If You Like the Photo, it is a Good Photo!

The most difficult person to impress in your photography:

Yourself.

To be honest, it is very hard to make photos that you like. We must make millions of failed photographs, in order to get a few that we really like.

Furthermore, it takes a long time for us to develop our own personal aesthetic taste. It takes us a while to build our visual tastebuds, to become more perceptive towards our own photos. It takes a long time for us to recognize what kind of photos we really like.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what makes a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ photo, and this is the rule:

If you like the photo, it is a good photo.

This is the most robust way of judging your own photos, because it means that you will become master and lord over yourself. It is the most authentic form of being a photographer. 

Recognize that also over time, your photographic tastes and aesthetics will change. And this is good; it means that you are evolving as a photographer and visual artist.

I am never satisfied in my photography; perhaps this is what drives me forward to keep shooting and innovating?


Satisfaction is death

Ford Mustang, Huawei p20 colors

Once you are satisfied as a photographer and visual artist– what motivation do you have to keep shooting and making new photos?

What are ERIC KIM’s personal goals for photography? Simple:

To never stop making new photos which impresses and interests me.

To me, I want to stay hungry my whole life. To never stop aspiring. To never stop thriving. To never stop innovating with visual art and science.


Once you have lost the hunger and the lust to make new photographs, you start dying. Once you lose that child-like sense of curiosity about the world, what motivation do you have to leave the house?

Always be hungry to improve

Fibonacci Spiral
Fibonacci Spiral composition on Huawei P20 Pro

There is an ancient Venetian proverb I learned from Nassim Taleb:

The sea is deeper the further you go into it.

Which means,

The more you learn about something, the more deep and profound it becomes.

I think photography is the same. On the outside it seems so simple. Point and shoot photos. Yet, the more I study photography and philosophize about photography, the more interesting and fascinating it becomes.

My lifespan is limited and uncertain. At best, I will live to be 120. At worst, I will die today.

Thus, my ambition is to never stop hustling, to further photography, philosophy, to empower my fellow beloved humans. I want to labor for my fellow humans (still alive today), and also for future generations of image-creators.


You are the master.

“I treat the first like my last, and my last like my first.” – JAY Z

I never want to lose my child-like naïveté. To never be satisfied is good, it means that you will always have an open mind, and be open to learning new things.

But once again to conclude– strive to please yourself. 

And remember, you are the master and lord over yourself.

Keep striving to make photos you like. It is so simple!

ERIC