Month: October 2020

What is street photography? Social photography. To be an anti social street photographer seems like a contradiction. We street photographers love people, society, and the public!

New creations via the new Zen Brush 3 app. I made this on my iPad (just my finger, no silly Apple Pencil which I am very anti).

A thought: Many individuals end up becoming enslaved to their homes (repair, mortgage, desire to continually remodel and decorate their homes unto no end). But this seems like a poor way to live. Why? …

Very interesting idea: When I make a slide show of my photos and upload it to YouTube, YouTube (Google) always gives you 3 suggestions for the ‘best’ thumbnail (most likely to get clicked). Contrary …

My street and photo and personal life integration:

A thought and reflection on photography and art: There are no ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ ways to approach photography or art. Then perhaps our greatest contribution to others can be: Just share how *YOU* do …

When I look at my photos (often when I photograph the same scene in both monochrome *AND* color, the monochrome photos seem so much more artistic. Why is this the case? Theory: Color looks …

A quick guide and primer on doing a floor bench press (not using standard bench press). Why do it on the floor instead of using a bench? Some thoughts:

No right or wrong way to do things. The goal: create a new bespoke mould for yourself!

Or why I prefer heavy dumbbell press over benchpress:

I only ever feel like I ever got a good “workout” if I push myself to my one rep max, and either fail (while almost succeeding) or from suceeding. Morale: To skate and dance …

More interesting to come up with interesting questions than need to come up with the answers (and all the answers are subjective anyways!)

As someone who has been sponsored in the past, got free stuff, got paid, got special gigs and treatment etc I’d say brand sponsorships and endorsements (while they sound sexy) is mostly a trap. …

My goal and my personal pursuit: Discovering how we can maximize human potential … using my self and my life as a guinea pig! Thought 1: Variety of social spaces throughout the day. Not …

We get joy from looking at the photos of others (National Geographic, the old masters of photography, photo books, etc). But a thought: Isn’t it better that we get more inspiration from looking at …

First snow in Providence Rhode Island today. A lot of East Coasters and Middle-Coasters often think California is the best. In my opinion, I think California is sooooo overrated. Life with snow is more …

Simple ideas:

Generation Iron 4 (Natty 4 Life) is a great film. Highly recommend it. Some quick thoughts: What does it mean to be ‘health-conscious’? Why be health-conscious? What role does ‘epigenetics’ play in bodybuilding? Why …

The problem in today’s world: Too many sheep, not enough personalities and true leaders.

Just watched Generation Iron 4 (Natty 4 Life) and really enjoyed it. The thought which came to me: In body building, the ‘natural’ body building scene is more ‘legitimate’ or more ‘wholesome’, whereas 1000x …

Snow as insanely beautiful:

The goal: To never stop advancing in photography. How to do this? Some thoughts:

Why be consistent? And how to become more consistent? My thoughts:

When it comes to lifting and powerlifting, I say this is the hierarchy: Deadlifts Squats Everything else… Typically speaking, I encourage you to first strengthen your legs (strong legs as the more masculine thing) …

Why exercise, tax and exert bodily effort? Simple… as a means of inspiring and triggering your mind to think!

Don’t separate your identities, or your activities. You’re always a photographer and always you. This means always be shooting, always be recording, and most importantly… always be living!

My dream: Come up with certain ideas and share them with others which can empower *all* photographers from around the globe, regardless of experience, socio-economic status, etc!

You exist and will continue to exist for (some) time. The question: How do you desire to harness your life and existence? What interesting experiments do you want to try and discover for yourself …

Or in other words, COVID has taught us: We humans thrive when we have the opportunity to interact, talk, and engage with other human beings!

When to color, when to black and white?

If you want to discover more inspiration and motivation, you need some sort of visual distractions (in embodied reality) via human beings, random textures, variation of environment.

Ideation: The art of coming up with new ideas. Why ideation? Why ideas? A world and society without any new ideas is a society on the decline.

What is the purpose of food?

‘Adrenaline in me like I got injected (BIG SEAN). The more we can live with adrenaline, the better.

No deadlifts, no life:

Theory: Our mood is mostly hormonal. Thus if we can identify the specific activities, substances, or lifestyle things which affect our hormones in a certain way… then it means: Our moods are easily within …

Ever since Covid hit, I’ve been gymless for many months. Just got a new membership, and hit the deadlift, squat, heavy dumbell press. After quarantine my strength is still surprisingly good! Max 455 deadlift …

FIRST SENT TO ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER > Dear friend, The thought to inspire and motivate you: Ask yourself… ‘Why do I make photos?’ From this answer, all the other answers will come easy.

The better we understand *why* we make photos, the more motivation we can give ourselves to actually shoot!

Real gratitude: In fact, your life is great. And you feel deep gratitude for the greatness in your life. False gratitude: Your life is actually quite shitty, but you play the ‘sour grapes’ idea …

The simple goal in life: How can we live more?

When I am looking out, and I see some of these things, it motivates me to shoot photos: Juicy colors Interesting or novel scenes Textures Interesting looking people Witnessing a scene which is unfolding …

Life with photography is far richer, more vibrant, more joyful and superior to life without photography. If your goal is to augment your happiness in life, deeper integration with photography is supreme!

Simple personal truth I’ve discovered for my self: A life with a gym has made my life 1000x happier, more interesting, and great than life without a gym.

What do we desire out of life? To live well. To live maximally well. What does this mean?

There are many things which are unlimited and many things which are limited and having bounds. Limited and bounded: the maximum extent of human life (maybe 130 years?) Things which are unlimited: digital things, …

In life, your basic needs will be met. Also, even if you acquire all the best tools, fashions, equipment, clothes, cars, watches, homes, etc … what is the end of all of it? To …

There is no such thing as “good” breathing and “bad” breathing, and we also don’t need to force ourselves to breathe. So why judge our photos in a similar vein? Why not enjoy photography …

The best entertainment is challenging, enthralling, dangerous, cruel, tragic and beautiful all in one.

Disregard notions of having to make a “good” photo. Better to take a “bad” photo than no photo!

Certainly there is no such thing as ultimate truths, but it seems that our attempt to seek *some* interesting personal truths (which can be applied to a sub-section of society) is very interesting and …

And if you cannot seek your own equals or find your equals, just go at it alone, and find your equals as you go along!

Thought: With us men, there seems to be some sort of male hierarchy based on physical strength. For example at the gym, the question is: Can you deadlift over 4 plates? Can you squat …

Gym as a great zen temple. Also a great place to socialize, meet new folks, shoot the shit, walk around in big areas when you’re trapped at home all day, and getting a great …

Photo idea: Photograph really up-and-close macro photos of food. Food is insanely interesting to photograph, to see all the valleys, shapes, textures … especially in porous materials like bread. When looking at sourdough bread …

Or why IRON MAN 1 is so great:

The only way to live.

In other words: Limits are bad. The feeling like not having heavier weights to attempt a 1-rep max. In powerlifting, it’s always the thought of increasing your one-rep max even further is what makes …

The first Iron Man film: one of my favorite Marvel films of all time. Why?