Seek to Make Photos Nobody Has Seen Before!

“I abominate the uninitiated vulgar, and keep them at a distance. Preserve a religious silence: I, the priest of the Muses, sing to virgins and boys verses not heard before.” – Horace (Third book of the odes of Horace, ODE I: ON CONTENTMENT)

I am currently revisiting the work of Horace, and man — I am insanely inspired by his heroic-artistic mentality and perspective!


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I have shot street photography for nearly a decade (from 2009-present), and I have scoured and digested the works of many master street photographers, and have let my voracious hunger grow by consuming more artwork — from great poets, painters, sculptors, and film-makers.

I think what I ultimately have discovered after studying all these great artist-philosophers is this:

Devote your life to pursuing your own inner-genius, and seek to make the best artwork you can while you’re still alive on planet earth!


I’ve been meditating a lot on life, money, and happiness. Currently I am in the suburbs of LA, and perfectly content with my simple belongings and lifestyle. I got my laptop, tablet, digital camera, and mind– what else do I need to create?

Currently I am very interested in composition — specifically,

How can we photographers create new compositions that nobody has seen before?

I think out of all photographers in the past, Garry Winogrand was the closest in creating truly innovative and new compositions– experimenting with distance, tilting his camera, shooting with a wide-angle lens, and adding intense layers in his photos. I think what truly sets Garry Winogrand apart from other photographers in the past is that he shunned traditional forms of photography and ways of working, and instead– followed his own inner-voice, and kept pushing the boundaries of art.


In photography, Garry Winogrand said that it is a battle between “content and form”. ‘Content’ is what is in your frame/photo. ‘Form’ is how your photo looks/what the composition is.

Content is the emotions in your photos, hand-gestures, facial-expressions, and eye contact.

Form: This is what we are very interested in as photographers. How can we create new forms in photography– especially in street photography, to create radical, innovative, and brand-new compositions that the world hasn’t seen before?

Layers


You have infinite opportunities in photography!

So this is the good thing:

Photography is still such a new art-form, and we haven’t completely exhausted all the composition ideas and forms that exist.

And not only that, but:

Because of the way that reality is– it will never be possible to fully-exhaust all the compositions, shapes, and forms, and opportunities that photography affords us.

The future is bright! We can continue to shoot street photography as society changes. And who knows, one day if we go to the moon– maybe we can do ‘spaceship street photography’ (shooting street photography in the lobbies of ships). Even now, I am interested in going on a cruise– which is essentially, a massive space ship that floats on water. I’m curious — “What would it be like to shoot street photography on a cruise, when you cannot escape?”

Also, I have always been interested to shoot street photography in restaurants — candid (or with permission) photos of people in-doors!

Anyways, to conclude– know that there are infinite possibilities for you as a photographer. Never lose hope, or limit yourself.

BE BRAZEN,
ERIC


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