Month: September 2019

A life without obstacles, challenges, and difficulties isn’t a life worth living!

If we think about depression as more of a physiological condition, perhaps the best way to fight and overcome depression is via stimulants which motivate us to move and dance!

Some practical ideas of things which work for myself:

What motivates us to make new photos? My theory:

The fact that none of our photos (or the photos of others) satisfy or satiate us.

Our never ending hunger for new photos for us to consume, to fuel us!

What kind of images are good? Images that move, dance, and motivate us to move!

The benefit of looking at old photos:

The joy of sparking wonderful, happy, and joyful memories from the past.

RICOH GR III as the ultimate “standalone”camera for photography:

When you got nothing to shoot, look up and shoot the sky and clouds! -1 or -2 exposure compensation, and experiment with monochrome.

What Are You Trying to Optimize For?

A thought:

Too much focus on hyper-optimization and maximization is anti-aesthetic.

From an aesthetic perspective, I prefer slow, strong, studied, graceful, elegant, and purposeful.

What if the optimal or the best composition was both asymmetric AND balanced?

A thought on photography, art, etc:

Nothing SHOULD last forever.

For example, if our photos were to last forever, what hope could there be for future generations of photographers and artists? If we were forever under the tyranny of the shadow of Henri Cartier-Bresson, what bright and new future would that have for us photographers?

What I admire about bodybuilders:

They strive to turn their own bodies into their art-project (sculpture), instead of seeking satisfaction in purchasing art-objects.

It seems that we desire the forbidden fruit: to feel godlike, and to perhaps become godlike.

Originality in photography is overrated.

After much meditation and thinking about business, startups, entrepreneurship and startups, my realization and insight is this:

As a photographer and entrepreneur, do you desire to become a specialty and boutique brand (Ricoh/Leica) or a mass-market brand (Apple)?

You’re the most important (and difficult) person to impress:

Philosophy underpins everything that and which we do.

Philosophy as above science and all other fields of study.

How to become a philosopher and philosophize? Easy: just ask the question “why?” to almost everything in life!

My personal life goal: to become insanely great. FAR BEYOND BASIC.

---

My thought:

Life is short. Why not strive to maximize your own personal greatness while you are still alive? To see how far you can fly, in order to inspire others to also become insanely great.

---

How to become insanely great? Now this is something we must strive with all our might towards!

Our lifeblood as photographers: not being so concerned with the photos we’ve made in the past, but more interest in creating NEW art works, NEW photos!

You change, your subjects change, the way you approach photography changes, your personal aesthetics change. The light changes, society changes, all changes!

The aesthetics we decide to adopt are based on our ethics, our peeoenal beliefs, and what we concern as beautiful, of value, and of positive utility to ourselves.

The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice.

I don’t think “the decisive moment” is the most accurate description in street photography. The notion of the “brazen” (daring, gutsy) moment seems more fitting.

iPhone Pro — probably the most exciting news in photography since the Leica M9.

Artistic creation as essential for our soul:

The more you own, the more owns you.

One of our modern vices (in America, and most of modern society) is that we like to ‘work for work sake’. Utilitarianism: when we are NOT working, we are ‘sinning’.

But still– I like to do stuff. I like the idea of ‘doing more’. Doing more of what I love and care about. For myself that means making more photos, looking at more of my own photos, writing more, thinking more, walking more, wondering more, and creating more.

The question on my mind:

What are the practical strategies in order to achieve more in a 24-hour day, and within our lifetime?

I’m convinced — photography is only worth it when it is fun. When you are making photos in a spirit of play!

BERLIN: definitely one of my favorite cities in the world.

A great essay by my buddy Martin who is starting a YouTube series on analyzing the masters of photography:

Currently shooting with RICOH GR III and 21mm adapter. I’m having SO MUCH FUN! Some ideas on shooting with a 21mm lens:

Flow like the water. Flow relentlessly. NEVER STOP!

It seems a big ingredient of success (especially to us mortals) is the virtue of relentlessness— never giving up on our endeavors (until our death).

Outlining my ideal:

1. Supreme energy: From morning until evening, having apex energy, alertness, wakefulness, and enthusiasm and excitement. Perhaps this requires extreme amounts of sleep in the evening (9-11 hours a night), intermittent fasting during the day (no food consumed during the daytime), and ample black coffee during the day. Also ideally sunlight, lots of walking.
2. Supreme artistic output: Tons of writing, thinking, and artistic creation. For myself this means being enraptured all day in ideas, thoughts, and artwork. To keep exploring deeper into the depths of art, beauty, design, and philosophy. To keep outputting much writings, thoughts, photographs, videos, music, and poetry. To create great products and things to empower others. Necessity: great coffee shop, great music to get into the zone.
3. Supreme physical and physiological health and strength: Much muscle, physical strength, low bodyfat percentage. Attained by eating lots of meat and bitter herbs (no carbs or sugars). Also through testing and training your body via feats of strength.

Let me strive to attain my own ideal, and I will share my findings and I go along!

ERIC

There’s a trillion ways to interpret your photos. Use Photoshop or Procreate to analyze, break down, remix, and reinterpret your photos.

ZEN ZONING, creative honing
Missle right on target
Lion hearted

ZEN ZONING, creative throwing
You’re the king, complete with a 5 finger ring.

Keep making creative things replete with the shimmering bling
Cling to your creative soul and yield it like a creative sword.

The whole world is your zone. Never stop building it, stone by stone.

“What doesn’t kill me only makes me stronger!”

NIETZSCHE

If we believe that which doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger, then certainly life is all upside, no downside (Nassim Taleb).

A life without photography isn’t a life worth living:

My thought:

It takes more wisdom to USE wealth (than to simply acquire it).

It is pretty straight-forward in accumulating wealth (live extremely frugally, have a higher income than your expenses).

For myself personally, I grew up poor and now (with the guidance of Cindy), I got many racks in the safe. Now the more interesting question:

How should I use my wealth? What is the ‘wise’ way to use wealth, and for what?

Why read? My thought:

Reading is one of the best and direct creative stimuluses we can do in order to improve and quicken our own thinking.

I’m against the notion of “reading for the sake of reading”. Reading which doesn’t quicken you or spur you to action is bad.

As adults what capacity have we lost? The ability to play! To play for the sake of play. To play with our super abundant energy. To play as a form of creative activity and outpression.

To play with no tinge of guilt or “pang of conscience”.

Playing is what makes us (super) human!

It takes more skill, sincerity, and magnanimity to share your joy (rather than your pain, dissatisfaction, and suffering).

Simpler is better:

The art of solo travel: travel at your own cadence, follow your own internal rhythms. No rush, no obligations. Just do what you want to do, and don’t do what you don’t want to do.

No obligation to see tourist spots. Instead, using your travels as a means of self exploration, self understanding, self meditation, and self reflection.

Using your travels as a chance to disconnect, to spend more time by yourself in order to think, write, read, create, blog, photograph, experience, and reflect.

In short, spend more opportunities you can to travel and fly solo!

ERIC

TRAVEL MORE with TRAVEL NOTES >

A thought:

Perhaps our impulse to make photos is this innate desire for us to control, capture, or transform the world or reality to our whims.

What pushes you forward in life? What motivates you towards creative activity? What motivates you to wake up in the morning?

What pushes you to write, read, think, or create art? Do you create from a source or abundance, or from a source of need?

Art — the act of expressing something from the deepest recesses of your soul outwards.

But the question is— what do you want to express from within you, outwards?

What if avarice (greed) were a good thing?

If you’re looking for something to shoot, look for gritty textures.

Photograph yourself. The goal.

We love Elon Musk, Tesla, and electric cars. Why no love for “electric cameras”?

My thought on how to stay inspired in your photography:

Tighten your feedback loop between shooting, selecting your photos, and publishing your photos.

This will keep you prolific to keep shooting new photos, derive new delights from your new photos, and also be able to share your new photos (preferably on your own blog).

Simple ideas:

1. Shoot only jpeg with an in-camera filter you like.
2. Import and select your photos quickly and effectively. Experiment using iPad to import photos from SD card reader (lightning to SD), favorite your favorites and then upload them straight to your WordPress blog.
3. Just use the jpeg files. Don’t worry about post processing. This will save you much time and effort, and free up mental energy to go out and shoot more new photos!
4. The best feedback you can get is from yourself: whether your photos bring you joy or not. Otherwise upload your photos to arsbeta.com for real feedback and critique.

Why tighten your feedback loop in photography?

The upside of digital photography: instant feedback, which allows us to learn and improve at a much more rapid pace. Why not use this to our advantage?

SHOOT ON!

ERIC

In extreme praise of photography.

“Mens agitat molem.”- Virgil (Mind agitates [moves] matter).

Agitate comes from “ago” (Latin), which means to set into motion, to lead, to drive/propel/cast.

To agitate ourselves (self motivate ourselves to move, act, and to set ourselves into motion): isn’t this the goal of life?

Many of us desire more money, however I believe a better goal is this:

Seek to maximize your leisure hours and mental space.

Better to be poorer with more leisure than richer with less leisure.

---

Leisure as hours and emptiness of mind

Leisure requires an emptying of your mind. Fewer cares, duties, obligations, and responsibilities. Even if you had 10 hours of free time, as long as you got all these worries and concerns in your mind, you cannot leverage your time for creative, philosophical, or scholarly ends.

Or in short:

Seek more freedom and leisure to indulge your creative activities. Less concern with money, fame, and honors.

ERIC

In Praise of Diversity

Currently connecting through the London Gatwick Airport and something that I love about London (and a lot of cosmopolitan cities) is this:

I love diversity in human beings, culture, society, thinking, art and life!

When I look through my photos, it is great– almost as if I am re-living certain life experiences (double joy from a single experience!)

A thought while in transit:

When it comes to travel, nomadic living, or perhaps just life in general — the lighter, smaller, and more compact, the better.

Anti weight, anti matter, anti bulk, anti big.

Flex, strive towards the apex, no baseless, just chase it.

Apex, the highest point. The goal for which we strive— the fire which keeps us live.

Strive towards higher heights sublime, dashed with wine and zest, nodding with your plumy crest.

Zest, test yourself and strive to be the best. Essay the limits and go beyond. Better to be a small fish in a big pond.

ERIC

In praise of (intermittent) degenerative behavior.

Thinking about artists I admire, and what I think makes them great artists, and what makes their artwork great as well.

Ricoh GR 3 has the most epic dynamic range for monochrome I’ve seen thus far!

Starting a new life in Providence, Rhode Island:

Something which is lacking in modern life:

Our ability (or confidence) to brazenly assert our OWN OPINION (quoting ourselves, not others!)

There are no objectively ‘best’ things in the world (this is all subjective). But I think there are MANY ‘perfect’ things in the world!

A thought:

Perhaps the joy of us as photographer is this: To discover beauty in unexpected places!

Keanu Reeves: my favorite actor. JOHN WICK series: my favorite movie series.

I find the philosophy underlying the JOHN WICK universe absolutely fascinating. Let me share some basic ideas:

A thought in photography and life:

Be highly selective.

For example in photography, be highly selective about the photos you decide to keep or ditch.

In life, be highly selective in terms of the people you decide to let into your life. Be highly selective of the foods you eat, be highly selective of the books you read, and be very selective about the music and media you consume.

Life is limited and short. We cannot do everything, we cannot read everything, and we cannot listen to everything.

Perhaps this is the secret to thriving in life: deciding what NOT do do, what NOT to listen to, and what to ignore.

Is it possible to live life with only upside and no downside? I think so!

Hero: a demi-god, a watcher or protector of others. In Ancient Greek a hero was any of the major combatants in the Iliad (either the Greek or the Trojan side).

I think today, we need heroes, role models, and people we want to emulate more than ever.