AUDIO

How to Look More Masculine

Becoming more masculine–more of a man:

PODCAST

In praise of self vanity:

I’m sexy and I know it:

Not like Elon Musk — he doesn’t look well. Arms look weak and flabby, and looks like he is getting a bit of a gut. And his face doesn’t look well either — look at his recent interview with T-Mobile CEO.

What attempts to destroy you will only make you stronger.

Antifrafile vlog

1. How to become antifragile vlog
2. YouTube mirror

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What is anti-fragility?

One of the most formative books that I’ve read in my life was anti-fragile by Nassim Taleb. Not only was it a very fun and entertaining read, but, it also totally changed and revolutionized my mind, in terms of how I thought about things.

The basic gist is this:

Small dose stressors actually strengthens you.

For example, weightlifting. I believe that the biological function of weightlifting is this:

You lift a very very heavy weight, at your maximum, once, and the stress that it puts on your body is a positive stress, a “eustress”.

For example, gravity is a eustress. Astronauts who go into space and don’t have gravity, their bones and bodies atrophy. Apparently astronauts need to spend about six hours a day exercising in the space station, just to maintain their bone density.

As your bones weaken, you become older.

A very interesting thought:

The cause of biological aging and weakening is a result of your bones weakening.

The bias is that as you get older, your bones weaken. This is not necessarily true. It is possible that as you age, assuming that you lift weights, your bones can actually strengthen.

For example, currently speaking, at the age of 34, I am 1000 times stronger than I was at the age of 24. And I also aspire to become stronger by the age of 44, 54, 64, 74 and beyond.

Even my mom, who is currently 67 years old, I got her into weightlifting. Doing the one rep max type of lifting, doing the squat hold as well as the rack pull. Just two weeks of daily weightlifting, she is the strongest and most confident she has ever been, far stronger and better than she was at 57, 47, even 37.

“Aging”?

Typically what happens is this —

As we get older, and as the years go on, we fall into more degenerative habits.

For example, something that I have witnessed is that most people my age, in their early or mid 30s, even in their late 20s, are far sicklier, older looking, weaker, and more degenerate looking than they were back in high school, college, even in the early 20s.

Even one of my friends in college, junior year, all he did was eat really bad food, drink a lot of alcohol, smoked a lot of cigarettes, and never exercised, at that age of around 21, he already look like a 55-year-old man.

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What causes your bones to weaken?

Things which causes your bones to weaken include sitting, not walking, not weightlifting, not running around, not playing on uneven and irregular surfaces, etc.

For example, driving. The time you spend sitting and commuting, and being stuck in traffic, your hips weaken, your knees weaken, your feet weaken your back weakens, etc. Anytime that you’re spending not standing or lying down on your back is bad. The only caveat is when you are lying down flat on your back, either when you are napping or sleeping.

It doesn’t matter how old you are, or young you are, anybody and everybody could benefit from weightlifting. It doesn’t matter whether you are 12 years old, 16 years old, 22 years old, 28 years old, 34 years old, 42 years old, 52 years old, 62 years old, 72 years old, 80 years old, etc. I aspire to lift weights until I die at the age of 120.

But isn’t lifting weights dangerous?

No. Also, the hilarious irony is that a lot of people don’t lift weights because they think it will cause them to damage their bones, or hurt themselves. Ironically enough the truth is actually the opposite; you lift weights in order to strengthen your bones, and prevent yourself from injuring yourself in the future.

Therefore my great innovation of the squat hold, the atlas hold, or the atlas lift; it will strengthen your spine 1000x.

Life

An insanely optimistic thought is this:

Anything that happens to you in life, whether good or bad, will strengthen you and make you more powerful in the long run.

For example, other people. Issues or things that make you angry, annoyed, etc., it will all strengthen to benefit you in the long run.

For example, I have a strong sense of justice. Whenever somebody talks to me in such a way which I believe as disrespectful, I get insanely angry. And it seems the most productive way to channel your anger is to either use that as a tool of philosophical introspection, And or to defend yourself. Anger is a good defense mechanism.

But isn’t it bad to be “defensive“? Nonsense. Defense is the highest good.

Even if you think about America, and our military, the “department of defense“. The way that we Americans defend ourselves and our own self interests is we put military bases all around the world, and we keep indefinitely strengthening our military in order to defend ourselves through our offensive strength. Or in other words, as long as America has the biggest stick, nobody will mess with us.

If we think about Machiavelli and Il Principe, Machiavelli says that to preemptively strike is also a virtuous form of self-defense.

Thought framing

Whenever something bad happens to you in life, think to yourself:

How can this minor annoyance end up strengthening me in the long run?

For example, COVID-19 was actually a positive thing because it helped forced people to innovate.

Or, let us say that you injure yourself in the gym. This could be critical information to teach you to spend more time warming up, more time warming up with yoga, or just changing your approach and technique. For example I discovered that doing flat bench press, as well as flat dumbbell press put undue stress on my shoulders in a bad way. Therefore, this information helped me innovate a new concept; doing a floor bench press, or even a floor dumbbell press — how I do it.

Antifragile Photography

I believe street photography is the path to anti-fragile photography.

Why is that? It is because in street photography, we often encounter many setbacks. For example, wanting to shoot a certain scene, but, chickening out, and as a result, not shooting the photo. This leads to regret.

An anti-fragile way to approach street photography is that whenever you have a situation in which you chicken out because you hesitated, you think yourself:

This time I may have chickened out, but let this be a good lesson to myself the next time I see a similar situation or scene, I push myself extra harder to have the courage to shoot it.

STREET PHOTO STARTER KIT — says

99.9% of street photography is courage.

With courage, it is also an anti-fragile thing. That is, increasing and augmenting your courage is a piecemeal approach. That is, there are certain days you are more confident than others, and some days you’re less confident. And that is OK and all part of the game.

How to augment your courage

Courage is everything. To become more courageous in life;

1. Let us know that courage comes from the heart. Anything that you do which strengthens your heart is a good thing.
2. Let us also consider the physiological consideration; fear is a manifestation of or hormonal responses to things. If you are able to shift your hormonal response, increase your testosterone, etc., likewise you will also increase your courage.
3. Weightlifting at the gym, one repetition maximum attempts. what is a one repetition maximum lift? That is, I had as much weight to the barbell as humanly possible, and just see you at the point in which you could just successfully lift it up even a quarter of an inch, once. Don’t go for reps (repetitions). Reps are for suckers. Or another example, it is better to deadlift 551 pounds once, than to deadlift 405 pounds twice.

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It’s all good.

Ultimate way to approach life:

Anything and everything that happens to you, it is all good!

ERIC

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Moar stoic thoughts

1. Stoicism 101
2. How to deal with miserable people
3. How to become a stoic

More random thoughts

1. Perhaps the best car is a hybrid. Some sort of hyper super car that is a hybrid. Perhaps currently — the new goat is the NSX TYPE S. Get it in red. Or the Gotham grey matte paint. You get the upside of the pick up from the electric motor, and you can still be loud, because it has a gasoline engine. Also, superior miles per gallon.
2. Barefoot: spend more time a day barefoot, this will be great for you in almost every single way. For example, weightlifting barefoot is a great idea.
3. More beef liver, beef heart, beef intestines. 100% ERIC KIM CARNIVORE DIET. Only organ meats, then beef ribs. Meat is supreme. And — if you have the option and choice — liver, heart, small intestines (beef) as positively superior to any type of flesh meat. Even better than beef ribs! Also hit up the bone marrow when possible.

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Now what?

As a practical thought, strive to integrate this line of thinking into your life.

Also I recommend reading Antifragile by Nassim Taleb — you could either just order the paperback copy on Amazon, or just download the e-book for it to read on your iPad or iPhone. I just prefer using iBooks instead of Amazon Kindle, much more beautiful digital reading experience.

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How to become a more antifragile photographer

Whenever you have any setbacks in your photography, or offenses in photography, channel this to motivate you even further!

For example, the next time you hesitate before shooting a photo and you regret it, next time, you could remind yourself to become even more courageous.

Or, there was somebody you wanted to approach and ask for permission to make a portrait of them. But, for some reason or another, you failed to do so. That is OK, next time just double up your courage to approach the person. Strive to get rejected at least 10 times. The lesson from Street Notes// Print.

Or, there is something you wanted to photograph, but you were afraid that you have already done it before, or it was cliché. Next time, just shoot it and figure out what to do with it afterwards.

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Insane Courage

Become insanely motivated— EK EXPERIENCES:

1. CONQUER FEAR IN BOSTON
2. CONQUER INNOVATION IN BERKELEY
3. CONQUER ZEN IN HADONG SOUTH KOREA

EK WORKSHOPS

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The tools to conquer it all

1. Become Immortal: HENRI NECK STRAP MARK IV
2. Become the uber-streettog: ERIC KIM NECK STRAP MARK II
3. Become the Pro: HENRI WRIST STRAP PRO

More EK SUPPLY

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YouTube ideas

If you are interested in starting your own YouTube channel, some ideas:

1. Do more vlogs on philosophy. There is a huge dearth of philosophical ideas on YouTube and beyond
2. Just use a GoPro and record it. 1080 P, 24 FPS is fine. Record mundane things, like you eating, you going out, etc. Don’t edit it. You don’t need any accessories either.
3. Don’t censor yourself, and become more opinionated. The biggest tragedy is when people water down what they want to really say, because they are afraid of offending somebody.

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Philosophize more >

Also learn more about Nassim Taleb here >

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Thinking more?

Feel free to forward this to a friend!

EK NEWS

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“Better to be a gay monster than a sentimental bore.” – Galiani

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Become sexier:

(more…)

Street photography is the ultimate antifragile photography.

Why? Street photography is the ultimate fear conquering form of photography. While war photography is more dangerous than street photography, I believe that street photography actually takes more pragmatic courage. Why? In street photography, you don’t really have a license to shoot, you don’t have a press badge or any external authority you’re doing it for.

Master the streets:

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY 101

1. How to Conquer Your Fears in Street Photography
2. INSANELY AUDACIOUS AND BOLD
3. 5 Simple Street Photography Techniques
4. STREET PHOTOGRAPHER.
5. The Street Photographer Ideal
6. 50 Street Photography Tips, Techniques and Ideas
7. Street Photography Values
8. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY DOESN’T NEED TO HAVE PEOPLE IN IT.
9. Why Street Photography is So Great
10. WHY BECOME A STREET PHOTOGRAPHER?
11. Society Photography, Not “Street” Photography
12. How to Street Photography
13. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY OPTIONALITY.
14. 10 Street Photography Tips
15. The Street Photographer as the Apex Photographer
16. Street Photography & Adrenaline
17. STREETTOGS STARTING GUIDE
18. 50 Street Photography Tips by ERIC KIM
19. What I Wish I Knew If I Started Street Photography All Over Again
20. Photograph like it’s not a big deal
21. Suburb Street Photography
22. What is Our Personal Motivation Behind Street Photography?
23. WHY I’M SO PASSIONATE ABOUT STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
24. Personal Street Photography
25. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY AS A PRACTICE.
26. Pandemic Street Photography
27. AIRPORT STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
28. How to Shoot Street Photography Right Now
29. Towards a More Independent Street Photography Approach
30. How Street Photography Improves Your Life
31. How to Tell Stories in Your Street Photos
32. Face Street Photography
33. How to Start Shooting Street Photography
34. How to Shoot Street Photography During a Pandemic
35. 7 Street Photography Assignment Ideas

Only in America

Downtown LA in COLOR

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY STARTER KIT

Master street photography with STREET PHOTOGRAPHY STARTER KIT.

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STREET PHOTOGRAPHY 101

If you’re new to street photography, start here:

• The Ultimate Street Photography Tutorial
• Street Photography 101 Tutorial
• 100 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography
• How to Shoot Street Photography

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Brave New Street Photography

• 10 Lessons I’ve Learned from Street Photography
• SKIN IN THE GAME: STREET PHOTOGRAPHY ETHICS
• The Beauty of Mundane Happenings
• Humans and Environments
• Define Street Photography for Yourself
• Street Photography of People You Know
• Street Photography Composition Ideas
• How to Shoot Political Photography
• Social Photography
• Street Photography Lifestyle
• Why Street Photography is So Fun
• Street Photography for Mental Health
• How to Become a Street Photography Sharpshooter
• How to Shoot Kid Street Photography
• STREET PHOTO MANUAL
• Street Photography is an Approach, a Technique, and an Ethos

Street Photographs

1. How to Shoot Street Photography with Dads and Kids
2. HOW I BECAME SUCH A GREAT STREET PHOTOGRAPHER
3. Use Quarantine as an Opportunity to Pick up Film Photography
4. Hong Kong Street Photography by ERIC KIM

Street Photography Philosophy

• Brave New Street Photographer
• How to Talk to Strangers
• How to Shoot More Dynamic Street Photographs
• WHY I LOVE ARCHITECTURE AND STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
• Why Street Photography Brings Me So Much Joy
• How to Shoot Street Photography Video
• How to Shoot Street Photography in the Brave New COVID World
• The Future for Street Photography
• ALL STREET PHOTOGRAPHS ARE GOOD PHOTOGRAPHS.
• AMERICA by KIM
• Street Photography in a Non-Travel World?
• How to Shoot Street Photography During COVID-19
• You’ve Never Shot Photography Until You’ve Shot Street Photography
• Xenophilia: Love of Strangers
• My Street Photography Philosophy
• Why Street Photography is Important for Society
• HOW STREET PHOTOGRAPHY CAN CHANGE THE WORLD
• STREET PHOTOGRAPHY IS ABOUT LOVING ALL PEOPLE
• Real Life People vs Abstract People
• Is it OK to Piss Off or Annoy People in Photography?
• ANTI PURISM IN STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
• Street Photography of People You Know
• Street Photography is Courage
• MY STREET PHOTOGRAPHY PHILOSOPHY
• Street Photography Motivation from ERIC KIM
• I AM STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
• WHY TALK TO STRANGERS?
• Why Street Photography is Supreme
• How to Make Great Street Photos
• Street Photography Ideas by ERIC KIM
• Why Street Photography?
• The Street Photographer’s Soul
• How to Become a Fearless Street Photographer
• Black and White or Color for Travel Street Photography?
• Street Photographers are Adrenaline Junkies
• How to Master Street Photography
• Almost Anything and Everything is Street Photography
• Advice for Aspiring Street Photographers
• Street Photography Sociology
• Why There’s No Right or Wrong Way to Shoot Street Photography
• The Street Photographer as a Soldier-Artist
• Why Street Photography is the Best Photography
• Street Photography is a Way of Life
• How to Conquer Anxiety
• Street Photography is Art with People

Street Photography Articles

• How to Edit and Sequence a Photography Project
• Practical Street Photography Tips
• 5 Simple Street Photography Assignments
• Street Photography Composition Ideas
• 10 Advanced Street Photography Tips and Techniques
• Daredevil Photography
• Lingering Technique: How to Work the Scene in Street Photography
• Why Photograph People?
• No Guilt in Street Photography
• Street Photography is Hard.
• Street Photography Inspiration
• 5 Simple Tips How to Shoot Better Street Photos
• 10 Super Simple Street Photography Tips
• How to Shoot Head-On in Street Photography
• The Decapitation Technique in Street Photography
• Be Brazen in Street Photography
• How to Shoot Better Street Photographs
• Drive-By Technique in Street Photography
• How to Shoot a Wedding Like a Street Photographer
• Street Photography is 80% Risk Taking!
• 10 Simple Street Photography Principles
• 5 Fundamental Street Photography Principles
• 10 Street Photography Assignment Ideas
• How to Tell Stories in Street Photography

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Street Photography Techniques

• How to Shoot Head-On Street Photography
• Street Photography Composition Tips
• In Praise of Street Vlogging
• How to Shoot Video Street Photography
• Street Photography Technique: The Stalker Technique
• Photography Technique: Take Photos While Walking!
• New Tokyo GoPro Fusion POV Street Photography YouTube Videos
• ERIC KIM Street Photography Tips and Technique
• The 360 Degree Technique in Street Photography
• How to Work the Scene in Street Photography
• How to Shoot Layers and the Bookend Technique in Street Photography
• Street Photography Technique: GET CLOSE & FILL THE FRAME + GOLDEN DIAGONAL COMPOSITION
• Street Photography Techniques: The 3D Scan/360 Degree Technique (Shooting Head-on) and Holding Your Camera High in the Air and Point Downwards (and Use Your LCD Screen to Frame the Scene)
• The Walking Alongside Someone and Shooting Until They Notice You Street Photography Technique
• SUPER INNOVATIVE NEW GOPRO STREET PHOTOGRAPHY POV EXPERIENCE: Cutoff Technique, Shooting Head-on with Flash, and Slow-Motion on RICOH GR II at 28mm
• How to Shoot a Street Portrait: Tips, Technique, and GoPRO POV Tutorial
• Street Photography Technique/Composition: Leading Lines and Crouching Down Low
• How to Shoot Layers in Street Photography: GoPRO POV Video Composition Tutorial
• How to Shoot Street Photography with a 24mm Lens
• The Cutoff Technique in Street Photography
• THE CUTOFF TECHNIQUE IN STREET PHOTOGRAPHY: GOPRO POV KYOTO ERIC KIM

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JUST SHOOT IT. HENRI NECK STRAP by ERIC KIM

See HENRI NECK STRAP on AMAZON >

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Street Photography Ideas

• Street Photography is Like Fishing
• Why Do We Feel Nervous Shooting Street Photography?
• Street Photography Philosophy
• Everyday Street Photography
• Why Street Photography?
• Why You Must Follow Your Own Voice in Street Photography
• How to Overcome Guilt in Street Photography
• 5 Dynamic Off-Center Street Photography Compositions
• 5 Night Street Photography Composition Tips
• How to Talk to Strangers
• How to Overcome Fear in Street Photography
• Street Photography Empowerment
• Eric Kim’s Top 30 Street Photography Tips
• How to Shoot Street Photography on a 35mm Lens
• 7 Tips How to Conquer Your Fears of Shooting Street Photography
• Street Photography Lifestyle
• How to Use Tactful Flattery in Street Photography
• How to Conquer Social Anxiety With Street Photography
• Street Photography Secrets Debunked
• 10 Dynamic Street Photography Tips
• The Benefits of Shooting Street Photography
• The Street Photography Manifesto
• My Experience Shooting Digital Medium Format in Street Photography
• Why Do You Feel Guilty Shooting Street Photography?
• Improvise in Street Photography
• Ethics in Street Photography

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Street Photography Composition Techniques

• 10 Inspirational Sergio Larrain Compositions
• 5 Henri Cartier-Bresson Photography Composition Lessons
• Street Photography Technique: Overlap
• Street Photography Composition Lesson: Chunking
• The Fishing Technique in Street Photography

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STREET NOTES.

Push yourself out of your comfort zone with STREET NOTES: Mobile Edition.

STREET NOTES PAPER EDITION ON AMAZON >

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LEARN FROM THE MASTERS OF STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

Timeless wisdom from the masters of street photography.

Learn more about MASTERS >

Buy MASTERS on Amazon >

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FUNDAMENTALS OF STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

• The Psychology of Street Photography
• Fundamentals to Street Photography
• How to Conquer Fear in Street Photography
• Street Photography Secrets
• NEO STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
• Street Photography Lenses
• Street Photography Settings
• Street Photography Techniques
• Street Photography Ideas
• CLOSER.
• CLEAN BACKGROUND

Street Photography Inspiration

• How to Enter the Street Photography Zone
• Simple Street Photography Tips
• How to Defuse Confrontations in Street Photography 
• How to Make Controversial Street Photographs
• Street Photography Project Ideas
• How to Make Good Street Photos
• Is Defining “STREET PHOTOGRAPHY” a Good Thing?
• STREET PHOTOGRAPHY “RULES” TO BREAK
• Walking Meditation in Street Photography
• 10 COMMANDMENTS OF STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
• Street Photography is Improvisation
• In Praise of Randomness in Street Photography
• How to Become a Fearless Photographer
• How to Make Better Street Photographs
• 12 ERIC KIM Street Photography Assignments
• Meaningful Street Photography
• 25 Street Photography Tips by ERIC KIM

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Beginner Street Photography Articles

Get started in street photography:

Definitions in Street Photography

• Visual Sociology Street Photography
• Why Street Photography?
• What is Street Photography?
• Why Shoot Street Photography?
• The History of Street Photography

How to Shoot Street Photography

• How to Shoot Street Photography
• Street Portraits 101 by ERIC KIM
• The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Street Photography
• 70 Street Photography Tips for Beginners
• 15 Street Photography Techniques and Tips
• A Letter to My 18 Year Old Self: If I Started Street Photography All Over Again

Street Photography Equipment

• What is the Best Camera for Street Photography?
• What is the Best Lens for Street Photography?
• What to Consider When Buying a Camera

See all equipment articles >

How to Conquer Your Fears in Street Photography

• How to Conquer Your Fears in Life
• Shoot What You’re Afraid Of
• How to Channel Your Fear into Bravery

See all articles to conquer your fears >

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Intermediate Street Photography Articles

Take your street photography to the next level:

• How to Become a Stoic Street Photographer
• The 10 Principles of Good Street Photography
• 7 Tips How to Capture “The Decisive Moment” in Street Photography
• The Importance of Social Skills in Street Photography
• The Street Photography Code of Ethics
• “Taking” vs “Making” Photos in Street Photography
• Follow Your Gut in Street Photography
• 10 Reasons Why You Should Never Chimp While Shooting Street Photography

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Advanced Street Photography Articles

Find deeper meaning in your street photography:

• How to Master Street Photography
• How to Be a Zen Street Photographer
• Personal Street Photography
• The “Bookend” Technique in Street Photography
• Street Photography is Self-Therapy
• Zen in the Art of Street Photography
• Taoism and Street Photography
• How to Find Your Style in Street Photography
• Follow Your Gut in Street Photography

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Street Photography Tips & Technique

Learn how to shoot on the streets:

• 70 Street Photography Tips for Beginners
• 15 Street Photography Techniques and Tips
• Flash Street Photography Guide
• Take More Risks
• Don’t Think About Composition When You’re Shooting Street Photography
• 7 Tips How to Capture “The Decisive Moment” in Street Photography
• 7 Tips How to Make a Great Street Photograph
• Tokyo Street Photography Contact Sheets
• Video: Why it is Important to “Work the Scene” in Street Photography
• Shoot Less, Better
• Make Shitty Photos
• Shoot Effortlessly
• 10 Tips for Candid Street Photography
• 103 Lessons I’ve Learned From Street Photography

See all street photography tips and techniques >

Street Photography Guides

In-depth guides on street photography:

• How to Shoot Candid Street Photography
• How to Shoot Street Portraits with Permission
• How to Shoot Black and White Street Photography
• How to Shoot Color Street Photography
• How to Shoot Street Portraits with Permission
• How to Shoot Layers in Street Photography
• How to Shoot Urban Landscapes

Street Photography Equipment

The best equipment for street photography:

• What is the Best Camera for Street Photography?
• What is the Best Lens for Street Photography?
• Why I Love Cameras with Non-Interchangeable Lenses
• The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide for Cameras in Street Photography
• What to Consider When Buying a Camera for Street Photography
• In Street Photography, The Smaller the Camera, the Better
• Why Sharpness is Overrated in Street Photography
• How to Shoot Street Photography on a DSLR

See all equipment articles >

Street Photography Editing and Workflow

• Video: Introduction to Editing, Processing, and Workflow in Lightroom
• How to Edit (Choose Your Best Photos) in Street Photography
• How Studying Contact Sheets Can Make You a Better Street Photographer
• Debunking the “Myth of the Decisive Moment”

How to Start a Street Photography Project

• Free E-Book: The Street Photography Project Manual
• How to Start Your Own Street Photography Project
• How to Come Up With a Personal Photography Project Idea

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Learn From the Masters of Street Photography

“He without a past has no future.”

Start here:

1. Why Study the Masters of Photography?
2. Great Female Master Photographers
3. Cheat Sheet of the Masters of Photography
4. 100 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography
5. Beginner’s Guide to the Masters of Street Photography
6. Download All Articles >

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The Masters of Photography

Classics never die:

• Alfred Stieglitz
• Alec Soth
• Alex Webb
• Alexey Brodovitch
• Anders Petersen
• Andre Kertesz
• Ansel Adams
• Araki
• Blake Andrews
• Bruce Davidson
• Bruce Gilden
• Constantine Manos
• Daido Moriyama
• Dan Winters
• David Alan Harvey
• David Hurn
• Diane Arbus
• Dorothea Lange
• Elliott Erwitt
• Eugene Atget
• Eugene Smith
• Fan Ho
• Garry Winogrand
• Gordon Parks
• Helen Levitt
• Henri Cartier-Bresson
• Irving Penn
• Jacob Aue Sobol
• Jeff Mermelstein
• Joel Meyerowitz
• Joel Sternfeld
• Josef Koudelka / Part 2
• Josh White
• Lee Friedlander
• Lisette Model
• Magnum Contact Sheets
• Magnum Photographers
• Mark Cohen
• Martin Parr
• Martine Franck
• Mary Ellen Mark
• Rene Burri
• Richard Avedon
• Richard Kalvar
• Robert Capa
• Robert Frank
• Saul Leiter
• Sergio Larrain
• Sebastião Salgado
• Shomei Tomatsu
• Stephen Shore
• The History of Street Photography
• Todd Hido
• Tony Ray-Jones
• Trent Parke
• Vivian Maier
• Walker Evans
• Weegee
• William Eggleston
• William Klein
• Zoe Strauss

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Free Downloads

• Eric Kim Lightroom Presets
• Street Photography Presentations

See all free downloads >

Free Street Photography Books

Distilled information on street photography:

• STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MANUAL by ERIC KIM
• The Art of Street Photography
• 100 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography
• Street Photography Contact Sheets
• Street Photography 101
• Street Photography 102
• Film Street Photography Manual
• The Street Photography Composition Manual
• The Street Portrait Manual
• 31 Days to Overcome Your Fear in Street Photography
• Zen in the Art of Street Photography

For more resources on photography, Start Here >

Your body is god, your body is king.

THE BODY IS GOD PODCAST

Why have there not been that many philosophers who have philosophized and praised the virtues of the body, our human body?

Some theories:

First, the superstition of this notion of the “immortal soul“, that after you die, the cognizant mind soul of yours will continue into perpetuity.

Second, the nonsensory of this new Silicon Valley notion that you could somehow one day, “upload your consciousness to the cloud“. The idea that somehow, your mind can exist without your body. It cannot.

Third, notions of shame culture around the body, whether Asian, East Asian, Confucian, even American. Considering that we Americans descended from Quakers and Puritans, and also have these antiquated Victorian notions of shame in regards to the body, the body is a weird thing; we got it, but we shouldn’t become too proud of it, and we should only maintain it to the minimum, in order to promote other virtues.

Also, let us consider that America is a Christian protestant nation. According to Protestantism, which is essentially Catholicism 2.0, the body is a thing of shame.

For example, the notion of the “immaculate conception” of Jesus. The reason why this idea was promoted was that there was this idea that somehow sex is shameful. It isn’t. The ancient Greeks and Romans deified birth, procreation. Back then, sex was simply a normal part of life, a necessary path to be getting offspring and children.

I think what has changed in modern day times is notion of sex for the sake of sex, sex for the sake of pleasure, or pleasure for the sake of pleasure. Certainly pleasure is just a means to an end, not the end itself.

For example, if sex did not feel good and did not promote pleasure, the human race would have died off a long time ago. Biologically speaking, we humans want to continue to procreate.

Consumerism?

It is my personal thought that most modern day consumerism is built around shame, fear, and capitalizing off the insecurities of people. For example, I don’t think anybody out there is actually proud of their body, or deifies their body. Even Jesus said that your body is a temple.

I think it is because in modern-day times, most people do not have a sense of philosophy. Many people in modern day society are not quite certain what they really want out of life, and instead, they fall into the same means of desiring to travel and see the world, eat good food, bed beautiful women, eat and drink exotic foods and drinks and alcoholic beverages, and promote pleasure, and purchase objects of desire, etc.

I think it was Nietzsche who said that the Englishman only desired two things, which was fashion and comfort. It seems that the modern-day American only cares for comfort, pleasure, and fashion. Also novelty.

Your body as an instrument and a tool

In order to think, philosophize, make art, innovate, create and publish things, you need a body. Your body is the whole package, all of the things in between your toes and the top of your head. Your bones, your sinews, your blood, your muscles, your fat, your brains, the electricity running through your body, etc. Also all of the hormones.

It seems that most people today desire to become more productive, in order to make more money, purchase more things, obtain more things, and “become successful“. Ironically enough, if you want to become more productive, spending more time energy and money and resources to build your body and strengthen and further your body might be the best strategy.

For example, working out at least twice a day. Isn’t this the ultimate luxury? To be able to go to the gym and lift weights, and then later in the evening, do yoga? Also, no need for breakfast or lunch, only one massive dinner a day. Using your money to just buy beef ribs at the Costco business center, insanely cheap, Only $10 for a whole rack of ribs. I could barely finish two, and I think I could eat at least five times more meat than the average human.

Also, it seems that the bias in today’s world is to work out the minimum necessary, and spend more time being “productive“, or “working“. Shouldn’t the opposite be what we do? To do the minimum amount of work necessary to support our lives, and then just spend maximal time to strengthen and build your body?

Tasty Foods vs demigod building?

It seems in today’s world, the only thing people care about is taste. Taste as unquantified by just adding sugar to things and making it sweet.

For example, almost all modern-day cuisine involves some sort of sugar, sweetening agent, starch, etc.

Also let us consider alcohol, which is essentially pretentious sugar beverages. Wine is just alcoholic grape juice, replete with sugar, same goes with white wine and rosé. Cocktails are pretentious ways to seem cultured, but once again, all you’re doing is drinking a sugary beverage.

Even with modern-day cuisine, there is always some sort of starch, breading, sugar, sauce, involved.

Who runs all of the thoughts on health diet and fitness?

Essentially the whole fitness industry is revolved around selling products. Products as personified through protein powder, creatine, pre-workout powder, lifting straps, lifting belts, protein shakes, protein bars, etc. Also fitness programs, fat loss programs etc.

A thought:

Trust no lifter who uploads their workout videos to Instagram or YouTube.

Also,

Trust nobody on YouTube, Instagram, or any form of social media in regards to diet health and fitness.

The only person you could trust with 100% certainty is yourself. Why? It is impossible to know with 100% certainty whether person XYZ is on steroids, testosterone, or some other strange performance enhancing drugs. For example, do not trust Rock the Dwayne Johnson, he is juicing his eyeballs out. Also do not trust Chris Hemsworth, who also probably juiced eyeballs out for his initial act in Thor.

Also, put zero faith in anybody who has muscles who appears in any Hollywood film. Why? There is always a hidden incentive for them to enhance their physique, either through steroids, testosterone, performance enhancing drugs, etc. Why? Their livelihood is dependent on the grandeur of their physique, and essentially actors are all just slaves.

Everyone would benefit from weightlifting

Cindy told me something very beautiful today, after just a few weeks of my mom being here, and working out at the gym with me weightlifting every single day, and also doing yoga with Cindy, she said for the first time in her life, she feels confident and proud in her body. And she is 67 years old.

There is a lot of misconceptions when it comes to the human body, especially with women, or if you’re over the age of 40. I think all of these thoughts are misled; anybody irregardless of their age sex gender, race, etc. can benefit from weightlifting. And fitness.

---

New year body resolutions

New year, new body.

Some New Year’s resolutions:

1. Quit sugar
2. Quit fruit
3. Quit starches
4. Quit “vegetables” (the only “vegetable“ you should eat are dark leafy greens, like kale and collard greens, or the “power greens“ you find at Costco)
5. Quit smoking weed
6. Quit alcohol
7. Quit social media (everyone is on steroids)
8. Quit sweet foods and sweet beverages
9. Quit desserts
10. Quit eating three times a day or more, start intermittent fasting and only eat dinner
11. Quit comparing your body, your strength or your numbers to others

Via negativa body. The best way to shape, craft and scope your body is through quitting or removing toxic things.

---

Building the most supreme body?

My new life goal is to build the most supreme, demigod, beautiful body known to man. All without steroids, testosterone injections or other weird things. Also no protein powder, supplements, creatine etc— only beef ribs, beef liver, and other high cholesterol foods.

To build the most demigod physique. God body.

Male vs Female body?

The male body in female body is far more similar than this similar. The mechanisms of Augmentin your muscle mass, and decreasing your body adipose fat tissue is the same. The only difference is between the male body and female body has to do with sexual organs, as well as different hormonal levels. For example, for a man their testosterone levels can range from 300-1,000 ng/dl, whereas women can range from 15-54 ng/dl.

• Male: 300-1000 ng/dl
• Female: 15-54 ng/dl

At the lower end, a man’s testosterone levels can be ~25x more than that of woman, and a man can be at the higher end around ~20x higher as well.

At the elite level,

The lower end of the male range being four-to fivefold higher than the upper end of the female range(males 8.8-30.9 nmol/L, females 0.4-2.0 nmol/L).

Therefore, I think we must acknowledge the fact that hormonally, there are stark differences between men and women. However, it does seem that for the most part, more natural testosterone for either men or women is both a good idea.

Irregardless of whether you are a man or woman, the goal to both augment muscle mass and decrease body adipose tissue is a good goal. Also, irregardless of whether you are a man or woman, increasing your strength at the gym, increasing your one repetition maximums, and to also gain new personal records for your own personal strength is a noble goal!

---

A new body, never imagined or witnessed before?

A new goal —

What type of new human body can be created?

Assuming we got unlimited beef ribs, beef liver, heart, bone marrow … and the most strict diet (no sweet or starch anything)— 100% compliance, what new level can my human body become, in terms of muscle mass, look, and human beauty?

---

New lifting goals

Think 6 plates, 7 plates, 8 plates, beyond.

600, 700, 800 pounds and beyond?

Rack pull, atlas lift.

Think —

Why do they call it weight-lifting, not weight-pressing?

Pressing motions are bad?

---

Unperturbed.

Assuming you build your mind and your body to become demigod, for the most part, 99.99% of things will not perturb or disturb you. Rather, the focus towards more lofty things like philosophy, thinking, ethics, art creativity etc.

Demigod body, demigod mind.

Body elitism

In regards to the body, is there a hierarchy of bodies? Yes.

First and foremost, we must write off anybody who uses steroids, testosterone injections, other performance-enhancing drugs, etc. This includes all bodybuilders, powerlifters, Olympic athletes, Youtubers, fitness influencers, Hollywood action movie stars, superhero people, Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Chris Hemsworth, Joe Rogan, etc.

Then, throw away your scale, put in the trash, and never use the scale at the gym. The ultimate way to judge your progress is how your body feels. If you feel your T-shirts getting tighter as a result of your muscle augmentation, and, you see yourself as more beautiful and chiseled in the mirror, consider yourself progressing. Also with your lifts; it is difficult to forcibly put on muscle mass, it is much easier to focus on increasing your one rep maxes for all of your personal records and your lifts. For example, if you could just add a 2.5 pound weight on each side of the barbell every single time you do a given lift, consider yourself blessed.

Also a new goal:

Max out the barbell.

The other day I did a 695 pound squat hold, or as I call it, the Atlas hold. Imagine Atlas holding the weight of the world on his shoulders — certainly he’s getting a good leg workout. Atlas never skips leg day. Every day is leg day for Atlas.

To me this was a very monumental thing, because it was the first time I ever maxed out the barbell, or witnessed anybody max out the barbell at all in real life. This is seven 45-pound plates, and one 10 pound plate on each side.

My new goal is to max out the barbell for my rack pull.

---

What is our ultimate end goal?

A very simple thought; what if you dedicated all of your time effort, and soul to advancing and elevating your body? My thought:

If you reach a new apex in terms of your body and your physical strength, I believe that the philosophical thoughts that you will gain will be so beyond, so interesting, so interesting and so sublime.

Once again, the more epic your body becomes, the more epic your mind and your thoughts will become.

Trust no thinker, philosopher, artist, entrepreneur, creative, individual who doesn’t lift.

LIFT ON!
ERIC

---

Lift yourself

Elevate yourself to the next level:

1. Boston conquer your fears March 25
2. Berkeley become the uber-innovator April 15
3. Sublime zen thoughts in HADONG SOUTH KOREA June 19-23rd

EK EXPERIENCES

---

New year photo resolutions?

Also, we can apply of your negative mindset an approach to our photography. Some not to do photo resolutions:

1. Don’t buy a new iPhone or iPhone pro
2. Don’t buy a new camera or a new lens
3. Don’t leave the house without having your camera in your front right pocket.
4. Don’t leave your house without your RICOH GR III or IIIX
5. Don’t go a single day without working out
6. Don’t read any gear review sites or gear rumor sites. Install a website blocker plug into your Google chrome or safari, which prevents you from looking at them. If you’re attempted to look at a new camera or a new lens, or some gear review sides, better to just kill that sensation by watching porn instead. Redtube over DPreview
7. Don’t not shoot anything you want to shoot. This means always shoot everything you want to shoot. The biggest regret we have in photography or the photos we wanted to shoot, but we didn’t shoot because of fear or hesitation. Conquer fear.
8. Don’t hesitate before shooting
9. Don’t just shoot 1 photo of the scene ; shoot many.
10. Don’t use social media or don’t upload any photos to instagram or Facebook — only your own website.

More ideas in PHOTO JOURNAL // DIGITAL

Also —

Whenever you have an urge to buy a new piece of camera equipment or gear, buy a nice photo book instead.

What now?

Preparing for the new year, just buy a gym membership. Just buy it, or subscribe, and figure out the details later.

Another fun idea is just to start a free week at CorePower yoga, try the weightlifting sculpt class. I think it is quite fun.

Get a Costco membership if you don’t have one. You could use your Costco membership, the normal one, to go to the local Costco business center. There, I recommend purchasing beef ribs, the best bang for the buck meat item there. Or nowadays, I think you could also buy beef ribs at a normal Costco.

Focus on building up your website and blog.

Think of traveling. Mexico City, New Orleans, Vietnam, Cambodia, South Korea, Japan, Thailand are all good options. Search kayak.com or Google flights.

---

Things on my mind

1. How even more powerful can my body become, if I eat even more beef ribs, and beef liver?
2. Arabica coffee is bad, because it’s too sweet. The sweetness in arabica, carbohydrates, I think it might actually trigger your insulin levels. I plan on switching to robusta, Deathwish coffee is a good option.
3. What new types of clothing innovations can be had, especially for men? I plan on experimenting with wearing biking shorts the spandex stuff at the gym, and also, experimenting more with my crop top concept.

More on BLOG

Share the wealth!

If this sparked any interesting thoughts within you, or even one thought, feel free to forward this to a friend!

EK TURBO NEWS

Let us conquer the new year together.

ERIC

---

New year, new body.

Some New Year’s resolutions:

1. Quit sugar
2. Quit fruit
3. Quit starches
4. Quit “vegetables” (the only “vegetable“ you should eat are dark leafy greens, like kale and collard greens, or the “power greens“ you find at Costco)
5. Quit smoking weed
6. Quit alcohol
7. Quit social media (everyone is on steroids)
8. Quit sweet foods and sweet beverages
9. Quit desserts
10. Quit eating three times a day or more, start intermittent fasting and only eat dinner
11. Quit comparing your body, your strength or your numbers to others

Via negativa body. The best way to shape, craft and scope your body is through quitting or removing toxic things.

---

Building the most supreme body?

My new life goal is to build the most supreme, demigod, beautiful body known to man. All without steroids, testosterone injections or other weird things. Also no protein powder, supplements, creatine etc— only beef ribs, beef liver, and other high cholesterol foods.

To build the most demigod physique. God body.

Male vs Female body?

The male body in female body is far more similar than this similar. The mechanisms of Augmentin your muscle mass, and decreasing your body adipose fat tissue is the same. The only difference is between the male body and female body has to do with sexual organs, as well as different hormonal levels. For example, for a man their testosterone levels can range from 300-1,000 ng/dl, whereas women can range from 15-54 ng/dl.

• Male: 300-1000 ng/dl
• Female: 15-54 ng/dl

At the lower end, a man’s testosterone levels can be ~25x more than that of woman, and a man can be at the higher end around ~20x higher as well.

At the elite level,

The lower end of the male range being four- to fivefold higher than the upper end of the female range(males 8.8-30.9 nmol/L, females 0.4-2.0 nmol/L).

Your body is god, your body is king.

Why have there not been that many philosophers who have philosophized and praised the virtues of the body, our human body?

Some theories:

First, the superstition of this notion of the “immortal soul“, that after you die, the cognizant mind soul of yours will continue into perpetuity.

Second, the nonsensory of this new Silicon Valley notion that you could somehow one day, “upload your consciousness to the cloud“. The idea that somehow, your mind can exist without your body. It cannot.

Third, notions of shame culture around the body, whether Asian, East Asian, Confucian, even American. Considering that we Americans descended from Quakers and Puritans, and also have these antiquated Victorian notions of shame in regards to the body, the body is a weird thing; we got it, but we shouldn’t become too proud of it, and we should only maintain it to the minimum, in order to promote other virtues.

Also, let us consider that America is a Christian protestant nation. According to Protestantism, which is essentially Catholicism 2.0, the body is a thing of shame.

For example, the notion of the “immaculate conception” of Jesus. The reason why this idea was promoted was that there was this idea that somehow sex is shameful. It isn’t. The ancient Greeks and Romans deified birth, procreation. Back then, sex was simply a normal part of life, a necessary path to be getting offspring and children.

I think what has changed in modern day times is notion of sex for the sake of sex, sex for the sake of pleasure, or pleasure for the sake of pleasure. Certainly pleasure is just a means to an end, not the end itself.

For example, if sex did not feel good and did not promote pleasure, the human race would have died off a long time ago. Biologically speaking, we humans want to continue to procreate.

Consumerism?

It is my personal thought that most modern day consumerism is built around shame, fear, and capitalizing off the insecurities of people. For example, I don’t think anybody out there is actually proud of their body, or deifies their body. Even Jesus said that your body is a temple.

I think it is because in modern-day times, most people do not have a sense of philosophy. Many people in modern day society are not quite certain what they really want out of life, and instead, they fall into the same means of desiring to travel and see the world, eat good food, bed beautiful women, eat and drink exotic foods and drinks and alcoholic beverages, and promote pleasure, and purchase objects of desire, etc.

I think it was Nietzsche who said that the Englishman only desired two things, which was fashion and comfort. It seems that the modern-day American only cares for comfort, pleasure, and fashion. Also novelty.

Your body as an instrument and a tool

In order to think, philosophize, make art, innovate, create and publish things, you need a body. Your body is the whole package, all of the things in between your toes and the top of your head. Your bones, your sinews, your blood, your muscles, your fat, your brains, the electricity running through your body, etc. Also all of the hormones.

It seems that most people today desire to become more productive, in order to make more money, purchase more things, obtain more things, and “become successful“. Ironically enough, if you want to become more productive, spending more time energy and money and resources to build your body and strengthen and further your body might be the best strategy.

For example, working out at least twice a day. Isn’t this the ultimate luxury? To be able to go to the gym and lift weights, and then later in the evening, do yoga? Also, no need for breakfast or lunch, only one massive dinner a day. Using your money to just buy beef ribs at the Costco business center, insanely cheap, Only $10 for a whole rack of ribs. I could barely finish two, and I think I could eat at least five times more meat than the average human.

Also, it seems that the bias in today’s world is to work out the minimum necessary, and spend more time being “productive“, or “working“. Shouldn’t the opposite be what we do? To do the minimum amount of work necessary to support our lives, and then just spend maximal time to strengthen and build your body?

Tasty vs demigod building?

It seems in today’s world, the only thing people care about is taste. Taste as unquantified by just adding sugar to things and making it sweet.

For example, almost all modern-day cuisine involves some sort of sugar, sweetening agent, starch, etc.

Also let us consider alcohol, which is essentially pretentious sugar beverages. Wine is just alcoholic grape juice, replete with sugar, same goes with white wine and rosé. Cocktails are pretentious ways to seem cultured, but once again, all you’re doing is drinking a sugary beverage.

Even with modern-day cuisine, there is always some sort of starch, breading, sugar, sauce, involved.

Who runs all of the thoughts on health diet and fitness?

Essentially the whole fitness industry is revolved around selling products. Products as personified through protein powder, creatine, pre-workout powder, lifting straps, lifting belts, protein shakes, protein bars, etc. Also fitness programs, fat loss programs etc.

A thought:

Trust no lifter who uploads their workout videos to Instagram or YouTube.

Also,

Trust nobody on YouTube, Instagram, or any form of social media in regards to diet health and fitness.

The only person you could trust with 100% certainty is yourself. Why? It is impossible to know with 100% certainty whether person XYZ is on steroids, testosterone, or some other strange performance enhancing drugs. For example, do not trust Rock the Dwayne Johnson, he is juicing his eyeballs out. Also do not trust Chris Hemsworth, who also probably juiced eyeballs out for his initial act in Thor.

Also, put zero faith in anybody who has muscles who appears in any Hollywood film. Why? There is always a hidden incentive for them to enhance their physique, either through steroids, testosterone, performance enhancing drugs, etc. Why? Their livelihood is dependent on the grandeur of their physique, and essentially actors are all just slaves.

Everyone would benefit from weightlifting

Cindy told me something very beautiful today, after just a few weeks of my mom being here, and working out at the gym with me weightlifting every single day, and also doing yoga with Cindy, she said for the first time in her life, she feels confident and proud in her body. And she is 67 years old.

There is a lot of misconceptions when it comes to the human body, especially with women, or if you’re over the age of 40. I think all of these thoughts are misled; anybody irregardless of their age sex gender, race, etc. can benefit from weightlifting. And fitness.

---

FULL EK TUBE

695 POUND ATLAS SQUAT HOLD LIFT ERIC KIM HYPELIFTING NEXT LEVEL INSANELY EPIC 7 PLATES + 10 STRONG

The goal:

“Better to be a gay monster than a sentimental bore.” – Galiani

Slow, slow to respond, unperturbed. Lofty, insouciance, not fazed.

Even half a centimeter up is enough for me!

660 POUND HYPELIFTING ZEN ZONE RACK PULL ERIC KIM EPIC