Human artist blog / Street photography / Philosophy
One thing to remind myself: street photography is supposed to be fun. If you’re not having fun, why are you doing it? We all have the stresses of everyday life that we have to …
One of the most interesting ideas that I’ve got from Nassim Taleb’s book “Antifragile†is his concept of “via negativaâ€. The concept is this: when describing something, negative descriptions often work best. What is …
From here on out, Photography Quick Links will now be known as Street Photography Quick Links. Just like from last month, a compilation of interesting news, write-ups, videos, and other things about street photography …
Hey streettogs, I just uploaded some slides for a free talk I did for Chase Toronto the other day on tips, techniques, and tricks to conquer your fear of shooting street photography. You can …
So after a long trip in Stockholm, Dubai, and London I wanted to share some of my experiences shooting medium-format (Hasselblad 501c + 80mm lens and Mamiya 7 + 80mm lens) for street photography …
OBSERVE is holding their first group exhibit in opening on June 12, 2015 in the Städtische Galerie in Iserlohn, Germany, and will run through July 26, 2015. The exhibit will feature the works of …
I just re-read an excellent book titled: “The Art of Learning†by Josh Waitzkin. If you’ve ever watched the film “Searching for Bobby Fischer†(the movie about the kid chess prodigy)— that movie was …
I’ve always believed that good work will stand out on its own and it will spread. That is pretty much what happened in our assignment No. 9. given by Harry Fodor. Everyone gave out …
The other night here in Chicago, I woke up in the middle of the night. I was tossing and turning (put on the heater too hot at night). In a state of being half-asleep, …
This is a guest post by Josh White, a street photographer based in Seoul, Korea. Josh: Yesterday (and sort of the day before) I took part in the 24 Hour Project. For those of …
I have been re-reading a lot of stoic philosophy recently, especially “Letters from a Stoic†and “On the Shortness of Life†by Seneca, and “The Meditations†by Marcus Aurelius. One of the biggest things …
I recently stopped into the Costco in Mountain View, California with 164 rolls of Kodak Portra 400. You should’ve seen the look of the staff— it was a look of confusion, awe, and amazement. …
And so the cycle continues for Streettogs Academy! Our assignment this time round is deceptively simple. This assignment would actually go down as the assignment with the most interaction (so far). Many comments were …
Hey streettogs, I am excited to share that my friend Walter Margerison and IÂ are curating a group street photography show at ArtÃs Coffee in Berkeley, comprised of 24 Bay-Area based street photographers. The exhibition …
I recently finished “Being Mortal†by Atul Gawande. It is one of the most touching books I have ever read this past year. Atul talks about the tension between living long (versus living a …
On October, 2014 Rene Burri passed away, at age 81. He had an incredible career of photography behind him, and produced many iconic images, which include those of Che, Picasso, and many other street photographs which …
Dear streettogs, This weekend is the last opportunity for you to qualify for the early-bird discount for my Toronto Intermediate/Advanced Street Photography Workshop. I am also excited to announce I have added an Amsterdam Intermediate/Advanced Street …
I ultimately want to be happy. But unfortunately there are a lot of sources of dissatisfaction in my life. There are a lot of things I want to change about my life, and my …
In this presentation, I share how to come up with and shoot a street photography project, and also cover what makes a great street photography project. Some of the projects we cover are: “The …
I was stunned to hear that photographer Caio Proença recently translated my free e-book: “Street Photography 101: An Introduction to Street Photography” into Portuguese (free download here)! Caio writes a bit about why he decided to translate …
I recently got a new book in the mail: “Dorothea Lange: Aperture Masters of Photography†(courtesy of Aperture) and was deeply inspired and moved by her work, life, and philosophy. I have always known …
One thing I notice when I’m teaching street photography workshops is that a lot of photographers don’t like having their own photograph taken. This is a huge problem. If you want to build up …
Julius Motal (passionate street photographer) from The Phoblographer recently did a podcast interview with me on their new podcast series, ISO 400. We talked about how I joined my interests in sociology and photography (to …
I just finished a week-long intensive street photography workshop in SF, and man– was it one great experience. The students all did an incredible job stepping outside of their comfort zones, improved their street …
“I am content with few, content with one, content with none at all.†– Seneca, Letters from a Stoic I have a problem. I have really high expectations for myself. I want to become …
Hey streettogs, I just put together a video introduction to using Lightroom 5 for editing, post-processing, and workflow. In the video I share some fundamental hotkeys, tips, and suggestions. I hope you enjoy the …
All photos copyrighted by Sebastião Salgado. I recently saw Sebastião Salgado’s “Genesis†exhibition in Toronto about a year ago, and was blown away by the body of work. It was the most ambitious project …
(A.g.’s note: Photography Quick Links is a new initiative I want to do here on the blog. These are links I have personally read and sifted through. This is by no means a definitive …
Here we go with another assignment over at streettogs academy. Cheers to Harry Fodor for bagging the editor’s choice for Assignment no. 8. In his email to me, he gave a pretty nice explanation/rationale …
I think in photography it is good to have some self-criticism. If you want to be the best photographer you possibly can, you want to be more discerning about your images. You want to …
My mom recently came back from an epic backpacking trip through Nepal for about 28 days. She is an incredible woman. At the age of 59, she was able to withstand the freezing cold, …
In 2011 I did a video interview with Blake Andrews, and a lot has changed since then. I recently did an interview on Blake’s blog (Q&A with Eric Kim) and wanted to see what …
I want to write this article on a photographer, blogger, and overall cool guy — Blake Andrews. I first saw Blake’s work on the In-Public website, and was amazed by his surrealistic street photography— …
I am excited to announce that I finally put together my free ebook: “Letters from a Street Photographer“. This book is much more philosophical in nature– and combines the philosophy of stoicism and street …
“A bible for photographers†– Clement Cheroux Wow— where do I even begin? I would say that “The Decisive Moment†by Cartier-Bresson is one of the most beautiful photo books I have ever handled— …
All systems go as our Space assignment wraps up! Thank you again to Kirk Lothian for the interesting idea and letting me play with Space and Star Trek Puns like nothing else! Let’s lift off …
I’ve just put together this list of street photography aphorisms, heuristics, and sayings. This is a distillation of all of my current thoughts and philosophies on street photography. Many of these sayings and ideas …
Update: I re-edited this book with new images and design / April, 2016 Hey streettogs, I am excited to announce that I’ve finally published my free e-book: “Street Photography 101“. If you’re new to street …
There is no doubt that we are in an age where information on the web is fast and oftentimes free but despite that, we can’t discount the value of books. This tangible medium has …
My friend Todd Hatakeyama recently gave me a superbly refreshing book titled: “The 5 Elements of Effective Thinkingâ€. It is a basic primer on how to think more effectively when solving problems– and can …
(A.g.’s note/Disclaimer: The following are the notes I have jotted down during the Angkor Photo Festival last Nov. 28-Dec. 6, 2014. I have organized my thoughts and the lessons so that it would be …
Dear streettogs, I am really excited to share that I have (another) free e-book for you guys (because I love you) titled: “The Street Photography Project Manual” The concept behind the e-book was this: …
Hey streettogs, I just finished writing a little mini e-book titled: “The Social Media Blackbook for Photographers“. I have been thinking about distilling a lot of my thoughts on social media and photography– and I …
Check out this new helpful video by Craig Semetko (author of “Unposed“) on how to shoot street photography with a Leica M camera. Here are some of the tips he shares in the video: Know …
Today I turn 27 years old, thank you for all the kind birthday wishes! I am currently in LA for the weekend, visiting some close friends and family for a quick birthday dinner, then …
In this video presentation I share compositional techniques to make better street photographs (diagonals, figure-to-ground, curves, leading lines, framing). You can see all the slides for this presentation here. Articles on Street Photography Composition …
In this presentation, I share the work of the master Magnum photographers (Henri Cartier-Bresson, Elliott Erwitt, Diane Arbus, Martine Franck) and share the importance of “working the scene” (via contact sheets). So pretty much– …
As a part of my on-going “Ask Eric Kim” series– here is a question I have from Darren Hoyland from my Facebook fan page: Darren Hoyland: How [do you]Â keep yourself motivated whilst out on …
I am a big fan and believer of “heuristics” (or rules of thumb). I was first introduced to the idea of “heuristics” from Nassim Taleb (in his book “Antifragile“) and later more from Gerd Gigerenzer …
In this video lecture above, I share some practical tips, thoughts, and philosophies about being “invisible when shooting street photography. You can check out the slides here. If you want to learn how to …
This morning on the way to the gym, I was listening to the newest podcast episode of “Invisibilia†(a new NPR podcast on cognitive and behavioral science) and they had an episode titled “Fearlessâ€. …
Cheers to another Streettogs Academy Assignment done and let’s continue the voyage with the Assignment from editor’s choice, Kirk Lothian. Here’s a hint to what it is: It should make us boldly go where no …
All photographs copyrighted by the estate of Harry Callahan. You can download this article for free as a .docx, PDF, or Google Doc. I recently came upon the work of Harry Callahan from a …
Another two weeks, another assignment done over at streettogs academy! Sam Trachsel gave us Opposites as a theme for this assignment! Let’s look at how the members of the group interpreted the theme!
All photographs copyrighted by Todd Hido. This is part 2 of my write-up on Todd Hido’s new book: “Todd Hido on Landscapes, Interiors, and The Nude: The Photography Workshop Series“. You can read part …
(A.g.’s Note: Today we have Clifton Barker chatting down with his friend and award winning photographer, Tavepong Pratoomwong from Thailand. Have a laugh and enjoy this one! Interview by Clifton Barker. All photos are by …
All photographs copyrighted by Todd Hido. You can read part 2 here: “Lessons Todd Hido Has Taught Me About Street Photography (Part 2)“. You can also download the entire article free via .docx, PDF, and Google …
I just finished a book called “10% happierâ€, which preached the benefits of meditation and mindfulness in everyday life. There is a lot of pain and anxiety from everyday life, and one of the main …
I just finished an epic “Conquer Your Fears of Shooting Street Photography Workshop” in Downtown LA this past weekend and put together a fun behind-the-scenes video above. All of the students did an incredible …
Thanks to Matt Stuart from In-Public for sharing this short 8-minute film about the resurgence of film photography. Personally I still love shooting film for the added challenge, how it slows me down, the …
It is that time of the year again— to make resolutions for the new year. In 2014, I wrote a post, “40 Street Photography Resolutions Ideas for 2014†and I also wrote a post …
Hey streettogs, to continue with my “Ask Eric Kimâ€Â series (any questions you had about street photography, business, marketing, social media, etc.) I put a question out on Facebook regarding what questions you had (so I could try my …
I recently read a book titled: “How Google Works†and came across the “10x principle†that Google apparently follows. The idea is quite simple, elegant, and powerful: to be successful in any field, …
I recently put together a “real-world” review of the Fujifilm X100T for street photography (which you can read here). I also wanted to record a video of some of my thoughts of the X100T …
Hey guys, I am really excited to share that Matt Stuart (from In-Public) is coming to the states and teaching two workshops with Leica Akademie (in Los Angeles and San Francisco)! The workshop is …
Thank you to Fujifilm Vietnam and Gin Tran for putting together this feature of me shooting street photography in Saigon this summer. I hope the tips I share in this video can help you …
Everyone seems antsy and excited for the next assignment. So I’ll be quick and not do my usual introduction this time and head straight to it! Here is what Streettogs Academy 6 editor’s choice, …
In an effort to be more helpful, I am going to start putting together more video lectures and features for YouTube. In this presentation, I give some practical advice how to overcome your fears …
@mikebeecham on Twitter asked me, “How do you manage the funk of the winter months?” I think this is a great question, because it is hard to stay motivated during the winter months. I …
Recently I had time to meet up with my good friend Joe Aguirre in SF. He was able to show me his new place, projects he is working on, and we talk about some …