₿LOG
Question:
Why have I never met a happy photographer?
Especially on the upper-echelon levels (Magnum). It seems that all these photographers are perpetually dissatisfied (in a pessimistic, bad way).
Certainly happiness isn’t the end of life, but it is a good stimulus for our photographic progress. Some thoughts:
Our motto (from Steve Jobs, via Whole Earth Catalogue):
Stay hungry, stay foolish.
To stay hungry — means, to continue building your appetite for progress and life.
To stay foolish means to be naive like a child, and allow yourself to become more reckless and ‘foolish’ in life.
My photos will never die:
The difference between your greatest photos of all-time versus the most meaningful photos to you
The greatest photos– outward (public) facing. More objective.
The most meaningful photos (personal, inward facing). Far more subjective.
Something I thought about for a long time, that is what is the best car color?
The simple answer is red. Why? My theory:
What makes certain aesthetics beautiful or not?
In life, what is the best course of action? My thought: optimize for beauty. Beautiful people, beautiful life partner, beautiful children, beautiful things and tools, beautiful fashion, and beautiful products you create.
And when selecting your photos, optimize for what you consider your most beautiful photos.
Level up yourself, appreciate your own inner wealth.
Take more bold risks, avoid the cockroaches and ticks.
Be brave and bold, no regrets when you’re old. Stay focus and straight, it’s better to start now than late.
If you ever have the opportunity in your life, always up to live abroad or somewhere foreign. lots of growth opportunities.
If you haven’t already, watch FOUNDATION. Great cinematography, story, and creativity.
Or how to see more photo opportunities in black-and-white:
Some thing I have realized: the best is a cul-de-sac. Or another words a dead end. End of the road.
End of the road is bad.
Our goal as photography adventurers:
Our goal and task as photographers: to make great photos.
But how do we actually do this? Some thoughts:
Dear friend,
Thought:
What is the future for you and your photography?
Or in other words,
What type of photographer do you desire to become?
My buddy Anthony hit me up and let me know about ALEX ON THE STREETS, cool stretttog from Japan. Make sure to check him out!
Contrary to what Marc Andreesen says (Software is eating the future), hardware is the future. What do I mean?
Let us consider … if you control the hardware, you control the software.
I think I’m the only person I know who actually uses and likes Apple TV.
I thought in my mind as a new parent: what is exactly that we desire our children to become? To become new consumers? To become new producers?
What morals and ethics do we want to instill them with? And how do we want to raise them differently than our parents raised us?
I love Apple. I’m a Steve Jobs and Jony Ive fanboy until I die.
Plato once talked about tyrant-kings, philosopher-kings, and in modern times we refer to this notion as “benevolent dictatorâ€. The question —
What is Apple as a company?
It is an epicurean walled garden. A good walled garden. But note how Apple is anti Google and Facebook. Apple as the only company trying to protect our privacy and focus. Perhaps Apple as a benevolent dictator is a good thing.
A machine is just a mechanize slave. Why do we human beings desire to become more machinelike, or more slave lake? Perhaps out of some sort of sense of duty or virtue? That’s the only way to become more virtuous is to become more servant to others?
Or like machines, we desire to live forever?
Thought: to desire to become more slave lake or machinelike is unworthy for us thinkers and philosophers.
The new Foundation is out and it’s insanely great. A thought — perhaps the riches and mass wealth of Apple is justified to bring this beautiful masterpiece into existence.
Never work out when you’re tired, just get more sleep and rest. Spend longer time for rest and recovery, and only work out when you have accumulated excess strength.
Or another words, don’t get back to working out right after the birth of your child. Just focus on extreme sleep and recovery.
What is the best marker of success? How many “haters†you got, as opposed to followers. Why? The more despised someone is, the more enigmatic and interesting they are.
Building upon this notion of play, my thought —
We as photographers are essentially over-grown children.
There is no pragmatic or ‘practical’ use of photography, especially when it comes to artistic matters. Thus, don’t think about the economics of photography too much. Instead, think of your art and photography as a form of play and creative self-expression:
We should play more for the sake of playing, and avoid games.
Another thought: there is a great difference between playing, and playing a game. A child who is playing is actively learning and exploring the world. A game is structured rules created by some foreign entity, and it’s designed to trap you rather than liberate you.
In today’s pandemic world, it seems that digital art is the answer.
It is the year of 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic has reached havoc all across the globe. Nations are becoming more isolationist. Travel is usually restricted. Seems like the plot of a accurate dystopic future.
As a sociologist, I always wondered what future society would look like. My practical take away is that rather than waiting for this society to come, we are the ones who are going to build and fashion it.
For me, this is the most exciting time to be alive. Especially the most exciting time to raise a child. When we are relatively isolated, what new innovations could happen?
Luxury goods are good because of longer longevity. Less consumption. Fewer things, higher quality.
Ironically I think the solution to less waste is more luxury, fewer goods.
Why deny others are different?
You’re not allowed to be different in a different way. You can only be different in the same way. Put inside a box.
An entrepreneurial guide —
For success, create your own products.
For example, would you rather buy NIKE shoes or aspire to create and design your own shoes? (Kanye and YEEZY). Creating your own personal name brand (your first and last name) as superior to becoming a brand slave to others.
Or, would you rather buy a Lamborghini, or design your own hypercar?
Also, perhaps more interesting to aspire to design your own ideal camera than to just become a Leica follower.
Similar — Elon Musk was into cars (after he sold PayPal he bought a McLaren). Yet more interesting to innovate with Tesla instead.
Is the goal for us to make timeless photos? perhaps not. Why not? Because once you’ve made a timeless photo, what motivation or need do you have to keep making new photos?
What are we lacking the most in contemporary life? Pride. Pride in our self, pride in our creations, pride in our children, and pride in our own personal philosophy.
Another turbo thought: perhaps in life you should only pursue your great desires, rather than the lukewarm ones. How do you differentiate the both? Simple: just be insanely honest with yourself. You will naturally gravitate towards your strong and great desires, and the goal is to avoid your lukewarm and “meh†desires.
This is what I think: your strong desires are the ones which naturally arise within yourself. The lukewarm desires or the desires which are implanted in you by society.
I believe this is our ultimate goal in photography: that is, to thrive as photographers, and to thrive in photography.
A world and where we see more opportunity then see obstructions. Where we see it as all good, all photographicable, and everything interesting. Just like a child.
What is the difference between superficial Egoism, and deep and genuine egoism?
Superficial egoism is the ego you get from purchasing goods. Where are you define yourself based on brand names you adorn.
Genuine egoism comes from your own personal self assessment of yourself. The type of egoism which comes through your accomplishments, your personal bodily physique, your strength, your courage, and your fearlessness.
Thus, it is important that we extricate the notion that ego and egoism is bad. Only superficial Egoism is bad, and deep and true and genuine egoism is good.
A thought on my mind: perhaps durability is overrated and something we don’t even care for. Yet durability is the new excuse for us to buy some thing, only to discard it and upgrade to something new.
Simply put, RICOH GR III is the supreme street photography camera, superior to all Leica cameras, superior to all Fujifilm cameras, and also superior to all iPhone cameras and film cameras.
Why?
In today’s world, what is the most epic type of photographer-artist we can become? A street photographer.
Dropbox is really the killer app. And they keep improving it!
Dear friends,
In order to promote my new and upcoming LEARN FROM THE MASTERS ONLINE PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP (Dec 11, 2021), I wanted to use this as an opportunity to reflect on my own photographic journey, and what I have personally learned from the masters of photography, and hopefully what you can learn too:
December 11, 2021: Learn from the masters of street photography online workshop. Your personal ‘smart-cut’ to distill the lessons of photography from the great masters of the past. Consider this your opportunity to soak in all the past photographic wisdom, and the chance for you to become your own master in street photography:
Contrary to what others may say, to seek DISCLARITY in your photography makes your photos far more interesting. Disdain of detail, and the artistic will to simplification is good.
Kyoto as the most aesthetically beautiful and interesting city in the world, for food, photography, architecture, design, and culture:
Pure creative output. No obstructions. This is what we seek as artists.
What this also means is thinking that perfection in art is a silly idea. The more you create, the better. Seeking perfection is not efficient nor optimal.
What is happiness? Simply a reflection of our strength. That is, as we feel our strength ascending, we feel happy. Thus it isn’t happiness that we seek, but more strength.
The best art? Your own life.
A thought:
Perhaps life is too short to disdain. We optimistic thinkers should only admire.
A thought: is it possible for me to shoot 1 billion photos before I die?
If so, how can I do this?
To be stubborn and to be a late adopter — to wait, the great procrastination and only get things waaaaay later than everyone else.
Advice I wish I had access to:
Contrary to what others may say, I don’t think you should always be reading books. In fact, to over-read books is bad. If you always are reading, your own inner thoughts will be crowded out by the material you read in books.
I say the best time to read is when you’ve already exhausted all of your creative ideas, and you need to recharge yourself — let your creative side grow a bit fallow, and then use reading as a tool to re-stimulate your own thoughts.
Best to NOT read first thing in the morning. Mornings should be reserved for creation, which means when you first wake up don’t allow yourself to be attacked by outside and foreign stimuli. No reading or checking your phone first thing in the morning. Do your artistic creation first thing in the morning, after your morning coffee, for the freshest and most insightful thoughts and ideas.
What is my great mission in life as a photographer? To motivate others. And it seems in today’s world, what we don’t need in photography is more equipment and gear, but we need more insight, motivation, ideas, inspiration, and turbo photo thoughts to get us going:
Only pursue your great curiosities in life:
No matter how good the iPhone Pro gets for photography, RICOH GR III will always be at least 10x better in terms of image aesthetics, resolution and camera ergonomics.
I love the new iPad Pro (M1 chip with USB-C). It is a great step to my ideal of “USB-C EVERYTHINGâ€.
iPhone Pro — not so much. iPhone Mini is superior to iPhone Pro.
If you want a superior creative tool, for your photography and visual creative arts, get iPad Pro. Don’t get iPhone Pro.
Two turbo thoughts this morning:
Then
This is my big thought:
Perhaps dissatisfaction and the lust for more is actually good.
Now the tricky thing — how can we channel this lust for more in a positive way?
The only way is the way forward.
Perhaps life is all about the lust for more.
The thought of the day:
Perhaps dissatisfaction is good.
Perhaps the best pursuit is ever lighter. The lighter, the more beautiful. This means lighter cars, lighter clothes, lighter shoes, lighter mind space, lighter backpacks, lighter tools. The lighter, the better. The heavier the worse.
I thought: if you want to “upgrade†your iPhone, better to get a smaller size, a smaller screen, and less weight.
In today’s world of practicality, the question arises: why become an artist? Is this even a good idea?
Perhaps looking at your old photos is almost akin to shooting them anew.
Socrates one said an unexamined life is not a life worth living. Perhaps in photography, old photos from the past which lie unexamined aren’t worth shooting either.
All the photos you shoot are good. Thus the goal is for you to just keep shooting.
A great turbo thought I had tonight:
When contemplating purchases or investments, try to honestly ask yourself — “Will this give me an (unfair) advantage in life, or not?â€
For example, buying that new luxury car (if you already have a car) won’t lead to any meaningful advantage. Having an iPhone is certainly superior to having an Android phone, but having the most high end or brand new iPhone won’t give you a meaningful advantage in life compared to a standard iPhone.
Similarly speaking, shooting with a Leica won’t give you any meaningful advantage in life, in your photographic life.
So try to think hard and deep — don’t get suckered by things which you perceive won’t give you a meaningful advantage in life.
Perhaps the goal we all actually really want is to endure. To endure through difficulty, endure through pain, and for our lives and our legacy in our artwork to endure.
Even with physical goods, it seems that perhaps endurance and durability is of the highest class. If your car will endure, your home wonder, your lifestyle will endure, your camera will endure, your laptop will endure, and whether your phone will endure. Thus investing in more durable things is good.
An epiphany I had:
What is a great motivator? Pain. That is, pain is the stimulus for action and activity.
For example, boredom is a type of pain. Boredom is a good stimulus for us to act. Similarly speaking, when your body aches, or your back or knees hurt, perhaps it is your body signaling that it wants to move and to be active. Thus rather than thinking about pain as a signal for you to stop and do nothing, perhaps pain is a signal for you to move and act.
My whole photographic life, the most difficult thing is motivation when it comes to photography. Some simple ideas to get you going:
In today’s over-saturated social media world, it is the best time for you to start your own photography blog (bluehost.com and install WordPress.org). Why?
