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SUPREME SIMPLICITY.
We are seeking the supreme simplicity in life, design and aesthetics. But once you achieve supreme simplicity in all domains in your life … then what? Then the next goal: Create *BEYOND* yourself.
June 2021
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VIA NEGATIVA AESTHETICS
Less is more beautiful:
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Zen Aesthetics
Not seeking the “best” aesthetic, but the most zen one. The aesthetic which affords you the most peace, calm, quiet and strong stoic tranquility in order to *NOT* think about the design and aesthetic. The best design as the one you never even have to think about! Via negativa aesthetics.
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WHY I’M SO PASSIONATE ABOUT STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
Human art:
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VIGOR.
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Study Great Compositions
Typically from the past. Great cinema — Akira Kurosawa (7 Samurai), classic Renaissance painting (Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael), great photographers (Henri Cartier Bresson, Richard Avedon, Josef Koudelka). Any compositions which inspire you are great.
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LOVE YOUR PHOTOS.
The secret to boundless self driven motivation for your photography: Boundlessly love your own photos, far more than the photos of others.
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AS DARK AS POSSIBLE (ADAP)
Our photographic aesthetic Dionysian ideal. Perhaps also more tragedy in cinema, art as a superior form of beauty and storytelling. The Philosophy of Aesthetics The Philosophy of Aesthetics Depressing or Affirmative Art?DISDAIN DETAIL. Pragmatism as Anti Aesthetic AESTHETICS ARE ALL. AESTHETICS ARE THE ULTIMATE LUXURY. No Aesthetic is Forever Black is Boring DARKER IS BETTER.…
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The Photographer as Poet
We photographers as visual poets.
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Father & Son
The great thing about having a son: > Becoming the father I wish I had.
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How to Streamline Your Photography Workflow
The goal is the most streamlined photographic workflow. Simple ideas: Just shoot small JPEG (faster buffer speeds, faster time to upload your files, fewer issues with storage space) Use a preset or filter while you’re shooting in JPEG (for example, high contrast monochrome mode or cross process mode on RICOH GR III). This reduces time…
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Speed is Paramount
“The service is twofold greater when it is promptly rendered.” – Publilius Syrus Perhaps the key to success or dominance — optimize for speed. For example Tesla Model S in Plaid+ mode, or Google AMP to speed up the web, or anything in photography which speeds up and streamlines your workflow. We love speed, saving…
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Self Study Composition
Your own photos and those of others:
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Abstract Monochrome Photography
A fun pursuit and photography assignment: Shoot high contrast abstract photos in monochrome. For example: Shoot under-exposed photos (as dark as possible). -1 or -2 or -3 exposure compensation. Photograph textures, light, interesting surfaces Look at the sky, or places with extreme high contrast Look for faces in gritty textures or beautiful decay (patina, wabi-sabi…
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Personal Street Photography
Street photography you shoot for yourself– street photography you shoot for the pure joy of the activity and the experience of shooting street photography.
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The Human Body is Poetry
My joy of photographing bodies (legs, feet, bodies, torsos, hands, faces) is this: The human body is pure poetry.
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FOCUS ON PHOTO
In life, there’s a trillion things for us to pursue (money making, crypto and investing speculation, and other random pursuits). But perhaps out of all these pursuits, photography as the most interesting and worthwhile one.
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Towards a Streamlined Lifestyle
It isn’t a “simple” lifestyle we want, but a more *streamlined* one — with fewer annoyances and blockages and “friction” which prevents you from doing what you truly desire to do in life.
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Car Thoughts
Why it is probably best to just buy the cheapest (manual transmission) car:
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Why Minimalism?
Minimalism because I easily bore of things and nothing satisfies me. I just strive to get the “least hateful” design, and just stick with it — even though it’s never perfect. And when it’s perfect I also easily bore of it. Thus don’t think of minimalism from an aesthetic or ethical perspective, but a highly…
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Perfect is Boring
Yes perfect exists. But once you get it, achieve it or buy it, things are boring. Thus never seek happiness, fulfillment and satisfaction from perfect — but perhaps the pursuit of perfection is the goal and the way.
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Optimize for Creation
The ethos of the creator:
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SPARTAN DESIGN.
As minimalist as possible:
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TAKE IT BACK TO THE BEGINNING.
“I bought every V12 engine, wish I could take it back to the beginning.” – JAY Z The purity and innocence of the beginner mind. Take yourself back to your high school self — what did you believe in and dream of, before getting corrupted by the outside external world? Internal desires, motivations and belief…
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Curiosity.
Curiosity as the root of philosophy. A life with no curiosity is a dead life. One doesn’t need to cultivate curiosity — one just needs to return to ones childlike curiosity about everything in the world! You don’t need to force a child to be curious — it is just his natural state of being!…
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Beauty and Interesting Photos are Everywhere
Think black and white, high contrast, textures, macro mode:
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Life is about experiences and memories
And photography helps us capture and immortalize this!
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NYC STREET 2021
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Aspire
AspireFly higherKiss the wings of GodKeep flying higherWhat level are you on? AspireBreathe in hopeNo nopes or dopes to hold you back Keep it black, simple and cleanNo need to dream beyond the sheenYou’re the star, you’re the team. You’re the ultralight beamDirect and cleanStay focused and meanYou’ve got this, my brother and queen. ERIC…
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A Life With No Risk Taking is *NOT* a Life Worth Living
Our entrepreneurial motto in life. A life with no risk taking is boring. And boredom is far worse to be feared than any other pain or suffering in life!
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Photography is Free
Considering digital photography (or phone photography) is practically free … why not harness this phenomenal upside to your advantage and benefit? The amazing nature of (digital) photography: Being able to create something out of nothing, or creating value out of reality which costs you nothing!
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Read Less, Think More
More reading means less thinking. If you want to think more, read less and stimulate your brain less.
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Extracting More Out of Life
My personal desire and pursuit: How to extract the maximum out of life. Seeking maximal engagement, creation, sharing and becoming.
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I don’t photograph because I want to, I photograph because I must.
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Motivation vs Feedback in Photography
I’m starting to think that what’s more important in photography than feedback and critique is motivation, new ideas, new techniques, new sights and new experiences. Thus don’t worry too much on getting feedback on your photos on how to become a “better” photographer or how to “improve” your photography, but new ways and opportunities to…
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EZ PHOTOGRAPHY
Strive to make your photography life more simple and more streamlined, easier. Easier camera settings (program, P mode, autofocus and auto ISO), and make it more fun. The easier we can make the technical settings and the easier the camera we shoot with (RICOH GR III), the more fun we can have in photography, the…
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Minimalism as a Motivator
Why minimalism? Not minimalism as just an aesthetic — but minimalism as reducing friction and “activation energy” in your life which means less “paralysis by analysis” decision making in order to get you out more, exploring more, doing more, adventuring more, shooting more, experiencing more, and becoming more. Thus the goal is to simplify and…
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ALL STREET PHOTOGRAPHY IS GOOD.
To be quite honest and frank, nowadays with the global pandemic it is a success to even leave your house. Thus the new way to think about street photography: no good or bad street photos, it is all good. Any street photography to get you out of the house, moving interacting with people and shooting…
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RUTHLESS ADAPTATION.
In today’s Brave New World, what is the attitude we need to thrive? Ruthless adaptation is the technique and the way.
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Ever Expanding Abundance
What do we desire and hunger for? An ever feeling of expansion, growth, fullness, and augmentation of physiological power and well-being. How is this achieved? Great sleep, nutrition (meat), fresh air and bright sun, physical and physiological well being and strength in your muscles, a zen stoic sense of calm, fearlessness, bravado, strong and thick…
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SHOOT WITHOUT THINKING.
The apex of photography technique — to shoot without thinking.
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Power-Expression, Not ‘Productivity’
A realization and re-interpretation or re-articulation on the concept of ‘productivity’: It isn’t actually ‘productivity’ we want, but power-expression. I realized this becoming a parent. You suddenly have 100 fewer hours in a day to do your ‘productive’ things. And certainly once you become a parent, your productivity will go down at least 500%. But…
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Least Activation Energy
A concept I got from my friend Jeffrey Lam: The great thing about living in very close walking distance to a park (2 minute walk) is that it requires little to no ‘activation energy’ to go there to workout. Also another thing I realize now I got a kid: If I want to quickly get…
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Just Have Fun With Photography
Let us be like children and treat our photography (play) very ‘seriously’ — just have fun with photography; this is the great way to always stay inspired in your photography and never tire of it!
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There is nothing more interesting than a human face
Children are most drawn to human faces. We adults are the same! Lesson: Shoot more faces! In praise of street portraits, or photos which reveal and show the faces of your subjects!
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ART PHOTOGRAPHY.
What we are heading towards: Art photography. Photography as ‘art tech’.
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ALWAYS IN BETA.
Why I always keep all my devices (iPhone, iPad, and MacBook laptop) in Beta Mode (always with the BETA version of all the operating systems) is this: Life is more fun when you are always in beta-testing mode. Also the underlying philosophy behind arsbeta.com
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THE AMBITIOUS PHOTOGRAPHER.
Ambition is the great tonic of life. My hunger and desire to create the most epic images that the world has yet seen before.
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Photography as Art Technology
The camera as a technological tool to create art out of nothing, or perhaps the only ingredient we need is embodied reality, our legs, our imagination and creativity.
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The skill of the photographer is to find beauty anywhere and everywhere