Month: May 2019

GATTACA: one of the great films.

In life, perhaps we shouldn’t worry too much about external ‘success’, money, material things, etc– perhaps we are the happiest when we maximize our day to be artistically productive.

One of my favorite Nietzsche quotes: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. But what does this mean– both philosophically and practically?

Why are aesthetics important in terms of art, design, our clothing, cars, devices, cameras, and more?

Perhaps we should think beyond photography — to create a hybrid between photography, painting, and any form of visual art-remixing.

Some current thoughts I’m having on color theory: Why color? If you have the option between monochrome and color — why would you choose color? What if color is connected with physiological responses? For …

A thought while contemplating consumer culture in America: We are often suckered into buying new things to “improve” our lives, but more often than not — these new things actually complicate and worsen our …

When I’m studying the artwork of others, I’m always hungry for the sublime — art that is so sublimely beautiful, that the artwork feels effortless, and you can feel the grace, beauty, and power …

Of course we need a body to live and for practical and functional purposes. But in today’s world and society, what is the role of the body from a philosophical perspective?

Just watched GATTACA for the first time — and it has a lot of interesting philosophical ideas about genetics, biological potential, and SURPASSING your “potential”(ingenuity, hustle, effort, luck).

Something I’ve been thinking about for a long time: What if this “romantic” notion was a bad one — which leads to decay, decadence, and a decline in our human spirit and human ingenuity?

What if we changed our mindset — that instead of striving to make “timeless” art works, we sought to just create for the sake of it — and not concern ourselves with making things …

A recent discovery: The kettlebell is a wonderful life, art, productivity hack.

What do we really desire and “need”to thrive on our time on planet earth? My idea so far: We desire art, food, and our fellow human beings.

Is it bad to be an “asshole”?  A thought while walking around today: Why is it considered bad or “evil” to be an ‘asshole’? Furthermore, what if it is necessary for us to be …

A simple way to think about life: Almost anything in life is possible for you to do or achieve (from a physics ‘first principles’ perspective). Now the question is — “How bad do I …

Dear friend, If you’re hungry to conquer your fears in street photography, I cordially invite you to my intensive 1-day PORTLAND Conquer Your Fears Workshop (Saturday, October 19th, 2019).

Love the music video of Apeshit by Beyoncé and Jay Z:

A thought — Why create? Furthermore: What prevents us from creating? Is it “good” for us to create? What is the meaning or significance of us to create?

A simple thought in life: Never take the word from others — test it out for yourself, and dare to inquire for yourself, and come up with your own independent opinion!

Our modern vices: self-doubt, self-fear, hesitation. To me, these are all rooted from lack of faith in ourselves.

Everyday uninstall one app from your phone/laptop/tablet Be very very skeptical of ‘free’ social media platforms. Whenever possible, pay money for your digital tools (or pay monthly subscriptions). Ask yourself– what do you value …

Deconstruct anything in order to learn!

A simple yet profound question: Why think? Of course there is the practical and functional purpose: we must think in order to eat, procure water, and not die of the cold. But beyond our …

As I see my evolution unfold before me as a photographer– I am starting to think BEYOND single-images that get lots of likes on social media. Instead, I am very interested in this notion …

Is it the sign of the strong to desire simplicity and strength?

A thought the other day: As a biological being, we are very small. We don’t need much in terms of biological sustenance (food, water, coffee, warmth). In other words — our basic needs (especially …

A thought: Much of the beauty of artwork is from randomness For example: Paint drips as a random/fractal-like-dispersion pattern. Paint drips are beautiful The beauty of the randomness of film grain dispersion in photographs. …

Much of composition is about proportions — the proportions of visual elements in an image. For example below is two different compositions of the same scene and image: Now the simple question: Which composition …

A concept I borrowed recently from Cindy: Life is better with “plug and play” Easier and simpler is better For example, anything to reduce friction to allow you to most easily play or do …

What is the future of technology? My theory — “art tech” (the ultimate bridge between art and technology)— the two Archimedes levers of society. Why “art tech”? We got all this technology to optimize …

Prolific: creating much, sharing much.

Embrace the extremes with your photography and cameras: Phone (super convenient) x Film (very inconvenient) camera Phone (super small) x Digital Medium Format (super big, but best image quality). Let us avoid the “middle” …

A thought while shooting more with a phone camera, and thinking about “vlogging”/ blogging in general — Perhaps photography is best used as a tool of personal visual documentary of our own (“normal”) lives?

A thought: What if we just prioritized aesthetics over everything else?

An idea: It isn’t about iPhone vs Android; it is about owning both, and maximizing the most out of each (hybrid approach) Having access to the best of both worlds. The notion “you can …

After spending about a week commuting around (in a car) in the Bay Area (East Bay to South Bay traffic), I realized: Wow — modern society sucks. Why do we need to waste all …

A simple thought process: The knowledge we consume in order to create art works of our own! For example, watch movies, cinema, and film in order to create your own videos, vlogs, or cinema! …

Let’s get rid of this romantic notion of art as being about pain, suffering/ “injustice” in the world. Art as an expression of your soul of thanksgiving, joy, exuberant energy, and gratitude towards life, …

What I think we are searching for: sublime beauty. Sublime beauty as aesthetics, shapes, and forms which make your jaw drop. A beautiful medley of colors, a dance of composition— I’m hungry to discover …

A thought while doing deadlifts at the gym today: Nobody is “depressed” when attempting a max-attempt deadlift. Then which made me start thinking — We always talk about mental depression — but why don’t …

A thought: It seems evident that ‘intermittent fasting’ from food is beneficial to our physiological and mental health. What if ‘digital intermittent fasting’ was also beneficial to our “digital” health as well? This means: …

Why is art important to you? I’ll tell you why art is important to me. First of all, I have the most fun when making art. To me, making art is the ultimate play. …

Think beyond the app store, think beyond Spotify, think beyond YouTube, think beyond Facebook/Instagram; think beyond all these platforms and industries. It seems the secret to epic success in life: Build your own industry!

A thought in life: Much thinking and modes of conduct are too “basic” for me. Perhaps we should strive to go BEYOND basic; strive to discover deeper new truths and sources of knowledge to …

Currently at my friend Brendan’s home, and playing with his Oculus Rift– some of my personal thoughts on Virtual Reality:

To make better compositions, strive to simplify and strengthen them! 1. Simplify colors For example, simplify the colors. 2-3 colors seem to be the most effective. Good to study Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein …

Auto-creation: For myself, it seems that I’m the happiest and have the most fun when I create without thinking, without any stress, without any tension, without any resistance. When I can create in a …

Why I love colors, textures, shapes, and forms as visual and life stimulus:

My idea: Perhaps the most effective way we learn is via imitation. And with art, the best way to learn is via practice and play (via imitation!)

To me, chaos is the ultimate stimulation. The chaos of public places, the chaos of dancing in a mosh pit, the chaos of the streets— this is when I have the opportunity to exercise …

When should we fly solo, and when should we fly together?

A simple goal in our artistic lives: Never stop creating new art works, pieces, essays, projects, and concepts! Never stop shooting photos Never stop writing essays, blog posts, poems, books Never stop drawing, painting, …

It seems self-evident that composition in photography is essential. But why?

Outlast Ignore the past, present and future Outlast You’re in a class of all your own.

It seems as a society we have deemed hoarding (physical things) as a bad thing. But what about hoarding digital things? Shouldn’t we also propose a more minimalist approach to our digital lives?

A thought: What if we made our body the priority, not our “mind”? Would this make us happier, more powerful, more excited, more inspired, more motivated, and more epic? I think so.

Do you desire to become formed, or do you desire to do the forming?

Don’t miss out the upcoming SF StreetFoto International Street Photography Festival — to hype it up, here is an interview with Ken Walton, the founder and visionary:

A thought: Nowadays with the great image quality with phone cameras, what is the purpose of a “standalone” digital camera — which is often bulkier, heavier, and less convenient to use?

Is there an upside to deleting our files and photos, instead of just backing everything up?

A simple way to feel happier, more empowered, and more epic in life: Whenever possible, create things instead of simply purchasing or consuming them. For example, it is cooler and more fun to restore …

A simple guide to simplify your shooting, processing, and sharing photographic workflow:

To “decide” as meaning cutting away superfluous options. Easiest way to decide to do something is what to decide NOT to do.

Piet Mondrian is one of my favorite artists and thinkers/philosophers.

The most ripe area for photographic innovation: discovering new compositions for your photographic artwork.

Great photo compositions are dynamic, motivate you to move, have a dynamic balance/harmony of proportions in the frame, and simple+elegant.

A game: something which is fun, done for the sake of it. A child as playing, as building sandcastles by the beach, to only have it be washed away by the ocean (Heraclitus), yet …

I was on Google Photos today, looking at all these old photos from the past. Old friends, old loves, etc — and it was kind of a strange experience. Here are all these people …

Why have status symbols? We all know what status symbols are (fancy clothes, expensive cars, fancy watches, etc)— but my question is this: Why have status symbols? Why publicly display totems of “success” to others? …