Probably the best modern-day book I’ve read in the last 10 years is Antifragile by Nassim Taleb. The basic gist is this;

When things threaten to destroy you, how can it be used as fuel to make you stronger?

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In case you missed it

No fear.

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What does it mean?

Essentially the basic idea is that in life, painful, bad, even violent aggressions from others are not to be avoided, but rather, maybe even desired.

For example, if somebody ask for interacts with you in an aggressive, negative way, consider it as a good thing; after the incident, you have become more robust, stronger, and more impervious to outside aggressions.

Let me give you example. About a week or two ago at the gym, I was doing my typical atlas lift and a random guy asked me, how much longer I was going to be. Realistically it might’ve been 20 minutes, but I didn’t want to rush myself so I added some buffer. I told him, around 40 minutes. As a result, he started cussing and cursing and saying that what I was doing was “fucking ridiculous.” Fortunately because I was having a good adrenaline rush from doing my lifts, about five minutes later I calmly approached him and asked if he wanted to working with me. He shook his head, and said he wasn’t interested.

Moral of the story: that incident in which somebody acted bad manners towards me, I actually responded with very good manners. As a consequence, I no longer fear any negative interactions at the gym. If anything, I am quite proud of how magnanimously I was able to respond to such a petty encounter.

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Stoicism is the way

Stoicism isn’t a perfect technique, but it is certainly useful. I think in the context of manliness, and becoming a “real man”, I think stoicism is one of the best ways to become stronger.

There are lots of different stoic techniques and stoic tips.

Essentially, the basic gist:

When in doubt, delay reaction.

I suppose I am pretty dedicated to Stoicism, after all, I did name my first son after Seneca.

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Becoming more invincible to fate

The new topics and directions is combining stoicism, street photography, and entrepreneurship to life:

1. June 17th, Saturday, 2023: DOWNTOWN LA CONQUER YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY AND LIFE
2. July 15-16th: ERIC KIM SAIGON VIETNAM TRAVEL STREET PHOTOGRAPHY EXPERIENCE 2023
3. Oct 14th (Saturday) PHILLY CONQUER STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

Essentially, I believe that street photography is the supreme form of photography, as it requires the most courage and guts.

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One rep maxing

Another way to become more anti-fragile or essentially to become stronger is through the one rep max school of weightlifting. The basic notion is this:

What is the maximum weight, you can lift successfully, once, even moving the barbell half an inch?

Note —

1. One rep max atlas lift: 925 pounds
2. One rep max rack pull: 810 pounds
3. One rep max floor benchpress: 595 pounds

ERIC KIM POWERLIFTING 2.0

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Antifragile emotions

This is another big thing. It seems nowadays, everyone is too hyper sensitive. This means,

Do not say, do, or interact with me in such a manner that there is even a .001% chance I might take it the wrong way.

For example, it seems that in modern-day times, it is not permissible to talk to strangers, to make small chat, to approach strangers, to joke, offend people, joke around, etc. Also it is not permitted to make eye contact, smile or say hello.

I say,

It is better to risk a social interaction, even if there is a 99% chance of a negative consequence.

For example, in my every day life, I am surrounded by very unpleasant people. Yet regardless, I am ruthlessly friendly. I will always ask how they are doing, even if 99% of the time they might snub me in a bad way. But I say fuck it, better to be courageous and friendly than to be cowardly and standoffish.

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No Fear

Just loaded up my Texas squat power bar at the gym, 925 pounds in total, that is nine plates, 25, and a five pounder taped on top. The interesting thing:

No fear.

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The goal?

To me, courage is everything. Curiosity and courage actually mean the same thing; couer means heart. Same also goes with curate.

Whenever I max out the barbell, attempting to lift over 900 pounds, people are always befuddled and ask me why I do it, what the purpose of it is, etc. I never have a quick enough or witty enough response. Typically I just say,

To fulfill a personal curiosity.

The personal curiosity of the limits of a human body, my human body, how much I could lift, without taking steroids etc.

But perhaps, a better way to think about it is actually, I do it as a means to conquer fear. To me a perfect lift is a lift in which your approach it, give it your all without any hesitation or fear.

In fact, I believe that 99% of street photography is simply conquering your fears. To not let hesitation get in your way.

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What do we regret?

I think I’d like, typically our biggest regrets or regrets related to cowardice, or fear. For example, you wanted to ask that one girl out on a date, but, you were afraid of getting rejected, and you never did. Or you were fearful for asking her to get married, and you never asked, because you were fearful.

I know for weightlifters, powerlifters, people like me who enjoy doing one rep max lifts, I think the biggest regrets we have is when we want to lift a certain weight, but fear and hesitation gets in our way, and instead, we lift a lesser amount, afraid that we may “hurt“ ourselves.

However, an interesting thing that I’ve learned is the fear of hurting yourself is actually a good motivator to force you to focus.

For example, now at the gym, I’m laser focused. I don’t fuck around. I don’t rush my warm-up routine, and I’ve also been going harder in my warm up, stretching, yoga routine before I lift.

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Greater danger, greater fates

I forget if it is Heraclitus or Democritus who said this, but essentially the gist:

In life, the more that a man attempts, risks, and exposes himself to danger, the greater his legacy and fate.

Fortuna adiuvat Fortis, the tattoo on the back of John Wick. The basic ideas that lady Fortune favors those who are strong, brave, and maybe perhaps a little bit reckless.

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Foolish versus wise fear?

There is some fear which is wise. For example, I am fearful of dying in a texting while driving accident, and therefore I never text message while I drive, let alone ever text message. I have all notifications turned off on my iPhone.

Also, with Seneca, I let him do superficially do “dangerous“ stuff, but when it is actually really really dangerous, I tell him. Fear of critical or irreversible injury to Seneca is a fear which is wise.

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What is entrepreneurship anyways?

I think “to entrepreneur” should be seen as a verb. To risk, to attempt. Even the modern day notion of an essay, comes from the French assay, which literally means attempt. When you write a written essay, it isn’t some storehouse of irrefutable truth. Rather, it is an attempt for you, the writer, to gain a deeper truth about something.

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Success or failure is trivial

For example, what do you think about king Leonidas and his spartan 300, they are not remembered because they beat the Persians, but rather, their courage.

Also interestingly enough, in the Iliad, in the duel between Achilles and Hector, Hector knows that Achilles is the superior fighter, and also, Achilles is a demigod, whereas Hector is a mere 100% human.

However, Homer puts both Achilles and Hector on equal footing. In the eyes of Homer, both fighters, irregardless of their lethality, are both seen as equal.

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Your life?

I think modern-day life, it may not be fear which holds us back but uncertainty. For example, last summer before me and Cindy went to Phnom Penh Cambodia [thoughts on Phnom Penh Cambodia vlog], I was simply a little bit on the fence, I didn’t know if it would be good or bad. I was may be a little bit indifferent.

Therefore the simple heuristic;

If something is even a little bit marginally interesting to you, or might be interesting, just do it.

If I think about my travels, I don’t think I’ve ever really had an experience in which traveling was a “net negative” experience for me. There has always been good which comes out of every travel experience, irregardless of how difficult it might have been, or some annoyances along the way.

For example, going to South Korea last year, I got massively annoyed by all of these backwards Confucian moralizing and ethics. But, much good came out of it, because it forced me to do a deep dive on the history of Confucius, Confucian teachings, in order to undermine it.

Often things which make you angry can be very productive.

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Your life goals?

I think honestly speaking, I am the most encouraging person that I know. Even my mom said it was a dream of hers that I became some sort of motivational speaker or something.

Even when I think about my workshops, my passion and my goal is to encourage every single participant in person who attends. To not be a nay sayer, but to be an enabler.

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Other people?

I have a theory about modern-day society and capitalism and consumerism; it is all predicated on making you feel small and inferior, and the promise of capitalism and consumerism is this:

If you work really really hard, and earn enough money, you can buy your happiness, your self-worth, your self-esteem through cars, jewelry, things, homes and possessions, commas and zeros in your bank account etc.

For me, what are my greatest enjoyment is going to the gym, simply going there as a sociologist, and analyzing people, their behavior, their speech patterns, etc.

Something I have discovered is when people tell you to be “careful“, they are simply crowdsourcing their own fear onto you.

For example, when people first started to see me Atlas lift over seven plates, eight plates, nine plates etc. even the really really strong guys would tell me in a hushed tone—

… but be careful.

When people tell me this, essentially what they are saying is,

I would never attempt that, because I am afraid that I would hurt myself if I tried.

Simple lesson: when other people crowd-source their fears onto you, it is simply a signal that they are the cowards, not you.

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Now what?

I think in life, the best way to live is to always have something greater to aspire towards. For example, it is the joy of the weight lifter to indefinitely increase his or her one rep max, in any given lift. Also it is the joy of the entrepreneur to keep innovating, taking on new ideas, new creative paths, new risks.

[How to take more risks in life]

This is where a lot of people are foolish; they dream of the day that they could cash out their Silicon Valley unicorn for $1 billion, and then just chill on the beach for the rest of their lives. No. The true entrepreneur perhaps would actually never sell their company; For example, mad respect to Mark Zuckerberg for not selling out Facebook. The deep regret of Instagram and WhatsApp founders to selling to Facebook, and also the regret of the oculus founders for selling to Facebook.

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Missionary or mercenary?

One good framing that I got from Peter Thiel in 0 to 1 is figuring out whether other people are missionaries or mercenary’s. Missionaries do it because their soul is in the game (Nassim Taleb), mercenaries simply do it for a fat check and a bonus and a salary.

In fact, the truly great entrepreneurs in history like a Steve Jobs and Elon Musk were actually quite ascetic.

For example, Steve Jobs lived like a weird homeless person, and even Musk first built x.com with his brother, sharing the same office space, sleeping in sleeping bags, showering at the local YMCA, and feeding himself on two dollars a day with nothing but hotdogs and spaghetti. Maybe this is where Kanye West is a bad entrepreneur; I think he cares too much for expensive and fancy things.

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Legacy?

A lot of philosophers have thought about this, but the more I think about it, seeking immortal fame amongst mortals (Heraclitus) actually seems like a good idea. Why? Granted that you have kids, legacy and your fame after death is the only thing which could outlive you, and aid future humanity.

I think deep down, all humans are altruistic to a certain point. Thinking about legacy isn’t really considering your fame and notoriety after death, but rather, how your life has impacted those who are currently alive, and also people who are not yet born.

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What are you capable of?

See what you can do, become or achieve with EK:

• June 17th, Saturday, 2023: DOWNTOWN LA CONQUER YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY AND LIFE – New!
• July 15-16th: ERIC KIM SAIGON VIETNAM TRAVEL STREET PHOTOGRAPHY EXPERIENCE 2023 – New!
• Oct 14th (Saturday) PHILLY CONQUER STREET PHOTOGRAPHY – New!

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Fear conquering consulting

Email Eric [at] EricKim.com

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Now what?

1. Portable thinking: I still strongly believe that a semi nomadic life is probably the best approach of living. Therefore, never buy, purchase, invest in anything which is not portable with you. For example when you travel and live abroad, you can’t take your house, you can’t take your Tesla, you can’t take your Lamborghini etc. This also means that with your devices, make sure they are super portable.
2. Why bitcoin is the future, not Ethereum: the new BRC-20 ordinal theory with Bitcoin — the new ethereum killer. Don’t trust anything built on top of the Ethereum network. Further skepticism towards chainlink.

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Now what?

1. Chat GPT is cool, WHY APP ZEN OF ERIC KIM is better. Chat GPT is like a very efficient Google. Why app, Zen of Eric, is more interesting because it forces you to do the thinking in philosophizing, not amalgamated intelligence scraping off of Google. I think for now Google is safe, because it has been embedded within chrome, and Safari, and it is now in official verb. But, maybe as open AI, ChatGPT continues to expand, google will become less and less useful. Bad News For Google.
2. I think the future is social spaces. For example, building new gyms which are social experiences, and also let us consider the massive success of an Irvine spectrum, in terms of all the foot traffic they can get.

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Antifragile technology?

The new thoughts:

1. Building an anti-fragile website or web platform?
2. Can chain.link be used perhaps to facilitate more anti fragile things online, via the blockchain?
3. CRYPTO THOUGHTS

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Forward the turbo thoughts!

Feeling a little bit of wind in your wings? Feel free to forward this to a friend or family member who could use the turbo!

ERIC KIM NEWS >

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START HERE // BOOKS // WORKSHOPS

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The genesis of EK:

Quick start to the Masters of Photography

If you’re new to the masters of photography, start with the articles below:

• Learn From the Masters of Photography
• 100 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography

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Introduction to the Masters of Photography

Dear friend,

You’ve probably had this situation — when you’re at some fancy art show, and you hear another photographer “name drop” other famous photographers.

You nod your head in agreement, but you have no idea who these master photographers are.

Consider this guide as a way to de-mystify and de-elitize the masters of photography.

I never went to art school, or photo school. I had to self-teach myself all the masters of photography. And now that I know them, I want this guide to help you (assuming you don’t know any of the masters of photography).

This page is currently a work in progress. I will continue to make edits to this page, as there are a lot of masters to cover.

Let’s get started:

Chapter 1: “Old school” photographers

“He without a past has no future.”

To start off, let us start off chronologically.

I know a lot of these “old school” photographers might seem a bit boring. However, the reason their work still has lasted, because it is classic. They have paved the way for all of us in photography. They experimented with the medium of photography, and pushed it forward. They made photography an acceptable art form. We have a great deal of debt to pay them.

This period of time is roughly the 1920’s:

1. Andre Kertesz

I’d recommend first starting to learn about Andre Kertesz, who was one of the first photographers who inspired Henri Cartier-Bresson (essentially the “godfather” of street photography). Andre Kertesz harnessed the classic form of geometry to photography, and was prolific all the way until his death.

2. Henri Cartier-Bresson

Of course, you need to study the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson, who first took 35mm photography to the next level. He innovated the concept of the “decisive moment“, and saw photography as an “instant sketchbook.”

Henri Cartier-Bresson is a great starting point if you love black and white photography, geometry, and composition. Further resources on Henri Cartier-Bresson here:

• The Theory of Composition in Street Photography: 7 Lessons from Henri Cartier-Bresson
• Debunking the “Myth of the Decisive Moment”
• 10 Things Henri Cartier-Bresson Can Teach You About Street Photography

3. Alfred Stieglitz

Alfred Stieglitz was a photographer, who first pushed photography to be taken acceptably as “art.” Photography wouldn’t be where it is today without him.

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Chapter 2: “New school” photographers

I consider this “new school” of photographers the next wave of photographers who innovated in photography, from around the 1950’s onwards to the 1980’s:

4. Garry Winogrand

Garry Winogrand was probably one of the most prolific street photographers to have ever lived. He shot because he loved it, and he was one of the innovators of the 28mm lens, getting close to his subjects, and creating “edgy”, dynamic, and off-kilter compositions. Not all his photos are pretty, but his work ethic, distaste for the art world, and his down-to-earth humor makes him a master to study.

5. William Klein

William Klein is one of the most badass street photographers in history. He said what was on his mind, and said it the way he wanted. He was a “director on the streets” — he would often interact with his subjects, engage them, and this puts his soul in his photos.

Klein also was innovative with fashion photography, film, and inspired many other photographers, including the highly influential Japanese street photographer Daido Moriyama. In turn, Daido Moriyama inspired other master photographers such as Anders Petersen, and Jacob Aue Sobol.

Klein innovated using blur in his photos, high-contrast and grain, and multi-layered photos.

6. Diane Arbus

Diane Arbus is famous for photographing people on the fringes of society. Many of her portraits are a bit unsettling to look at, yet they show deep humanity and empathy. If you love shooting portraits, definitely check out Diane Arbus.

7. Lee Friedlander

Lee Friedlander is a funny photographer with a great wry sense of humor. He innovated in urban landscapes, creating complex scenes (without overlapping figures). Not only that, but his self-portraits have great humor and are quite introspective.

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All the masters of street photography

If you’re ready to get your hands wet, see all the lessons from the masters of street photography below:

• 100 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography

The Masters

Here is a full list of the masters:

• Alfred Stieglitz 
• Alec Soth
• Alex Webb
• 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
• Garry Winogrand
• Helen Levitt
• Henri Cartier-Bresson
• Irving Penn
• Jacob Aue Sobol
• Jeff Mermelstein
• Joel Meyerowitz
• Joel Sternfeld
• Josef Koudelka / Part 2
• Josh White
• Lee Friedlander
• Magnum Contact Sheets
• Magnum Photographers
• Mark Cohen
• Martin Parr
• 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

To learn more, see Street Photography 101 >

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FREE TURBO THOUGHTS

ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER >

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LEARN FROM THE MASTERS OF ART

1. Joseph Beuys
2. Umberto Boccioni
3. Pablo Picasso
4. Piet Mondrian
5. Leonardo da Vinci
6. Matisse
7. Raphael
8. Vermeer

CRYPTO THOUGHTS

1. Why I Bought More Bitcoin (Again)
2. BULLISH ON BITCOIN.
3. Bitcoin as the Simplest Cryptocurrency

Crypto >

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PHOTO THOUGHTS

1. STREETTOGS STARTING GUIDE
2. What I Wish I Knew If I Started Street Photography All Over Again
3. Why I Photographed the Birth of My First Child

Who is ERIC KIM?

• My Interest in Street Photography, Philosophy and Entrepreneurship

SOCIETY

• Sociology
  • Social Stochastic Resonance
  • How to Live Bravely in Today’s Brave New World and Society
  • Arousal
• Psychology
  • Irrational Exuberance
  • Psychology of the Photographer
  • The Psychology of Hate

WEALTH

• Entrepreneurship
  • Speed Wins
  • The Philosophy of Happiness
  • When to Over-Estimate, When to Under-Estimate?
• Money
  • Via Negativa Wealth
  • Wealth is Mental
  • Money Moves You
• Economics
  • On Making Money from Nothing
  • Save Money Towards What Ends?
  • No Regret Investment

HEALTH

• Muscle
• Diet
  • ERIC KIM DIET PHILOSOPHY
  • Why Eat Meat?
  • Unorthodox Workout and Diet Tips I’ve Learned After 10 Years of Self-Experimentation
• Fasting

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PHOTOGRAPHY

• Street Photography 101
  • 100 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography
  • How to Shoot Street Photography
  • Street Photography as Mental Therapy
• Photography Entrepreneurship 101
  • The Modern Photographer
  • Photography Startup Manual
  • PHOTOGRAPHY ENTREPRENEURSHIP MANUAL
• Learn From the Masters
  • 100 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography
  • Beginner’s Guide to the Masters of Photography
  • Why You Must Kill Your Masters in Photography
• Photography Philosophy
  • HYPER PHOTOGRAPHY
  • The Soul of the Photographer
  • The Photographer as a Vessel
• Cinema
  • Stanley Kubrick
  • Akira Kurosawa
  • The Matrix
• How to Make More Art
  • How to Express Your Creative Instinct
  • Avoid Anything That Makes You Unproductive in Your Art
  • Pictures Should Stimulate Your Life!
• Soul Photography
  • Why Photography is Good for the Soul
  • The Soul of the Photographer
  • How Do Images Affect Your Soul?
• Photography Therapy
  • What is Photography Therapy?
  • Photography is Self-Therapy
  • 5 Photography Therapy Assignments
• Equipment
  • What is The Perfect Camera For You?
  • Why Camera Companies Want You to Be Perpetually Dissatisfied With Your Camera Gear
  • 10 Reasons Why I Shoot With One Camera and One Lens
• Phone Photography
  • Why Computational Photography is so Revolutionary
  • The Zen of Phone Photography
  • How to Take Better Pictures on Your Phone
• Personal Photography
  • The Personal Photography Manual
  • The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Personal Photography
  • THE PHOTOGRAPHER by ERIC KIM
• Motivation
  • The Joyful Photographer
  • The Dancing Photographer
  • The Kaizen Process of Gradual Self-Improvement
• Creativity
  • Ignore Your Haters.
  • You’re on a Winning Streak
  • Ultralight Photography
• Composition
  • Street Photography Composition Lessons
  • 10 Dynamic Photography Composition Tips
  • Composition by ERIC KIM

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PHILOSOPHY

• Ethics
• Masters of Philosophy
  • Seneca
  • Marcus Aurelius
  • Publilius Syrus
• Practical Philosophy
  • How to Find Inspiration in Life
  • Why You Must Ignore Haters to Succeed and Win in Life
  • An Active Life is a Happy Life
• Stoicism
  • How to Become Stronger
  • How to Conquer Depression With Photography
  • What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger
• Zen
  • Zen Photography
  • Walking Meditation in Street Photography
  • How to Be a Zen Street Photographer
• Happiness
  • 10 Tips to Be Happier and More Loving in Life
  • How Much Money Do You Need to Be Happy?
  • 55 Tips to Be Happier in Life

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Portfolio

SUITS

Download PDF >

ONLY IN AMERICA

Download PDF >

CINDY PROJECT

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BOOKS

Buy books, not gear:

PHOTOGRAPHY PDF BOOKS

1. MONOCHROME by ERIC KIM
2. ONLY IN AMERICA by ERIC KIM
3. SUITS by ERIC KIM

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EBOOKS

1. HOW TO SEE: Visual Guide to Composition, Color, & Editing in Photography / Kindle Edition
2. Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Mastering Street Photography / Kindle Edition
3. STREET HUNT / Kindle Edition
4. STREET NOTES: Mobile Edition / Kindle Edition
5. MODERN PHOTOGRAPHER / Kindle Edition

FREE EBOOKS

1. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY 103
2. Dynamic Composition Manual
3. Photography Startup Manual
4. PHOTOGRAPHY MASTERCLASS
5. PHOTOGRAPHY ENTREPRENEURSHIP MANUAL by ERIC KIM
6. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MANUAL by ERIC KIM
7. THE PHOTOGRAPHER by ERIC KIM
8. The Art of Street Photography
9. 100 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography
10. Zen Photography
11. Personal Photography Manual
12. Street Photography Contact Sheets Volume II
13. Street Photography Contact Sheets Volume I
14. Street Photography Composition Manual
15. Street Portrait Manual
16. Street Photography 101
17. Street Photography 102
18. Color Manual
19. Monochrome Manual
20. 31 Days to Overcome Your Fear in Street Photography
21. Letters From a Street Photographer
22. Street Photography Aphorisms, Heuristics, and Sayings

See all downloads >

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Photo Book Reviews »

Below are my favorite photo books:

• Josef Koudelka: Exiles
• Josef Koudelka: Gypsies
• Dan Winters: Road to Seeing
• Alex Webb: The Suffering Of Light
• Robert Frank: The Americans
• Martin Parr: The Last Resort
• Trent Parke: Minutes to Midnight
• Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Decisive Moment
• Photographers’ Sketchbooks

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75+ inspirational photography books »

Buy books, not gear.

If you want a quality-education in street photography, I recommend either buying, borrowing, or browsing though some of the books below. Books that are bolded are some of my personal favorites.

1. Magnum Contact Sheets
2. Magnum: Degrees
3. Magnum: Stories
4. Mark Cohen: Grim Street
5. Street Photography Now
6. Bruce Davidson: Subway
7. Bruce Davidson: East 100th Street
8. Diane Arbus: A monograph
9. Helen Levitt
10. Lee Friedlander: Friedlander
11. Elliott Erwitt: Personal Best
12. Richard Kalvar: Earthlings
13. Andre Kertesz (Editions Hazan)
14. Robert Frank: The Americans
15. Garry Winogrand: Public Relations
16. Garry Winogrand: Figments from the real world
17. Garry Winogrand: The Animals
18. Bruce Gilden by Stern Magazine
19. Bruce Gilden: A Beautiful Catastrophe
20. Bruce Gilden: Haiti
21. Bruce Gilden: After The Off
22. Bruce Gilden: Facing New York
23. Bystander: A History of Street Photography
24. Joel Meyerowitz
25. Jun Abe: Citizens
26. William Eggleston: Chromes
27. William Eggleston: Guide
28. William Eggleston: Before Color
29. Stephen Shore: Uncommon Places
30. Daido Moriyama: The World Through My Eyes
31. Alex Webb: Istanbul
32. Alex Webb: The Suffering Of Light
33. Jeff Mermelstein: Sidewalk
34. Walker Evans
35. Fred Herzog: Photographs
36. Vivian Maier
37. William Klein: Contacts
38. Joel Sternfeld: American Prospects
39. Martin Parr: The Last Resort
40. Martin Parr: Small World
41. Tony Ray-Jones: Best Of
42. Josef Koudelka: Gypsies
43. Anders Peterson: French Kiss
44. Anders Petersen: Cafe Lehmitz
45. Zoe Strauss: America
46. Henri Cartier-Bresson: “The Decisive Moment”
47. Josef Koudelka: Exiles
48. Anders Petersen
49. The Education of a Photographer
50. David Hurn: On Being a Photographer
51. David Gibson: The Street Photographer’s Manual
52. Siegfried Hansen – hold the line
53. Matt Stuart: All that Life Can Afford
54. The Photographer’s Playbook: 307 Assignments and Ideas
55. Trent Parke: Minutes to Midnight
56. Trent Parke: The Christmas Tree Bucket
57. Trent Parke: The Black Rose
58. Harry Gruyaert
59. Gus Powell: The Lonely Ones
60. Alec Soth: Songbook
61. Ping Pong Conversations: Alec Soth with Francesco Zanot
62. Constantine Manos: A Greek Portfolio
63. Constantine Manos: American Color
64. Constantine Manos: American Color 2
65. David Alan Harvey: Divided Soul
66. Photographers’ Sketchbooks
67. Harry Callahan: Retrospective
68. Slide Show: The Color Photographs of Helen Levitt
69. Mark Cohen: Frame
70. Saul Leiter: Early Color
71. Saul Leiter: Early Black and White
72. Dan Winters: Road to Seeing
73. Todd Hido: Photography Workshop Series
74. Mary Ellen Mark: Photography Workshop Series
75. The Open Road: Photography and the American Roadtrip
76. Jason Eskenazi: Wonderland: A Fairytale of the Soviet Monolith
77. Kaushal Parikh: “Fragments of a Spinning Rock”
78. Sunlanders by Sean Lotman

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Free Books by Eric Kim

If you love learning, read the books below:

1. 100 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography
2. Street Photography by Eric Kim
3. Photography by Eric Kim
4. Personal Photography Manual
5. Street Photography Contact Sheets Volume II
6. Street Photography Contact Sheets
7. Monochrome Manual
8. Street Portrait Manual
9. Street Photography Composition Manual
10. How to Overcome Photographer’s Block
11. Street Photography 101
12. Street Photography 102
13. Zen in the Art of Street Photography
14. Film Street Photography Manual
15. 31 Days to Overcome Your Fear in Street Photography

Street Notes

Street Notes is a pocket-sized assignment journal to break outside of your comfort zone:

• Buy (Amazon USA) >
• Buy (in our Shop International) >

STREET HUNT: Street Notes Volume 2 Scavenger Hunt Edition

• Buy (Amazon USA) >
• Buy (in our Shop International) >

Photo Book Reviews

• Magnum Contact Sheets
• Josef Koudelka: Exiles
• Trent Parke: Minutes to Midnight

See all reviews >

Recommended photo books

• Robert Frank: The Americans
• Alex Webb: The Suffering Of Light
• Josef Koudelka: Gypsies

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Downloads

Mini Street Photography Starter Kit

If you’re starting in street photography, here is my free and open-source ‘MINI Street Photography Starter Kit’. For more inspiration and dopeness, see the full version: “Street Photography Starter Kit“.

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FREE ERIC KIM EBOOKS

Dropbox Download >

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CONTACT SHEETS by ERIC KIM

• 2GB (very big) Dropbox Download >

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ERIC KIM PHOTOS

• Dropbox: Black and White Photos by ERIC KIM >
• Dropbox: Example Film Photos by ERIC KIM >

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RAW photos

dropbox Raw files >

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ERIC KIM LIGHTROOM PRESETS

Download ZIP:

• .ZIP: ERIC KIM Lightroom Presets

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PDF Visualizations

Made by ANNETTE KIM:

ERIC KIM x Annette Kim PDF Visualizations – HAPTICPRESS

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Black and White Street Photography

See all pictures on Dropbox >

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Contact Sheets by ERIC KIM

See directory on Dropbox >

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EBOOKS

See all Ebooks on Dropbox >

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PDF EBOOK: Street Photography Contact Sheets

Direct downloads:

• Street Photography Contact Sheets Volume I
• Street Photography Contact Sheets Volume II

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Full: STREET PHOTOGRAPHY STARTER KIT >

Buy the full STREET PHOTOGRAPHY STARTER KIT >

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Here are all of the free downloads available to you, with love:

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Dear friend,

I want you to download me — download all these books, articles, and information for free– for you to remix it however you would like.

For you to use these images to illustrate blog posts. For you to look at these full-resolution images to analyze composition.

For you to use these free Lightroom presets to actually make your digital RAW photos look good.

For you to empower yourself. Because I think that information is power. Information is everything.

Information is money and control of the world (just consider that scene from the James Bond 007 Skyfall at the end of the film — the guy who controlled the information controlled the world).

With this information, you can learn how to conquer your fears, find more personal meaning in your photography and life, and seek to empower others through the art of photography.

BOOKS

Download all PDF books:

• Eric Kim Books 2017 (PDF/129mb/.zip)

Photography Series PDF Books by Eric Kim

1. MONOCHROME by ERIC KIM
2. ONLY IN AMERICA by ERIC KIM
3. SUITS by ERIC KIM

Individual PDF books:

1. 31 Days to Overcome Your Fear of Shooting Street Photography
2. 100 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography
3. Color Manual
4. Film Street Photography Manual
5. How to Overcome Photographer’s Block
6. Leica Manual
7. Letters from a Street Photographer
8. Monochrome Manual
9. Personal Photography Manifesto
10. Photography 101
11. Photography by Eric Kim
12. Street Photography 101
13. Street Photography 102
14. Street Photography Aphorisms
15. Street Photography by Eric Kim
16. Street Photography Contact Sheets Volume II
17. Street Photography Contact Sheets
18. The Art of Street Photography
19. The Social Media Blackbook for Photographers
20. The Street Photography Project Manual
21. The Street Portrait Manual
22. The-Photography-Manual
23. Zen in the Art of Street Photography
24. Zen Photography by Eric Kim

Lightroom Presets

Download:

• Eric Kim Presets 2018
• Eric Kim Chroma Tokyo Presets 2018
• Eric Kim Chroma Kyoto Presets 2017
• Eric Kim Lightroom Presets 2017

VISUALIZATIONS & RESOURCES by HAPTIC

• FILM NOTES BLANK WORKSHEETS
• All Visualizations by Annette Kim
  • “How to Overcome Fears of Photographing Strangers“(11/2/2o17)
  • “What to Look For When Shooting in the Streets” (11/8/2017)
  • “What is the Best Camera for Street Photography?” (11/22/2017)
  • “Travel Photography Tips” (12/10/2017)
  • “Introduction to Composition in Photography” (12/18/2017) New!
  • “Zen of Eric: On Life, Photography, Art, and Work” (12/29/2017) New!
  • “New Year’s Photography Resolutions” (12/31/2017) New!
  • “How to Monetize Your Photography” (1/23/2018) New!
  • “10 Visual Challenges to Boost Your Creative Photography” (3/21/2018) New!
  • “Smartphone Street Photography” (4/19/2018) New!
  • “Eric Kim Lightroom Workflow” (5/12/2018) New!
  • “10 Ways to Boost Your Creativity” (5/30/2018) New!

PHOTOS by ERIC KIM

Download:

• ERIC KIM PORTFOLIO 2017 (jpeg/380 mb)
• Medium-format photos by ERIC KIM (.jpeg/174 mb)
• RAW Eric Kim Photos

Open-source

All the information on this site, including photos, images, videos, articles, books, or text is free and open source– meaning you can do whatever you want with it.

You can remix it, translate it, or sell it for a profit.

The reason why I am doing this is to help empower you with information. And I feel that freedom is information, and power.

Be strong,

Eric

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Eric Kim Blog Offline

If you plan on going on a flight, or going somewhere without internet access (and still want access to this blog), you can download this entire blog (offline, without images) as a 1.4GB (yes, very big) direct download. All you need to do is extract this .ZIP file, and open up ‘index.html’ to access the entire site. Have fun :)

• Dropbox Download (1.4GB) >

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Articles

My best articles as text files:

• All Articles (Google Drive)
• All Articles (Dropbox)
• All Articles (Direct Download)

See all recent posts >

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Videos

My most popular videos (2GB):

• Download videos (Dropbox)
• Download videos (Google Drive)
• Download videos (Direct Download)

See all videos on YouTube >

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Presentations

1. Composition in Street Photography (PDF, Keynote)
2. 7 Lessons from the Masters of Street Photography (Google Slides)
3. How to Shoot Street Portraits (PDF, Keynote)
4. How to Conquer Your Fear of Shooting Street Photography (PDF, Keynote)
5. Street Photography 101 (PDF, Keynote)
6. Street Photography Projects (PDF)

See all presentations on Slideshare >

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Internet Archive

See more downloads on archive.org >

Probably the best modern-day book I’ve read in the last 10 years is Antifragile by Nassim Taleb. The basic gist is this;

When things threaten to destroy you, how can it be used as fuel to make you stronger?

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In case you missed it

No fear.

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What does it mean?

Essentially the basic idea is that in life, painful, bad, even violent aggressions from others are not to be avoided, but rather, maybe even desired.

For example, if somebody ask for interacts with you in an aggressive, negative way, consider it as a good thing; after the incident, you have become more robust, stronger, and more impervious to outside aggressions.

Let me give you example. About a week or two ago at the gym, I was doing my typical atlas lift and a random guy asked me, how much longer I was going to be. Realistically it might’ve been 20 minutes, but I didn’t want to rush myself so I added some buffer. I told him, around 40 minutes. As a result, he started cussing and cursing and saying that what I was doing was “fucking ridiculous.” Fortunately because I was having a good adrenaline rush from doing my lifts, about five minutes later I calmly approached him and asked if he wanted to working with me. He shook his head, and said he wasn’t interested.

Moral of the story: that incident in which somebody acted bad manners towards me, I actually responded with very good manners. As a consequence, I no longer fear any negative interactions at the gym. If anything, I am quite proud of how magnanimously I was able to respond to such a petty encounter.

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Stoicism is the way

Stoicism isn’t a perfect technique, but it is certainly useful. I think in the context of manliness, and becoming a “real man”, I think stoicism is one of the best ways to become stronger.

There are lots of different stoic techniques and stoic tips.

Essentially, the basic gist:

When in doubt, delay reaction.

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Becoming more invincible to fate

The new topics and directions is combining stoicism, street photography, and entrepreneurship to life:

1. June 17th, Saturday, 2023: DOWNTOWN LA CONQUER YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY AND LIFE
2. July 15-16th: ERIC KIM SAIGON VIETNAM TRAVEL STREET PHOTOGRAPHY EXPERIENCE 2023
3. Oct 14th (Saturday) PHILLY CONQUER STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

Essentially, I believe that street photography is the supreme form of photography, as it requires the most courage and guts.

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