What if you always carried all of your possessions with you? Would this make us more selective on what to buy? Would this be more effective for us in terms of maximizing the possessions we already own?
Have I ever learned anything from anyone else (in real life) or from books which had practical utility in my life, without me following my gut and self-experimenting?
Conventional wisdom has never helped me. However on the other hand, listening to and acting upon/experimenting on unconventional wisdom has seemed to pay off.
There is obviously much to critique in the world. But rather than complaining what we hate in the world (the ‘commentator’ mentality, which actually doesn’t take much personal courage), perhaps we should strive to actually BECOME the change which we wish to see in the world!
I was reading an interesting interview with JAY Z, and discovered something super fascinating to me. The basic idea is that the reason why a lot of people in the hood wore baggy pants and puffy jackets were to conceal drugs and weapons. And Timberland work boots because they would be hustling on the streets of New York late until the night during the winter — so the purpose was to stay warm.
Which gave me a thought:
Do all fashion or design trends begin from the functional purpose first?
It is difficult to predict when you’re going to make a good photo. But it is easy to determine photo opportunities (when you see them in front of your face!)
iPhone is the best camera. Why? It’s the ultimate “full stackâ€solution for photographers — shooting, image-selection, processing, and publishing.
Perhaps we should approach street photography from a fun visual gymnastics perspective. This means, we shoot street photography for fun — and we have the most fun in street photography when we compose scenes that are visually challenging, interesting, and complex.
What if distractions were actually a necessary component of focusing?
In terms of an “opponentâ€theory — distractions and focusing are enemies. But if you desire to increase your focus, you must also increase your dose of distractions.
I desire to make a change to the culture of photography.
I propose the following:
The best shots are snapshots.
The word “snapshot†not to be used as a pejorative (insult). Instead, it being used as a term to communicate a notion of shooting something instinctively, intuitively, directly, and authentically.
To become a full stack artist means to control all means of production, creation, distribution, and publishing. To control all the platform, to not get censored, and to also have the technical prowess to do and create anything you desire!
To have a creative attitude means desiring to direct all your energies to CREATE! The ultimate apotheosis as becoming the ultimate hybrid of artist, philosopher, and creator.
A thought when perusing some luxury stores at the mall —
Wow, the dynamic range between high-end luxury goods and “fast fashion†is so much in terms of build quality, materials, and innovation in fashion.
Which got me thinking —
Why are luxury goods so much better (and so much more expensive) than basic goods?
Many people are more interested in things, objects, fashion-totems, cars, clothes, etc than being interested in other people.
For example– if you’re a (heterosexual) man, what do you find more attractive– a Porsche car or a beautiful woman? Are you more impressed by Rolex watches or human muscles? Are you more impressed with fashion clothing-items, or the actual human individual wearing it?
Try using your phone and devices at the lowest brightness setting for the entire day — and use this as an opportunity to experiment with UI-UX usability, to better judge images and compositions, to improve battery life, and also to spend less mindless time on the phone.
It is evident that to be stronger is better to be weaker, that having more muscles is better than having less muscles. Strength is desirable, and the stronger you are, the better.
A question on my mind:
From a physiological perspective, how does one in-fact become stronger? How does one grow stronger muscles?
What if you dedicated all of your physical/metabolic energies towards producing visual artwork– whether they be photographs, illustrations, videos, or any other form of artistic creation?
To curate your photos means to create a series of photos that you care about.
Also, the word “curious†is also derived from the word care. Which means, when you’re curious about something it means you care enough/interested enough about it that you’re willing to explore it more, and perhaps take a small risk in order to do so!
The artist as somebody with overabundant energy, and has the strength to put forth their vital energies through their artworks. To express their inner strength and power into visual, audio, or any other external forms.
The artist builds an external representation of their own inner reality.
I think it is good to have heroes and people you look up to. However ultimately– shouldn’t we strive to become MORE like ourselves…instead of becoming more like others?
Don’t worry about perfection— the importance of just shooting and capturing moments which resonate with you.
Point and shoot cameras as a more “direct†way of shooting photos — with less conscious effort. Shooting more unconsciously as a superior form of photography.
