Why Books?

In praise of books:

Knowledge is power

PHOTO JOURNAL: Edition II

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

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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:

  1. The Iliad by Homer
  2. The Odyssey by Homer
  3. Books by Nietzsche: Will to Power [Volume 1 + Volume 2], The Antichrist, Beyond Good and Evil, [and pretty much any book by Nietzsche]
  4. Any book by Seneca [my favorites are his letters/epistles, and The Shortness of Life]
  5. 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

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In terms of modern books, my favorites:

  1. Any book by Nassim Taleb: Antifragile, Skin in the Game, Fooled by Randomness, Bed of Procrustes
  2. Steve Jobs by Walter Issacson [my lessons on Steve Jobs]
  3. Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance [my lessons on Elon Musk]
  4. Zero to One by Peter Thiel [my lessons on Peter Thiel]

Not much else.


Ebooks and print books are the same

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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.

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Why do I like writing books?

I like writing and making books because:

  1. It is a valuable opportunity for me to distill my thoughts [to benefit myself and others]
  2. The creative joy associated with formatting, designing, and writing a book [HAPTIC PRESS]
  3. 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]

HAPTIC Magazine InDesign Template
HAPTIC Magazine InDesign Template

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!

Unboxing TRAVEL NOTES and PHOTO JOURNAL Edition 2

Don’t read books for the sake of reading books

HAPTIC MAGAZINE Issue 1
HAPTIC MAGAZINE Issue 1 [Download PDF]

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!

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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

  1. MONOCHROME by ERIC KIM
  2. ONLY IN AMERICA by ERIC KIM
  3. SUITS by ERIC KIM

EBOOKS

Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Mastering Street Photography
Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Mastering Street Photography
  1. HOW TO SEE: Visual Guide to Composition, Color, & Editing in Photography / Kindle Edition
  2. Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Mastering Street Photography / Kindle Edition
  3. STREET HUNT / Kindle Edition
  4. STREET NOTES: Mobile Edition / Kindle Edition
  5. MODERN PHOTOGRAPHER / Kindle Edition

FREE EBOOKS

  1. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY 103
  2. Dynamic Composition Manual
  3. Photography Startup Manual
  4. PHOTOGRAPHY MASTERCLASS
  5. PHOTOGRAPHY ENTREPRENEURSHIP MANUAL by ERIC KIM
  6. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MANUAL by ERIC KIM
  7. THE PHOTOGRAPHER by ERIC KIM
  8. The Art of Street Photography
  9. 100 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography
  10. Zen Photography
  11. Personal Photography Manual
  12. Street Photography Contact Sheets Volume II
  13. Street Photography Contact Sheets Volume I
  14. Street Photography Composition Manual
  15. Street Portrait Manual
  16. Street Photography 101
  17. Street Photography 102
  18. Color Manual
  19. Monochrome Manual
  20. 31 Days to Overcome Your Fear in Street Photography
  21. Letters From a Street Photographer
  22. Street Photography Aphorisms, Heuristics, and Sayings

See all downloads >


Photo Book Reviews »

Below are my favorite photo books:


75+ inspirational photography books »

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Buy books, not gear.

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.

  1. Magnum Contact Sheets
  2. Magnum: Degrees
  3. Magnum: Stories
  4. Mark Cohen: Grim Street
  5. Street Photography Now
  6. Bruce Davidson: Subway
  7. Bruce Davidson: East 100th Street
  8. Diane Arbus: A monograph
  9. Helen Levitt
  10. Lee Friedlander: Friedlander
  11. Elliott Erwitt: Personal Best
  12. Richard Kalvar: Earthlings
  13. Andre Kertesz (Editions Hazan)
  14. Robert Frank: The Americans
  15. Garry Winogrand: Public Relations
  16. Garry Winogrand: Figments from the real world
  17. Garry Winogrand: The Animals
  18. Bruce Gilden by Stern Magazine
  19. Bruce Gilden: A Beautiful Catastrophe
  20. Bruce Gilden: Haiti
  21. Bruce Gilden: After The Off
  22. Bruce Gilden: Facing New York
  23. Bystander: A History of Street Photography
  24. Joel Meyerowitz
  25. Jun Abe: Citizens
  26. William Eggleston: Chromes
  27. William Eggleston: Guide
  28. William Eggleston: Before Color
  29. Stephen Shore: Uncommon Places
  30. Daido Moriyama: The World Through My Eyes
  31. Alex Webb: Istanbul
  32. Alex Webb: The Suffering Of Light
  33. Jeff Mermelstein: Sidewalk
  34. Walker Evans
  35. Fred Herzog: Photographs
  36. Vivian Maier
  37. William Klein: Contacts
  38. Joel Sternfeld: American Prospects
  39. Martin Parr: The Last Resort
  40. Martin Parr: Small World
  41. Tony Ray-Jones: Best Of
  42. Josef Koudelka: Gypsies
  43. Anders Peterson: French Kiss
  44. Anders Petersen: Cafe Lehmitz
  45. Zoe Strauss: America
  46. Henri Cartier-Bresson: “The Decisive Moment”
  47. Josef Koudelka: Exiles
  48. Anders Petersen
  49. The Education of a Photographer
  50. David Hurn: On Being a Photographer
  51. David Gibson: The Street Photographer’s Manual
  52. Siegfried Hansen – hold the line
  53. Matt Stuart: All that Life Can Afford
  54. The Photographer’s Playbook: 307 Assignments and Ideas
  55. Trent Parke: Minutes to Midnight
  56. Trent Parke: The Christmas Tree Bucket
  57. Trent Parke: The Black Rose
  58. Harry Gruyaert
  59. Gus Powell: The Lonely Ones
  60. Alec Soth: Songbook
  61. Ping Pong Conversations: Alec Soth with Francesco Zanot
  62. Constantine Manos: A Greek Portfolio
  63. Constantine Manos: American Color
  64. Constantine Manos: American Color 2
  65. David Alan Harvey: Divided Soul
  66. Photographers’ Sketchbooks
  67. Harry Callahan: Retrospective
  68. Slide Show: The Color Photographs of Helen Levitt
  69. Mark Cohen: Frame
  70. Saul Leiter: Early Color
  71. Saul Leiter: Early Black and White
  72. Dan Winters: Road to Seeing
  73. Todd Hido: Photography Workshop Series
  74. Mary Ellen Mark: Photography Workshop Series
  75. The Open Road: Photography and the American Roadtrip
  76. Jason Eskenazi: Wonderland: A Fairytale of the Soviet Monolith
  77. Kaushal Parikh: “Fragments of a Spinning Rock”
  78. Sunlanders by Sean Lotman

Free Books by Eric Kim

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If you love learning, read the books below:

  1. 100 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography
  2. Street Photography by Eric Kim
  3. Photography by Eric Kim
  4. Personal Photography Manual
  5. Street Photography Contact Sheets Volume II
  6. Street Photography Contact Sheets
  7. Monochrome Manual
  8. Street Portrait Manual
  9. Street Photography Composition Manual
  10. How to Overcome Photographer’s Block
  11. Street Photography 101
  12. Street Photography 102
  13. Zen in the Art of Street Photography
  14. Film Street Photography Manual
  15. 31 Days to Overcome Your Fear in Street Photography

Street Notes

eric-kim-street-notes-a-workbook-and-assignments-journal-for-street-photographers

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

See all reviews >

Recommended photo books


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