A simple guide:

The goal:

To build your own empire; not to be a slave or a share-cropper. For you to become king, emperor, guide, leader, and self-owned man.

Benefits of blogging on iPad:

If you’re itching to make photos, photograph protests.

Wisdom from JAY Z. Very Heraclitus vibes here, and great in the context of art, artistic productivity and beyond.

To see some races as inferior, but also to see other races as superior in some ways.

In this way, I (was) a racist— believing that African American men were genetically and physically stronger than Asian American men (by genetics).

Thus, racism cuts both ways.

The best thing to develop? Yourself.

These are just my candid thoughts; not guaranteed to work for you, but work for me:

Your job as a photographer:

Document, critique, and analyze your own vision of America.

Some footage from today’s protest in Providence, Rhode Island:

We talk about mental depression, but why not physical or physiological depression?

Certainly from a body composition perspective, having a lower bodyfat percentage is preferable. Around 10% for men, 20% for women.

But the trillion dollar question:

What is the most effective way to lose fat (body fat, adipose tissue)?

What I’ve discovered thus far:

You are not alike.

I ain’t gonna self identify myself as anything anymore. I’m just ERIC KIM.

Towards a humanistic approach.

These are just my personal thoughts as I am working through all this complexity based on my experiences growing up Asian American in America. Consider this as a verbal meta-thinking dump of my ideas:

Study and steal from the greats. Michelangelo. Leonardo da Vinci, etc.

Towards a philosophy of selfishness:

Funny:

I am now stronger and buffer than I was before quarantine.

How and why? My thoughts:

If one decides to be a vegan or vegetarian for ethical, moral, or planetary/environmental reasons, 100% legitimate. But, if one becomes vegetarian or vegan because they think it is ‘healthier’, I think this is wrong.

Why care for your diet, what you eat?

Thanks to Stephen Obi for the interview:

My thoughts:

Skinny fat:

In terms of your body composition, you have low muscle mass, and high body fat.

What are the necessary conditions to become strong? My thoughts:

We have all been trained that all collaboration is good. Why is this? My refutation:

My thoughts:

My philosophy (and yours) cannot be refuted. Beyond physics and math, all is opinion. “All is permitted, all is false”.

Inspire your inner-genius:

Almost everything in America now is “affordable”. The better question:

Do I think it is “worth it”?

“Until you own yourself, you can’t be me.” – JAY Z

1. Own your website, hosting and domain
2. Own your mind [self employment]
3. Own your car, phone, or whatever. No lease, payment, etc.

My thought:

When it comes down to it… it all comes down to being open or closed.

Open or closed-minded. Open source or closed source. Open borders or closed borders.

If your goal is immortal fame amongst mortals, certainly to make your things free and open source is the way.

How I cook meat and more:

Practical thoughts:

Ideas:

In praise of becoming more self-centered and self-focused:

Why I might prefer working out at the park than the gym:

Check it out on Stephen Obi’s website here. You can subscribe to his podcast here.

Dear friend,

Some practical thoughts, which I hope can inspire and motivate you.

I have finally cleared myself of the Leica hype. Leica isn’t cool anymore; RICOH is the new king. Even if I had a quadrillion dollars, RICOH GR III is still superior to Leica M10 or any Leica camera; at any price point, at any option.

A lovely guest blog post by Savannah Condon, about learning lessons from Buddhism and Photography:

In kicking off my new ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER, here is an example of an opt-in email I created. A good starter:

My approach:

What is extreme responsibility? To have the extreme courage to face reality in all her cruel and joyful aspects and declare:

All the good and bad in life is good… and a stimulus to my own growth, thriving and strengthening.

Others don’t have free will. We may have free will (to a certain extent or degree), but even we don’t have 100% free will over our environment, health, societal conditions, hormones, and life circumstances.

Why don’t we have the courage to asset a certain opinion without quoting or referring to someone else?

Attempting the epic is noble. You are not guaranteed to succeed, but your true courage is the amount of bravery, audacity, and brazenness you pursue in your epic endeavors … it ain’t necessarily the final outcome. Consider you can be the most intelligent and skilled person in the world and still fail in your endeavors in life.

Let us not be fooled. The purpose of life is to become stronger. Infinite strength gains.

My personal and practical thoughts on money and what it means to me:

To become great is to become big, strong, magnanimous. Anyone and everyone can become great. What is required?

1. Time
2. Patience
3. Great industry
4. Perseverance
5. A spirit of playfulness
6. Curiosity to continue
7. Continual editing of your work and portfolio
8. Always striving for more.

Growing up I always hated “elitism”; rich and high class people who looked down on you because of your class, race, background, ethnicity, etc. But the question:

Why did I hate it so much, and what is the significance of this hate and my personal thoughts on elitism?

The art of image selection:

The best life: pursue only what truly interests you.

I am a man. I am me. This is my notion of masculinity.

The goal:

Not to become nobody else but yourself.

Towards a new sociology, or way to analyze society:

1. Upload your favorite photos (or photos you’re curious) to Google Auto Vision API to see how Google’s AI analyzes your photos. Machine learning x Photo.
2. Start your own website. Register on 1and1.com or bluehost.com and install wordpress.org
3. Upload your favorite photos to arsbeta.com and also give honest critique to the work of other photographers.
4. Create a new portfolio of your 10 best images, and make a new folder for it on your computer (JPEG’s) and share it with friends, family, and others.
5. Start a selfie face mask project, or a street photography shooting people with face masks on.