Start an ‘everyday’ photo project using your “standalone digital camera”. Keep your iPhone or smartphone in your backpack or bag, and keep your camera always with you. Anything you might shoot with your iPhone, just shoot it on your standalone digital camera. Stop photographing your food with your iPhone, instead, use your RICOH GR III to photograph your food. Shoot “high quality” photos of your everyday life.
When you got nothing to photograph, shoot a selfie, photograph your feet, your hand, or photograph the sky.
If you need photo inspiration, just visit the local coffee shop (with your camera around your neck or wrist), have a strong cup of coffee, and just photograph people inside the coffee shop! Also, make photos ON THE WAY to the coffee shop (more ideas in STREET HUNT MOBILE edition in STREET HUNT PRINT edition).
Photograph interesting textures, reflections, or shadows you see.
Strive to make the most extremely minimalist photos. Pure and clean white or black background with only one subject.
Whenever you see the color red, photograph it! Make a “RED” photo project of only red objects and scenes (RED as the color of blood, lust, and desire).
Use the New Year as an opportunity to truly reflect, meditate, and understand WHY you make photos.
There isn’t any “right” or “wrong” answers. And also realize, this is dynamic— your reasons on why you make photos will continue to change, evolve, and change over time.
Why I make photos
I cannot say what is right for you, but here are my current thoughts:
I make photos as a form of artistic expression. When I do not have the opportunity to artistically express myself, I get artistic constipation (the worst pain). Releasing my artistic energy is essential for me.
Legacy: Ultimately I don’t live for myself– I live in order to empower and inspire/motivate (current) and future generations of humans. It is my great ambition to drive the culture of photography forward, and hopefully I can be remembered even 300 years from now.
The joy of inspiring and motivating others: I know how shitty I felt when I wasn’t inspired and motivated in photography. I remember how it felt being disempowered as a photographer, because I never had ‘good enough’ gear, or because I wanted more fame/influence/money/power in the photo world. I feel a trillion times happier and more enlightened in photography now, and I share my thoughts as if I were helping my old 18-year old self.
The New Year is just around the corner, and I wanted to use this opportunity to share some practical New Year’s Photo Resolutions you can apply!
For all of this year, only shoot with one camera and one lens for the entire year. Practical idea: just shoot only with RICOH GR III for the entire year.
Make a photographic e-book with your favorite 40 photos of all-time in Adobe InDesign or Apple iBooks Author (free). Export as PDF, and share on your blog, and email it to friends and family!
Embark on at least on photographic road-trip or photographic adventure. You can do a quick day-trip, fly somewhere domestic, or fly somewhere international. For international trips, try to stay in one city for an entire week and devote it only to photography!
Start a photographic selfie project. Try to shoot a selfie everyday for a year, and at the end, choose your 12 favorite selfies from the year, and share it on your website/blog.
Print a ‘zine’ (magazine) of your favorite photographs. Design it in Adobe InDesign, export as PDF, and send the PDF file to a local printer. Keep it simple– just print in black and white. Print 20 copies, and distribute them to friends and family. Or sell them to your followers for $20 USD a pop.
For the entire year, stick to either color or black and white. Treat this as a positive ‘creative constraint’ to help you focus on honing your artistic vision.
Stop calling yourself a photographer; call yourself a ‘visual artist’ instead.
Start your own photography blog (register on bluehost.com and install wordpress.org), and/or start your own YouTube channel. Blog about your personal thoughts (photo or non-photo related), and register your own domain name (firstnamelastnamephoto.com)
Buy yourself a nice photo book once a month (1 book a month, 12 books in the entire year). When you feel the urge to buy a new camera (you don’t need), buy a photo book instead.
Make photos you would enjoy privately. Test yourself: “If I didn’t share this photograph with anyone else, would it still bring me joy?”
I don’t believe in an ultimate purpose in life, but I can certainly say that embarking on more photo adventures makes life so much more fun, interesting, exciting, and worth it!
I am so grateful that Ricoh made the GR 3. While there are lots of things I really loved about the GR 2 (embedded flash), the GR III is still superior.
I’ve been very happy lately — currently settled here in Providence, Rhode Island and been able to hit the gym (at least) once a day. I’m the strongest I’ve ever been physically, the most muscle mass, and the highest weight I’ve been.
This is something I’ve noticed physiologically:
The way I’ve been able to get stronger is to eat more meat, attempt more, and spend time to recover/augment my muscles.
Which makes me wonder:
In order for us to become a stronger artist, perhaps we must also eat and consume more meaty and invigorating art works, philosophy, knowledge, science, and ideas of all kinds.
Writing: Writing and blogging as ‘meta-thinking’, or ‘augmented thinking‘. I don’t put any ego or pride into my writing. I simply write because it is the most effective way of getting my thoughts out there. And I derive great joy from sharing my thoughts.
Teaching: I derive great pleasure and deep existential joy from teaching. What is the point of learning if I couldn’t teach?
Reading: To me, this is the most effective form of getting new ideas, or resonating the ideas already inherent within myself.
Powerlifting / Weight lifting: Powerlifting as zen meditation to me, and infinitely fascinating. Testing to extent of the human body.
Music: Life without music would be a mistake (Nietzsche).
Then the other side:
Don’t waste any time or your life working or building things you cannot imagine doing for an eternity.
The other day I realized that my website can only hold ~1 million files. I’ve hit the limit several times, and had to go back and delete old files to free up new space.
But came the question to me:
Do I feel OK with having “only” 1 million files as an upper-limit?
Which made me think more about the philosophical notion of limits vs unlimited.
You’re free as a bird, the third eye looking into the sky
Why do you feel so chained? Is it in your brain, or in your hands? Are you addicted to the marks and brands? Do you doubt, or do you can?
You can do anything you want. But how bad do you want it?
You’re free to pursue your passion and what makes you feel alive. You’re free to thrive— beyond survive. What you need is a dose of naive thinking, without the weed and drinking.
Embrace the mind of a kid and child— have fun, play, and go wild.
You’re free my friend. Live your life today as if you could live your life without end!
