p’s in Saigon with Cindy and Jennifer, 2018

During our 1.5 month in Saigon, Cindy and I brought over our two sisters– Annette Kim (Illustrator) and Jennifer Nguyen (editor, and now Adobe Indesign publisher). We brought over our sisters for a SAIGON HAPTICLABS Internship — where we taught them practical skills, and also worked on some meaningful creative projects together, such as:

  1. My first print book: “SUITS” (only a few copies left), in which Annette Kim did the original cover design, Cindy did the editing/sequencing, and Jennifer helped with design.
  2. PHOTO JOURNAL: Mobile Edition — in which Jennifer took the original PHOTO JOURNAL Print Edition, and ‘digitized’ it into ebook/PDF format; using Adobe Indesign, and also published Photo Journal for Amazon Kindle Edition >
  3. ZEN OF ERIC: My first philosophy ebook, which is a distillation of everything I’ve learned about philosophy, zen, stoicism, and life over the last 10 years.
  4. My First Photography Book (Hardcover / Ebook edition): Our passion project, where we wanted to make a children’s book (both for children and adults) on how children can take better photos on a phone!
  5. FILM NOTES: Mobile Edition — Jennifer also did an amazing job turning FILM NOTES (print edition) into a mobile edition; for you to find inspiration to shoot film regardless of where you are! The big innovation is that Jennifer also created a ‘printable edition’ — in which you can take the PDF and directly print it off your home printer.

Annette flew back to the states a few days ago, and Cindy, myself, and Jennifer are missing her dearly. Annette brought so much great energy to the group, and it was her first time in Saigon (she loved it, and even more so than Hanoi).


Spending time in Saigon was great for the last 1.5 months. I loved having the opportunity to not stress so much about everyday living (because we live in a hotel, we have very little things to worry about on a day-to-day basis). This allowed all of us to focus on artistic creation, and also gave me the time to philosophize more on life — and even creating a new series/course titled: “PHOTOLOSOPHY” (a mash-up between ‘photography’ and ‘philosophy‘).

My time in Saigon was short and sweet. I made a ton of new friends at the park across the hotel, where I worked out everyday, I improved my Vietnamese, and Cindy, Jennifer, Annette, and I had some great time together as a family.

At this point, we are continuing to build up HAPTIC as a way for us to not only work together; but to create something bigger and more meaningful. To create things that can empower others.


Visit Saigon!

If you’ve never been to Saigon, please go! It is my favorite city in the world. Favorite places to eat include ‘Pizza 4ps’, hang out at the mall (Saigon Center), have great coffee at VCR (Vietnamese Coffee Republic) and The Coffee House Signature, and all the restaurants are amazing (my favorites include ‘Ciao Bella’ for Italian, ‘Ut Ut’ for American-styled BBQ, and ‘Crystal Jade’ at the Saigon Center Mall for Chinese food).

Oh yeah, and the wifi here is also insanely fast!!! (great for digital nomads).


STREET CLUB: Summer School Assignment #2: PARK

Oh yeah, and make sure to join STREET CLUB: Summer School — the assignment #2 (PARK) is now live!. This will be a great chance for you to push yourself outside of your comfort zone, flex your street photography muscles, and join the awesome community.


My top 10 simple joys in life

Life is good. I wrote a post on the simple joys I have in life, which include:

  1. Recounting my “small wins” and “favorite parts of the day” while lying in bed with Cindy, before we sleep. To make eye contact and chat with her with joy, without having a device covering our faces.
  2. The joy of breaking a fast; ie, eating dinner (I don’t eat breakfast or lunch).
  3. The joy of discovering an exciting new idea which interests me, then researching it on Google, Wikipedia, Wiktionary, and writing/blogging about the idea.
  4. The joy of walking around the block, looking up and smiling at the green trees around me.
  5. The joy of going to the park or gym to workout, the joy of the feeling of blood pumping into my arms and legs, and the joy of jovial conversation with strangers at the gym or park.
  6. The joy of achieving a new “one rep max” in my deadlift.
  7. The joy of watching a great film or cinema with phenomenal story telling, cinematography, and philosophical undertones.
  8. The joy of drinking a lovely single origin espresso.
  9. The joy of spending time with my friends, loved ones and family.
  10. The joy of going to sleep knowing that if I died tonight in my sleep, I wouldn’t have any regrets.

New photography tips

Also here are some fun new photography tips and articles to get you re-motivated and inspired in your photography!

  1. Soul Street Photography
  2. Via Negativa Photography
  3. Friendly-Aggressive Technique in Street Photography and Life
  4. 10 Street Photography Travel Tips
  5. 10 Photography Project Tips

New Workshops

Also super pumped to announce that I just added an epic New Orleans Street Photography Workshop experience (Nov 7-11th, 2018) to my calendar!

You can see my full workshops schedule below:

Workshop Registration & Contact: neilta@gmail.com


As always, thank you so much for your continual love, and support. None of this would be possible without you.

Hugs from Saigon,
Eric, Cindy, Jennifer (and Annette back in California)

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