In praise of books:
Knowledge is power
First of all, I think knowledge is power.
I can say from age 21 to age 31, after reading many books, I have grown. It wasn’t necessarily the books which improved me, but this is what happened:
In reading great books, I was able to absorb lofty ideas and contrarian concepts from other brave individuals from the past. This helped empower me to pursue my own bold path in life.
Furthermore, the great power of books:
Great ideas distilled over time.
What are books useful for?
I don’t think there is any ultimate knowledge or wisdom in books. Instead, books are one of the best creative stimuluses for you — to think more, challenge yourself more, and to think more ‘outside the box’.
Not only that, but reading books for inspiration in order to write your own books — I think this is a good idea.
The two-fold approach:
Write much, and read much.
How to discover good books
Generally speaking, read the classics. If a classic work has lasted for a long time, there probably is a good reason. For myself, my favorite classics:
- The Iliad by Homer
- The Odyssey by Homer
- Books by Nietzsche: Will to Power [Volume 1 + Volume 2], The Antichrist, Beyond Good and Evil, [and pretty much any book by Nietzsche]
- Any book by Seneca [my favorites are his letters/epistles, and The Shortness of Life]
- The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
And this is the thing–
Better to have a very small library of well-curated books, and to re-read the ones you really love, than to waste a lot of time/effort reading a lot of fluffy modern books.
My favorite modern books
In terms of modern books, my favorites:
- Any book by Nassim Taleb: Antifragile, Skin in the Game, Fooled by Randomness, Bed of Procrustes
- Steve Jobs by Walter Issacson [my lessons on Steve Jobs]
- Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance [my lessons on Elon Musk]
- Zero to One by Peter Thiel [my lessons on Peter Thiel]
Not much else.
Ebooks and print books are the same
My heretical idea:
I think ebooks and print books are the same.
Which means– neither ebooks nor print books are ‘superior’. Both are great. Both have certain advantages. Ultimately, choose both, or just choose the format which is most convenient for you.
For example ever since around 3 years ago when I started to live more nomadically, I purged 80% of my book collection [still have some in storage], but pretty much never travel with print books anymore. I always optimize for ultra-lightness in my travels. Thus I will read “.epub” eBook format instead on a phone, laptop, or iPad.
- For Android, read .epub format on ‘Google Play Books’
- For iPad or iPhone, read .epub or PDF format on default Apple Books
- For MacBook, read .epub on Apple Books laptop app
I used to read on a kindle, but ultimately prefer the convenience of another internet-connected device. Haven’t used a Kindle for 3+ years, and don’t miss it at all.
Why do I like writing books?
I like writing and making books because:
- It is a valuable opportunity for me to distill my thoughts [to benefit myself and others]
- The creative joy associated with formatting, designing, and writing a book [HAPTIC PRESS]
- The opportunity to create something that can inspire, motivate, and empower others.
Make your own books
I encourage you to make your own books [print and ebooks are both legitimate]. Use iBooks Author on the MacBook [free in App Store], or Adobe Indesign [see our free indesign templates here]
Books as recovery, stimulus, and empowerment
My philosophy about books:
Use books to inspire you, motivate you, and empower you towards activity — towards your own creative activity and flourishing!
Don’t read books for the sake of reading books
This is a lesson I learned:
The point of reading isn’t to become more ‘intelligent’ or ‘learned’ or ‘virtuous’. The point of reading is to have fun, to deepen your self-introspection, and to inspire you towards activity.
I love books, but in many ways I feel that books are overrated. Overrated in the sense that many people read books simply as a form of ‘virtue flexing‘ (trying to signal to others that by reading a book, they are superior ‘virtuous’ individuals).
Read for fun!
My ultimate thought:
Read for fun. Don’t force yourself to read. Only read what you’re genuinely interested in.
Generally when we read books which are fun, the books are interesting, challenging, and somehow informative/educational.
Follow your curiosity, and never stop deepening your personal wisdom and knowledge!
ERIC
BOOKS BY KIM
PHOTOGRAPHY COMPOSITION MANUAL
PHOTOGRAPHY PDF BOOKS
EBOOKS
- HOW TO SEE: Visual Guide to Composition, Color, & Editing in Photography / Kindle Edition
- Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Mastering Street Photography / Kindle Edition
- STREET HUNT / Kindle Edition
- STREET NOTES: Mobile Edition / Kindle Edition
- MODERN PHOTOGRAPHER / Kindle Edition
FREE EBOOKS
- STREET PHOTOGRAPHY 103
- Dynamic Composition Manual
- Photography Startup Manual
- PHOTOGRAPHY MASTERCLASS
- PHOTOGRAPHY ENTREPRENEURSHIP MANUAL by ERIC KIM
- STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MANUAL by ERIC KIM
- THE PHOTOGRAPHER by ERIC KIM
- The Art of Street Photography
- 100 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography
- Zen Photography
- Personal Photography Manual
- Street Photography Contact Sheets Volume II
- Street Photography Contact Sheets Volume I
- Street Photography Composition Manual
- Street Portrait Manual
- Street Photography 101
- Street Photography 102
- Color Manual
- Monochrome Manual
- 31 Days to Overcome Your Fear in Street Photography
- Letters From a Street Photographer
- Street Photography Aphorisms, Heuristics, and Sayings
Photo Book Reviews »
Below are my favorite photo books:
- Josef Koudelka: Exiles
- Josef Koudelka: Gypsies
- Dan Winters: Road to Seeing
- Alex Webb: The Suffering Of Light
- Robert Frank: The Americans
- Martin Parr: The Last Resort
- Trent Parke: Minutes to Midnight
- Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Decisive Moment
- Photographers’ Sketchbooks
75+ inspirational photography books »
If you want a quality-education in street photography, I recommend either buying, borrowing, or browsing though some of the books below. Books that are bolded are some of my personal favorites.
- Magnum Contact Sheets
- Magnum: Degrees
- Magnum: Stories
- Mark Cohen: Grim Street
- Street Photography Now
- Bruce Davidson: Subway
- Bruce Davidson: East 100th Street
- Diane Arbus: A monograph
- Helen Levitt
- Lee Friedlander: Friedlander
- Elliott Erwitt: Personal Best
- Richard Kalvar: Earthlings
- Andre Kertesz (Editions Hazan)
- Robert Frank: The Americans
- Garry Winogrand: Public Relations
- Garry Winogrand: Figments from the real world
- Garry Winogrand: The Animals
- Bruce Gilden by Stern Magazine
- Bruce Gilden: A Beautiful Catastrophe
- Bruce Gilden: Haiti
- Bruce Gilden: After The Off
- Bruce Gilden: Facing New York
- Bystander: A History of Street Photography
- Joel Meyerowitz
- Jun Abe: Citizens
- William Eggleston: Chromes
- William Eggleston: Guide
- William Eggleston: Before Color
- Stephen Shore: Uncommon Places
- Daido Moriyama: The World Through My Eyes
- Alex Webb: Istanbul
- Alex Webb: The Suffering Of Light
- Jeff Mermelstein: Sidewalk
- Walker Evans
- Fred Herzog: Photographs
- Vivian Maier
- William Klein: Contacts
- Joel Sternfeld: American Prospects
- Martin Parr: The Last Resort
- Martin Parr: Small World
- Tony Ray-Jones: Best Of
- Josef Koudelka: Gypsies
- Anders Peterson: French Kiss
- Anders Petersen: Cafe Lehmitz
- Zoe Strauss: America
- Henri Cartier-Bresson: “The Decisive Moment”
- Josef Koudelka: Exiles
- Anders Petersen
- The Education of a Photographer
- David Hurn: On Being a Photographer
- David Gibson: The Street Photographer’s Manual
- Siegfried Hansen – hold the line
- Matt Stuart: All that Life Can Afford
- The Photographer’s Playbook: 307 Assignments and Ideas
- Trent Parke: Minutes to Midnight
- Trent Parke: The Christmas Tree Bucket
- Trent Parke: The Black Rose
- Harry Gruyaert
- Gus Powell: The Lonely Ones
- Alec Soth: Songbook
- Ping Pong Conversations: Alec Soth with Francesco Zanot
- Constantine Manos: A Greek Portfolio
- Constantine Manos: American Color
- Constantine Manos: American Color 2
- David Alan Harvey: Divided Soul
- Photographers’ Sketchbooks
- Harry Callahan: Retrospective
- Slide Show: The Color Photographs of Helen Levitt
- Mark Cohen: Frame
- Saul Leiter: Early Color
- Saul Leiter: Early Black and White
- Dan Winters: Road to Seeing
- Todd Hido: Photography Workshop Series
- Mary Ellen Mark: Photography Workshop Series
- The Open Road: Photography and the American Roadtrip
- Jason Eskenazi: Wonderland: A Fairytale of the Soviet Monolith
- Kaushal Parikh: “Fragments of a Spinning Rock”
- Sunlanders by Sean Lotman
Free Books by Eric Kim
If you love learning, read the books below:
- 100 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography
- Street Photography by Eric Kim
- Photography by Eric Kim
- Personal Photography Manual
- Street Photography Contact Sheets Volume II
- Street Photography Contact Sheets
- Monochrome Manual
- Street Portrait Manual
- Street Photography Composition Manual
- How to Overcome Photographer’s Block
- Street Photography 101
- Street Photography 102
- Zen in the Art of Street Photography
- Film Street Photography Manual
- 31 Days to Overcome Your Fear in Street Photography
Street Notes
Street Notes is a pocket-sized assignment journal to break outside of your comfort zone:
STREET HUNT: Street Notes Volume 2 Scavenger Hunt Edition
Photo Book Reviews
Recommended photo books
ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER
Join ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER and be the first to get exclusive content, access to books, presets, artistic information to empower you.