To create and distribute things — our goal as artists, creators, and entrepreneurs. To make things to reach as many people as possible. To create as many goods and things, and to propagate them as far as possible!
My underlying philosophy behind HAPTIC, and even teaching workshops (to make my workshops as accessible to as many people as possible).
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A thought while walking around the block and thinking about the sit-flush handles of the Tesla Model S (and all the Tesla cars):
Beyond the Range Rover Evoque and Range Rover Velar, there are truly no other cars which have integrated such a subtle, simple yet beautifully elegant solution to their car design.
Elon Musk put an insane amount of effort and stubbornness in putting the sit-flush car door handles. Why? He truly believed in aesthetics that much. And if one truly cares for aesthetics that much, then truly the under-tones and the root cause is that as an ethos (philosophy of being), this is what our true values are.
So when it comes to minimalism, ask yourself:
(more…)Do I like minimalism because it is the new trend, or because it is the ethos of what I truly believe in, in terms of aesthetics and beyond?
Is it that by making photos we feel more joy, or is it that when we feel and experience joy, we like to photograph?
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Dear friends,
After a brief hiatus, HAPTIC is back in full effect with our newest product, The Photographer’s Wallet. If you ever wanted the perfect “everyday carry†wallet which has perfect aesthetics and function, The Photographer’s Wallet is for you:
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Blogging — perhaps the most underrated, under appreciated tool and communication technology we currently have.
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One of the best skills we can cultivate as photographer artists:
Being able to see and capture the beauty of everyday, ordinary life, and of ordinary things.
Capturing beauty in the mundane — our strength of seeing, noticing, but also our childlike innocence to see interest in everything around us!
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When shooting videos in 24FPS, I feel reality slows down. Things (even everyday movements, especially hand movements) become more poetic, artistic, and beautiful:
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What makes art so great? The fact that it is open to all; regardless of age, nationality, race, ethnicity, gender/sex, etc. It doesn’t matter how experienced or inexperienced you are.
This is the great thought:
Regardless of what position you are currently in life, you always have the opportunities and tools to make art.
In praise of digital arts-creation. No need for anything besides your iPhone, iPad, or digital camera to make great art!
Ideas of things you can create:
Photo idea:
Photograph hands more frequently.
Either macro close up photos of hands (RICOH GR III in macro mode), or include the hands of a subject in a photo. Our hands perhaps as one of the first primal forms of communication?
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If COVID has taught us anything, conditions are no longer ideal (far from it, conditions are quite shitty).
But irregardless of this, how can we still create in the midst of the most unfavorable conditions we’ve ever experienced?
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What is the #1 contributor to my health, well being, mood, and creative productivity? Natural light.
Why is this? Some thoughts:
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In this short game of life, why not grant yourself great exceptions? To disdain the popular prejudices and virtues of our time. To form ourselves, to select our own virtues for ourselves, and to cultivate ourselves into something new.
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What makes an artist or what is an artist?
(more…)Someone who is passionate about aesthetics, and how he or she perceives external visual stimuli.
Certainly nobody makes it through life without experiencing or feeling regret. But what is regret? How can we positively channel it? What wisdom is there in regrets, and do we desire a life in which we don’t have regret?
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It seems the art (photo) world sneers at digital photography, and somehow puts film photography on a pedestal. But what if digital photography (given COVID) is the only reasonable and logical step forward? And what would it take for us to rate digital photography as artistically and aesthetically *equivalent* to film photography, or perhaps even *superior*?
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Thought:
We obsess over luxury cars, luxury homes, luxury lifestyles, luxury goods, luxury devices, clothes, etc … but what is *true* luxury versus ‘weak’ (unsubstantive) luxury?
My belief:
Health as the ultimate luxury.
Health as defined via great sleep, great tranquility/peace/quiet, great physiological strength, clean air, bright light (lots of natural light), freedom from the cold and ill weather, and surrounding yourself with lots of green and verdant surroundings (in praise of homes with floor-to-ceiling windows, facing the sun [lots of natural light], and also overlooking trees or nature).
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In these extreme times, the best way to approach life seems to be through extreme adaptation — to never plan a day or moment in advance, extracting the maximum from every moment in the day, and creating new values for ourselves and despising the values of the old (predictable) past.
Towards a non-planning future. Instead, an ethos which maximizes opportunity, situation, optionality, positionality, and unique and present circumstances.
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You best show your beliefs via what you are anti, more so than what you are “forâ€.
Also you exhibit your true beliefs via what you decide *not* to do, *not* to say, and actions and behaviors you decide *not* to engage in!
What if your present scenario and situation were in fact, the best?
Or in other words, how to extract the maximum from existence.
Not RAW like the file format, but RAWNESS, in terms of emotional rawness, directness. Your soul imputed into your photos.
This means:
A thought and realization:
We often speculate too much on investments, future returns on certain gains, speculate with stocks and crypto, speculate with real estate, and speculate about money in general.
But what if we speculated more in ourselves? For example, instead of putting so much money into crypto investments and speculations, investing that money into ourselves, our self development, lifestyle experiments, self edification, self education, and self growth?
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What is the secret to intimate story telling through photography? The focus on the specific moments, and specific details:
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What is the end? To focus on photography. Your photography.
Perhaps then the simple idea:
Optimize your life, lifestyle, living choices, city, neighborhood, etc to maximize your photographic optionality!
A thought:
When you have the option in life, opt for the riskier, more interesting, newer developments.
This can be in regards to life, lifestyle, homes (new luxury apartment buildings), new development neighborhoods, new economic developments, or perhaps the ultimate development … in yourself!
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A thought when driving downtown the other day:
Wow, how blessed I am to be alive, having the chance to experience the beauty of a city, the joy of photography, the joy of interacting with other humans!
What a huge blessing (the greatest blessing of all) of just having being born!
In other words:
Let us not forget how blessed we were to being born… but also … how much of a huuuuge blessing it is to have GIVEN BIRTH to new life!
Another modern societal critique:
Stress is not a virtue, it is a vice.
For example when you ask any working class professional or educated person, “How are you doing?†it seems 99% of the time they will respond with “busy, stressed, sleep deprived, tired, depressed, or anxiousâ€. And somehow this is supposed to be virtuous. To say “I feel great! I slept 10+ hours last night, and I’m in a fabulously great mood†seems to be bad manners, or bad taste.
How and why did we believe stress to be a virtue? Perhaps we should abolish this notion, and change the table of values the opposite way:
Stress is a vice.
And tranquility, calm, peace, zen, exuberant high spirits as a virtue!
ERIC
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Too often than not, we feel we need to justify ourselves, justify our decisions, justify our purchases and our lifestyle choices.
In today’s world, it seems the apex justification is economic. For example, we justify our need to exercise and sleep “in order to be more productive at work, and thus make more money, or increase our earning potentialâ€.
We justify our “vicesâ€, because we “deserve†a break from work, or we just want to “treat ourselvesâ€.
But isn’t it more robust to just do what we desire, without a need to justify ourselves, or to kowtow to some third party or authority?
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In Silicon Valley we talk much about the “minimum viable product†(MVP). But how can we cross pollinate this concept to living?
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True passions: an unadultured passion you’ve had since you were a kid, teenager or high school/college student. For example my passion for working out, fitness, diet and nutrition, modding cars, photography, blogging, travel, new experiences, desire to become self employed.
False passions: passions society superimposes unto you — for example, desire for luxury cars, buying a home, money, etc.
Then it seems in life, one of the great steps towards self wisdom is learning how to distinguish between true and false passions, and to devote more time and effort towards your true passions, while becoming even more mercurial towards the false passions.
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You are the camera, the tool, the instrument. You decide what to photograph and what *not* to photograph.
You don’t need to ‘buy’ a new camera if *you* are the camera!
Typically we are taught: “The more space, the betterâ€. But through my life experiences, I’ve found this to be patently false. More often than not (due to complex scaling effects) bigger, more space, more heavy, more stuff is worse.
In terms of space, let’s talk about living scenarios. The more space you got, the more difficult it is to light up and brighten, the more difficult it is to keep clean and vacuum, harder to reach or find your stuff, etc.
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If you have the option, always opt for a good home (your ideal apartment or living situation) over having a fancy car.
If anything, because we spend so much time at home now, being extremely picky with our living situation and abode is more important than ever!
Or in other words, optimize for your lifestyle over your material possessions, tools and things.
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What do we desire? Exuberant, high spirits. Ideally, permanently elevated high mood and spirits.
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Rational — ratio, to compute (reor). Comes from PIE (hreh) to think, which is a reanalyzed root of her- (to put together).
So in some ways, to be “rational†means:
Make decisions based on a “well put together†series of thoughtful reflections.
But this is to give too much credence to “thinking†or “rational thoughtâ€. It is of my belief that much of our “thoughts†are simply after-the-fact rationalizations of our “irrational†body-mind.
Thus, rationality doesn’t exist. It is simply a phantom or chimera of our bodily sensations. The mind and brain as the laggard behind our true decision making processes which actually occur in the body.
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Life is a series of decision making. But how do you know what the “best†or “right†decision is?
You don’t. But I’ve discovered for myself, the happiest I am is when I have deep certainty in the decisions I’ve made, which are typically more emotional and subjective than “rational†and “logicalâ€.
Know thyself
Oracle at Delphi
The only and most meaningful knowledge which can be more accurately ascertained — your knowledge of your self. Self knowledge.
What is a “true desire�
A true desire:
The self knowledge in knowing what is best for *you* and not others.
Seeking your own greatest personal advantage in life. The knowledge and recognition that your own virtues and vices are subjective… and which only (and should only) apply to you.
We are taught and trained that logic is supreme and irrationality is bad. But what if logic is overrated, and if we desire to live the best and most supreme life, we should harness our “irrational exuberance†to the extreme?
Obey your desires, especially the strong ones.
And another thing:
Ensure that your desires at the “true†ones — don’t get suckered into desiring “false†things you don’t truly care for.
In other words, obey your strong desires for your true desires and true preferences. Ruthlessly shun false, fake, or the desires of others. And also ignore your “weak†desires.
Each moment in your day is the same and equal, which means:
Leverage each and every moment to make photos and to document and record it all!
What is the end of our money-getting, our entrepreneurial hustle, our investments and speculations, etc? The hope for a better tomorrow and brighter and more prosperous future.
But what does that even mean, and how is it manifested?
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I am currently in a state of deep and profound tranquility. Unperturbed, strong, calm, and zen.
Many seek tranquility yet never get it. Why not? And how can we gain tranquility? Some thoughts:
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Photo by photo — each photo as part of a particle steam or wave. This means:
It isn’t about a single photo, single moment, or even a contained photo “project†or set.
All your photos as part of one continuum or stream:
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What is the secret behind making immortal photos? Simple:
Shoot with your soul.
You cannot fake love and enthusiasm, especially when it comes to your photos. Shoot with your entire soul and being, and impute all your artistic faculties, skills, techniques and powers to make the most aesthetically beautiful and powerful images.
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“Love without sacrifice is theft.†– Nassim Taleb
What makes love so great? The level or degree of sacrifice we put forth in order to verify that love.
The other night when doing the midnight shift taking care of baby Seneca — I remembered and thought:
If having a baby were so easy, the profundity and elevation of joy and love associated with parenthood wouldn’t be verified.
In other words, anything you get, do, receive in life which doesn’t require sacrifice or “skin in the game†isn’t meaningful. In simpler words:
The more we sacrifice for something, the more meaning it has.
It seems modernity says impulses are bad. But there can also be great wisdom behind impulsive behaviors, especially when it comes to art.
Simple thought:
Impulses which come to our “base pleasures†are bad, or financial ones.
Good impulses are related to artistic thoughts, philosophical or poetic thoughts, or anything around your artistic creation!
Dear friends I am convinced:
If you desire to extract the maximum from existence, live as maximally a risky, entrepreneurial and adventurous life as possible!
Hypothesis:
Much of our boredom, ennui, depression and existential dread comes from a life and lifestyle which is *too* predictable, caged, domesticated and static.
Going in reverse — Cindy heroically birthed Seneca Thien Anh Hanul Kim after an arduous 52 hour labor. For personal reasons, I wanted to keep the pregnancy photos “low keyâ€, but now that Hanul is here and I also wrote about photographing his birth, I wanted to use this opportunity to review the last 9+ months of Cindy and pregnancy — and to reflect on this beautiful journey:
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Some lovely color photos and words from Savannah Condon, straight out of Mexico:
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A thought leader —
Someone whose opinion, thoughts and ideas sway and impact and influence the crowd and society.
For example, Elon Musk as meme lord of the internet and more recent Dogecoin advocate (I wonder when Elon Musk will tweet when you can buy a Tesla in DOGE?)
Simple ideas:
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Now that I feel like a billionaire, what is my final end and goal? Simple — photography.
Ever since the birth of my son, my priorities include Cindy, Seneca, and my photography — nothing else really matters to me. I will even let entrepreneurial matters go to the side.
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To piggy back off of yesterday’s thought:
My simple answer to that:
For me, I already have everything I need. As long as I can continue to pursue photography with an earnest fervor, I’m happy.
As Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and other crypto technologies continue to rally, the thought that came to my mind:
(more…)Once you become a Bitcoin or Crypto Billionaire, *then what*?
As photographers we don’t just make photos, we make stories:
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