To get full engagement out of life … for things we care about, perhaps this is the secret to living the best and fullest life. And that is why living a more ‘dangerous’ life is good — we actually must use our faculties to FOCUS.
This is why powerlifting is so much more fun and interesting than bodybuilding-styled pointless repetitions. The element of danger is what makes powerlifting (one rep max) so fun and interesting.
Ironically enough, the fewer choices and options we got, the *MORE* creative we will become.
Lesson:
If you desire to be more creatively productive, perhaps better to SUBTRACT and GET RID OF superfluous tools, equipment, gadgets, tools, cameras, etc from your life … and to maximize the use of just one.
When it comes to our personal ethics or how we live our lives or how we design it, ask yourself — am I doing this out of strength or weakness? All things done out of strength and superfluous power is good— all things done from weakness and desperation is bad.
Our pride and joy is to be uber-unique — uber unique in what we drive, what we own, what we wear and how we interact with the world.
Our greatest hate is when we see someone else similar to us. The distaste of seeing someone drive or own the same car as us, wear the same brands as us, or live like us.
Photography is the most effective when you subtract from the frame. That’s when you’re shooting a scene, strive to subtract superfluous elements from the frame. The fewer distractions in your photos, the better.
What is creative daring? To dare convention, to dare your own past ‘style’, and to create with the bold audacity of a child — unrestrained, wild, and naively pure.
In today’s world there seems to be this mania towards ‘productivity’. And what is ‘productivity’ according to modern thoughts?
To always be doing something, in order to become more virtuous (like a machine, in the spirit of ‘Taylorism’), in order to produce and create more in order to make more money.
Thus the modern goal of productivity is money-making.
But what happens once you become a crypto billionaire, and money is no longer a concern to you? Then it seems more of a focus on our artistic endeavors, our creative endeavors, our health, and the desire and hunger to explore more, become more, and to become stronger, wiser, and more bold.
Next time you incur an injury or wound, rather than bemoaning your foolishness or regret a “mistakeâ€â€” better to instead think:
This injury can and will be a benefit to me — it will help me address my weaknesses or inefficient movements in order to make me stronger than I was before the injury.
For example getting wounded with a standard deadlift form helped inspire me to start doing sumo deadlift form — which both increased my one rep max and got rid of any back weaknesses. My back as stronger now than it was before.
Or knee pain and injuries— teaching me to focus on building hip and abductor strength, and to focus more on stretching, which will and has made me stronger.
It’s all profit.
Perhaps the uber-Stoic way to approach life:
All injuries, pain, suffering is here for us to benefit and profit from — to make us stronger.
iPhone as the ultimate creative device — how come nobody has truly discovered the insanely awesome powers of this miracle device? And instead just using it for basic email, texting and time wasting games?
Just gave away my iPad Pro to my mom, who has been making great art works with Procreate app. Which leaves me without an iPad — just my laptop and phone.
Been doing some sketches with iPhone and procreate and zen brush 2– and there are some upsides of having a smaller canvas:
Our motto in photography: to never stop shooting, to never stop exploring, never stop moving, never stop drinking coffee, and to never stop exploring and desiring more.
Excelsior, ever upwards. The joy of the architect in creating and building things, always to strive for more, to strive to always build more and go higher.
And this is also why I understand about people who work in construction, that is the joy in constructing new buildings, and it seems that the goal is to keep building to no end. Thus realize that happiness is not a final state, but the act of creating, actively building more, higher and greater.
Much to my disappointment, the Ricoh GR 3 didn’t have an integrated flash. I think the stunted me a little bit creatively. However after around poking around the App Store and I discovered the Provoke Camera app. It’s built in the spirit of Daido Moriyama, that is high contrast black-and-white. It works really well with the iPhone, and especially shooting with the flash on the Provoke cam with the ultra wide lens might be a very interesting new creative outlet for me and other street photographers.
Instead of seeking the turbocharged or supercharged car, or even the tri-motor PLAID Tesla Model S, or a hypercar, or a McLaren, or a Lamborghini, or the uber-fast sports car of your dreams, isn’t it better to turbocharge or supercharge yourself?
This means:
More intermittent fasting (eat your dinner as late as possible). Don’t break your fast until sundown (Ramadan style, every day, all day).
More black coffee during your waking hours. Also figure an optimal time to cut your caffeine intake so you can sleep better at night (for me, it seems cutting coffee at 9am is ideal). Best to drink coffee between 6-9am.
More working out during the day. Instead of seeking to drive fast, perhaps better to hit the gym and powerlift (deadlift, squat, heavy dumbbell press), or just go for max reps for chin-ups at home (get a chin-up bar that fits over your bedroom door frames), or get a kettlebell and go for max-reps one-armed swings.
Optimize for sleep, not ‘productivity’. If you sleep well, you will inevitably be productive. Sleep is godlike— even the Greek gods of the Iliad sleep. If Tom Brady goes to sleep every day at 7:30pm, and doesn’t drink any coffee or caffeine during the day … can’t we?
Our obsession with brand-named things, ‘brands’, consumer goods, etc.
For example, we want the Porsche 911 Turbo, but what is a ‘Porsche’ anyways? It is just a dude’s last name. Same with Lamborghini — it is the Lamborghini *SPIRIT* we desire, not the Lamborghini itself. And once again, Lamborghini as a man’s last name.
Our joy in street photography is the joy in the riskiness! Thus rather than trying to avoid risk and confrontation in street photography, delight and joy in it!
In terms of aesthetics, not “all black everything “, but harnessing both black and white.
For example, best to start with a black base or a black background, and add the white afterwards. Even Leonardo da Vinci said start with a black canvas. So start with a black canvas, then add accentuating white afterwards. In photography this means to shoot your photos as dark as possible, and have that one glimmer of a subject or a figure outlined in a silhouette in white.
Perhaps it takes more skill or a compositional ingenuity to make interesting photos in the boring suburbs, then make interesting photos in an interesting city.
Something I learned about street photography or just photography in general, just photograph like it’s not a big deal. For example if you see strangers just photograph them and shrug it off like it’s not a big deal. This is kind of a hybrid between asking for permission and not asking for permission, in the sense that if you treat photography like it’s not a big deal, other people won’t treat it like a big deal, which means others are less likely to get offended confused or scared when you photograph them.
Or in short, Street Photography and Photography is not that big of a deal. So don’t treat it like a big deal, and others are less likely to treat it like a big deal.
It seems that many of us desire to find satisfaction or joy in material things. So for example, the desire to buy a new exotic sports car, or even certain clothes and fashion items. However, it seems that the true joy is the joy of creating it, making it, customizing it, and making it in general. For example, better to buy a basic car, and modify it then to buy already a hyper sports car. Also with design, better to design it yourself then to pre-purchase the design of someone else. Also with design objects which are also tools, like cameras, find less joy in the design, just take the simplest design possible of a camera and just focus on making your creative art.
It seems that now that Jeff Bezos has retired from Amazon, he is working on his side passion projects which include blue origin and his charity ventures. Which makes me think, once you become the worlds richest man in the world, what next? Then it seems perhaps the end goal in our aim should be to only pursue our passion projects.
So the million dollar question that is what is a good photography project to work on? I say only work on a project that you internally personally care for, assuming you will not get any likes followers or make money or gain fame or notoriety for it.
To explore embodied reality, to test our courage when photographing strangers, the joy of interacting with strangers, and to discover new cultures, peoples, and compositions (street photography as compositional art with human beings and human bodies).
I’m seeking a new photographic and visual bliss.
This is my personal passion in photography art, and visual art. To seek a new photographic bliss. This means to discover new techniques approaches and philosophies which will take my visual explorations to the next level.
Yes, you can shoot street photography in the suburbs. Technically if you think about it, a suburb is still urban, just sub urban. As long as there’s human beings around, whether it be on the streets, in the neighborhood, at the local Costco, it is all street.
Something that is on my mind: what is the motive of criticism, or why criticize?
The word criticism comes from the Greek word kritikos which means judge, or to judge. Thus, when you criticize somebody, you are laying a judgment upon them.
Certainly it is good to judge things as “right or wrong “, or to judge what is your own personal preferences. But I think in today’s world people seem to criticize others to make themselves feel better about themselves, or to put others down.
I think perhaps better than wasting your energy on criticizing others in a negative way, only criticize people if it is constructive and you think it could actually help them. The motive must come from a good heart, with good intentions.
Otherwise, best to just ignore others and leave them to be.
Creativity is curiosity, the same curiosity that you had when you were a child, when you were pure and unobstructed by conventions and notions of “good and bad “. Thus the uber artist is a child.
Rather than desire what you don’t have, rather, best to extract the maximum of what you do got. For example let’s say you live in the boring suburbs, strive to make the most interesting photos in the suburbs. If you’re poor, harness the few resources that you do got and maximize it. For example, I have some friends who started off shooting street photography on their iPhone because they couldn’t afford any other digital camera, but that became their thing and help them become a great photographer. Aikbeng Chia (ABC) as one of my favorite photographers who was one of the early pioneers for iPhone street photography with IPA (Invisible photographer Asia).
See yourself as the creator, which means you take any of reality’s clay and mold it to be your artistic creation.
What’s our entrepreneurial lifeblood? Our level and degree of ambition. And this we can control.
So perhaps in life rather than seeking more satisfaction and zen, perhaps better to seek more ambition, challenges, heights, summits, epic attempts and newer braver and more daring goals in life!
In our lives, let’s just focus on photography. Photography as the ultimate visual bliss for us photographers. And also the joy of experience of embodied reality.
Some thing I discovered when it comes to the philosophy of design. Designers often grapple with a question: form or function? Perhaps that is not the right question. Perhaps the better question is focusing on ethos, that means thinking about the underlying philosophy, mood, attitude or aesthetic gist of something. Or the way things should be.
I just finished rewatching 7 Samurai by Akira Kurosawa and some thoughts on the upside of monochrome films:
First, it forces you to use your imagination to interpret and experience the film. The abstraction of a monochrome film is more mysterious and requires more focus and input from the viewer.
Second, monochrome films tend to be more classic. Classic films that have stayed relevant to today are more likely to be worth watching and studying.
Also, monochrome films seems to be a better way to study composition. “Every picture a frame†(YouTube channel, great concept and idea). I love to screenshot compositions which inspire me, and then use the MacBook screenshot tool to sketch on top of the images.
Perhaps the best car is a zen car. A car which allows you to NOT think about your car, to not second guess the goodness of your car.
Perhaps it must be electric or hybrid. Definitely not just a pure gasoline car.
At the moment, I think the most zen car is probably a maxed-out Telsa Model S (Plaid) — black on black. Why? It is a ‘sleeper’ — it is waaaaay faster than any other hyper car or sports car in production (acceleration is only 1.99 seconds from 0-60 — puts other cars to shame). And black on black is ideal, because it is the most long-term robust color scheme (black is boring, but typically black is always in style, long-term).
Or the other option: the hilarity of a ‘murdered out’ black on black on black Prius (Nightshade edition). A more affordable option.
Perhaps the most fun car (gasoline) might be a black on black Civic Type R. Manual transmission, and the highly great practicality of a hatchback design (fun car to drive, and to get groceries). Probably the best ‘bang for the buck’ and unique import Japanese sports car.
Some quick thoughts: first of all, perhaps best to shoot in high contrast black and white monochrome. This immediately abstracts the world around you which allows you to focus on shapes textures and other details which might be shrouded by color.
Also, approach photography from a carpe diem perspective. This means that no matter how uninteresting or boring your lifestyle or neighborhood or society or town where it may be harnessed to your benefit.
Strive to make very interesting photos of very boring subjects.
The more you live to yourself, the less concerned you need to be about ethics. However, the more you live in society and with others, the more you must concern yourself with ethics.
Thus, don’t think about ethics for ethics sake, rather, think about ethics as a social tool. Or perhaps a social technology, to best thrive in the world with others and in society.
How does one become a good role model? Simple: focus on the notion of an “anti role model“.
The general gist is this: strive to be the opposite of bad attributes you see in others.
For example, rather than thinking of how to become a “good†parent, think about how to not be a bad parent. Or in another words, strive to be the opposite of bad parenting.
In my personal example, I probably had the worst father figure growing up. Thus in order to become a good father figure, I just strove to be the exact opposite of what my father was. So in other words, as long as I’m the opposite of my father, I will become a great father.
And the interesting irony is this: sometimes it is the bad role models which help you become a more positive person. In fact, I found more motivation to not become my father then emulating “good†role models.
To take this analogy further, one should not helicopter parent the children. In fact, it is pain suffering and injustice which perhaps gives children a stronger moral compass. Even at a early age, I knew the injustice that my father did towards my mother. And I knew that one day when I had a wife, I would do the exact opposite of what my father was to my mother. So when I think of how my father used to curse at my mom, physically assault my mom, and mentally destroy her, I strive to become the zen-stoic husband and father that I am today.
Contemplate– I cannot relate With you other guys Other backstabbing thoughts in disguise
Contemplate means to think Breathe deep, stand back and reflect
Don’t neglect your own passions and thoughts in life Harness the strife and the pain, to gain more gains And to train away the pains
Disregard what the masses say are cool or lame Or blame Or shame Know that your game is to go forth and be bold What can you control in life? Your courage, no more, no less
Beat your chest, thump loud and brave Never cave — you pave your own way.
First of all, the film is hilarious. The jokes in the movie are heart-warming.
The character development is fantastic. Each character in the film has depth, and growth and change throughout the film.
Strong differentiation between the characters of the film. Especially the ‘outcast’ samurai (Mifune) who steals the show.
Phenomenal composition. No other film has so many ‘screenshottable’ scenes. The fact it was shot in the 1950s blows my mind– the ingenuity of the compositions, framing, and the triangle compositions.
Great story. You cheer for the underdogs, and the building of the 7 samurai team is a great narrative.
Sweet relationships between the samurai, which brings a huge smile to your face.
Beautiful use of light.
Strong philosophy here — lots of great quotes. For example the badass Samurai with the scar on his face– ‘A man only interested in testing his own limits’. A good inspiration for myself. Also — the inspiration of being a Samurai (becoming a masterful individual, solo).
We share our cars (Uber, Lyft), we share our homes (Airbnb)— why not share our lives with others? For example more co-op communal living with friends, borrowing one another’s cars, going grocery shopping for others, sharing points with one another. Isn’t this a far more fun, effective and meaningful way to live?
My thought on what makes a successful photographer:
An individual who retains his/her own pure child-like vision and childlike enthusiasm for photography, and to shoot without any concern for the external world.
A photographer who only shoots for his/her own internal world.
It is impossible to stand out if you’re just a clone or an iteration of other things and people. Thus it seems that ‘creative isolation‘ is quite useful, and seek more inspiration from the classics and the past, than the modern and trendy.
Not to wear the same things others wore, not to rock the same brands others rocked, and to sort of become an ‘elitist’ through minimalism, simplicity, and just following my own zen–stoic mind.
Certainly this is a partly vain pursuit — you always compare your uniqueness in comparison to others. But my realization:
No matter how much we would like to think, we are social creatures (sociology of comparison) which means — we will inevitably ALWAYS compare everything when it comes to social matters.
So what are we to do about this? I say just accept it, and perhaps do simple things:
Drive a different car for the sake of driving a different car
Use a different phone from others for the sake of it
Use different tools, apps, and productivity apps for the sake of it
With clothes, shoes, and fashion matters– despise having the same brands, outfits, or concepts as others (strive for extreme differentiation here).
With music, art works, and other aesthetic matters — seek inspiration from the past, or from the obscure which you love.
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