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How to Make Great Photos of People

The best photography is of human beings:

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Why photograph humans?

There is nothing more beautiful than a human being. Richard Avedon shows this very well:

  • Audrey Hepburn Avedon

All art is about humans and humanity.

First of all, ask yourself:

Do I love humans and do I love humanity?

This is the first step. We must follow ‘anthro-philia’ (love of humans) as a philosophy. If we don’t love humans (or ourselves), we will not be able to take the next step.

  • Eric bed sleeping
  • cindy project kyoto

Interact and engage with your subjects

To bring out more soul from your subjects, you cannot treat them like inanimate clay. You MUST interact, engage, and play with them! Dance with them, talk with them, and share your life with them. This was the genius of Richard Avedon:

To monochrome or color?

Honestly it doesn’t really matter. Just shoot whatever speaks to you. And also realize — you can shoot both!

To be clear, or to be unclear?

cindy window
My desire to make even more epic photographs is what drives me as a photographer-artist. Google Office, 2019 #cindyproject
High-key. Los Angeles, 2019 #cindyproject
Orange County, 2019 #cindyproject
Los Angeles, 2019 #cindyproject
USC, 2019 #cindyproject
Los Angeles, 2019 #cindyproject
Hanoi, 2017 #cindyproject
Los Angeles, 2019 #cindyproject
Los Angeles, 2019 #cindyproject

A ‘portrait’ literally means to ‘portray‘ someone or something.

Thus the question is:

How do you want to portray your subject?

For myself, I want to portray Cindy as beautiful, elegant, mysterious, enigmatic, silly, and deep.

Anaheim, 2017 #cindyproject
Anaheim, 2019 #cindyproject #fujifilmxf10
Huntington Beach. Fujifilm GFX 50R, 45mm f/2.8 Lens. #cindyproject
Saigon, 2016 #cindyproject
Vancouver, 2015 #cindyproject
Berkeley, 2015 #cindyproject
Hanoi, 2016 #cindyproject
Hanoi, 2016 #cindyproject
Camping trip, 2015 #cindyproject
London, 2018 #cindyproject
Lisbon, 2018 #cindyproject
Hanoi, 2016 #cindyproject

And ultimately my impetus behind CINDYPROJECT is this:

To encourage you to ALSO photograph your loved ones, to appreciate them, and memento mori (remember we will and MUST die).

Photographing strangers

In street photography, we are also making portraits (likeness) of humans in the streets.

What kind of portrayal am I trying to shot in my street photography, in my projects? Depends on the project.

For my SUITS project, I wanted to portray the stress, anxiety, and frustration of slavery-esque 9-5 jobs. It is how I felt when I worked a 9-5 job.

Subjective portrayals are the best.

Or in my ONLY IN AMERICA project, I wanted to portray MY personal vision of America.

"Good things happen". Michigan lottery, 2013
July 14, 2013 -- George Zimmerman acquitted in shooting death of Trayvon Martin.
The back of a homeless man's head. Government Sucks. Berkeley, 2014
child French fries overfat
African-american cop cutout. Downtown LA, 2013 #flash #portra400
In and out
San Diego, 2013 #portra400

A photograph and never will be able to capture some sort of ‘objective’ reality, nor should it. The purpose of photography is to communicate YOUR personal view on things with others (via your photos).

Photograph with your soul

To make great photos of people, you must photograph with your soul. Your soul as being a combination of love, compassion, empathy, or personal interest/curiosity.

Street portrait, woman looking right. NYC, 2015. RICOH GR II x FLASH
Street portrait New Orleans. Low angle Superman effect.
Street portrait with flash (Denver, 2019)

Thus to conclude:

To photograph great portraits of people, photograph people you admire, love, and respect!

ERIC

Soul Photography

Learn how to photograph with your soul:

  • 5 Tips How to Embed Your Soul into Your Artwork
  • Make Photos Which are a Direct Copy of Your Soul
  • How to Shoot More Soulful Photos
  • Why Photography is Good for the Soul
  • The Soul of the Photographer
  • How Do Images Affect Your Soul?
  • How to Photograph With Your Soul
  • How to Capture a Person’s Soul in a Photograph
  • How to Shoot Photos With Soul
  • Shoot with Your Soul
  • Photography For the Soul
  • Make Photos to Delight Your Soul
  • The Soul of the Street Photographer

ERIC KIM WORKSHOPS

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Unleash your creative potential:

2021:

  • April 10-11th, 2021: BOSTON / Discover Your Unique Voice in Photography Workshop [Register Intent Here]
  • May 1-2nd, 2021: CHICAGO / Street Photography Composition Masterclass [Register Intent Here]
  • May 22-22nd, 2021: NEW YORK CITY / STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MASTERCLASS by ERIC KIM [Register Intent Here]

Be notified of when new workshops are live here.


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Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Mastering Photography

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