Something on my mind: it seems that there are lots of cool new innovations to the cockpit of cars, and the front row seats. For example, I love how wide and expensive the front seats and interior of the Tesla model three and Y. Yet, the backseats are a bit boring. I suppose the panoramic roof and rear windshield is cool, yet, what are some new innovations we could integrate? To simply add more legroom, more screens and distraction devices seems a bit basic.
The trend for only two passengers in the backseat?
A new trend for the Lamborghini Urus, is that the whole car only has four seats. Two seats in the front, two seats in the back. The same goes with the new Lexus SUV, which is a massive car, yet only has two seats in the rear.
Something that has lasted me a very very long time, which I love is my Lindberg glasses. Although the poly carbonate black plastic which attaches to the titanium frame has lost its glue and adhesive, the glasses have actually served me well ever since I bought them around 2011, which has been over a decade. When I first bought the frames, they seemed insanely expensive at around seven dollars US, yet it was a great decision, because to me it was a perfect design, and the titanium was insanely light and extremely durable. For all practical reasons, the only things I’ve had to replace are the lenses overtime, as either they broke, scratched, or my vision got worse.
I really like the new iPhone Pro in white because the stainless steel on the edges are naked, pure. A huge downside is that there is an insane amount of glare from the stainless steel edges, which is extremely distracting when you’re using your phone as a GPS device. Yet, I still think that the iPhone Pro in White is superior to the iPhone pro in black.
Also, I recently started using this very lightweight stainless steel cup for my coffee, and I really liked it. I love how light it is, and how easy it is to keep clean. Even currently living at Cindy’s moms house, a lot of her appliances and hhouse things are made of stainless steel, and they have lasted well for over a decade. They are extremely resistant to wear and tear, very robust. Not as wabi sabi as wood, but from a industrial design perspective, fantastic.
Also when I stayed at my friend Chris’ house, he had this really cool titanium cup, which is typically for camping, but it seemed like a very good cup for around the house as well. Even lighter, more durable and stronger than stainless steel.
The other day, Cindy and I got a one month gym membership on Groupon for golds gym, and we just went to the nearby golds gym after putting Seneca to sleep in the evening. After a long hiatus from the gym, I thought: it seems that the gym has lost its charm on me. The facilities were very understaffed, dark and dim, and dirty. It was nice being able to do a deadlift again, yet, it seemed a lot less interesting to me, then it did in the past.
First of all, why would people buy GoPro in the first place, instead of just using the iPhone? The secret is that they want to create more compelling videos, photos, and content for social media, their own website or blog, or YouTube.
Therefore, the focus should be on using a GoPro to become more influential, famous, and interesting. Also to be more artistic, creative, and innovative.
The idea that a GoPro is superior than using an iPhone Pro camera, or even a micro 43rds camera, or any video camera.
The idea that GoPro reduces “creative frictionâ€. To create whenever “inspiration strikesâ€.
One of the greatest upsides of modern society is hygiene. But taken from a more metaphorical perspective, think about mental hygiene, social hygiene, and of course the practical physical hygiene aspect.
Ironically enough, being outdoors, being in nature, although dirtier, and more dusty, it is actually more hygienic. Also being in the direct sun is the most hygienic. One thing that Asian people figured out is that the best way to disinfect something is just put it outside in the direct sun, and the sun will deodorize and sanitize it.
What awaits you? A bold new direction, and a bold new future in your photography.
How to unlock this? Some thoughts:
1. Always go back to first principles
If you think Aristotle and Elon Musk, the #1 entrepreneurial thought is–
Take things back to first principles.
Rather than thinking by analogy, think carte blanche, brand new, blank slate. For example, rather than thinking ‘how do you make a “BETTER” car, WHY do we need cars, or what is the purpose of cars?’
In photography, think to yourself:
What is the point or the purpose of photography, for yourself, and for others?
What is your end goal, your end game?
2. Think embodied reality
Another thought is this:
Photography is most easily possible when you expose yourself to new foreign environments, which stimulate your senses.
This is why it is so easy to photograph when you’re traveling and so difficult to photograph at home.
The interesting thing I learned from Cindy is the notion of Vietnamese ‘home’. The phrase in Vietnamese is often (for lets go home) it is:
“Ve” in Vietnamese literally means ‘to return’. So in a metaphorical sense, to “go home” means “to return back to the place where you started”.
So what is a ‘home’ anyways? The place where you return. Typically nobody lives on the road forever. Sooner or later, there is a place, a house, a locale you return to.
So I like this idea of being a world traveler, kind of like Sinbad, but eventually, sooner or later … you will return back… somewhere.
But otherwise, the best way to expose yourself to new embodied realities is to travel, attend in-person photography workshops, and to invest in experiences (buy experiences, not stuff).
3. Just buy RICOH GR IIIX
Just buy RICOH GR IIIX and call it a day (4K YouTube video review). Just shoot in extra small JPEG mode, for color use cross-process JPEG, or shoot extra high contrast for black and white, shoot in autofocus program mode.
I still think the best place to publish your photos is your own blog. Better than printing your photos, showing them in a gallery or exhibition, putting them in a printed book, etc.
The bold new future for photography is open source PDF’s:
Let us consider how bold Elon Musk was in open sourcing their electric chassis technology, which literally hyper-drove all the whole industry to embrace electric. It was a ‘win win’ for everyone.
It takes more courage to open source your work, than to close it.
A bold new approach, a bold new direction. Perhaps ‘usability’ is overrated?
Nota Bene (note well):
TESLA Model S and Model X new ‘Yoke’ steering: Whether you love it or hate it, the good thing is that it is insanely new, bold, and fresh. The new ‘Yoke’ steering wheel is the #1 most new approach in a modern car– makes it far more appealing than any Lamborghini. I love the idea that you have a more unobstructed view of the road. Truth be told, the Yoke Steering might be the new Archimedes Lever in terms of making TESLA the only new car to get. No stalks, no shifting is the future.
The new WordPress in-site editor: Love it or hate it, it is boldly new and refreshing.
Kanye West (everything) bold, interesting, fresh, and new. To be polarizing is good.
Put all of my recent photos into a gallery (WordPress Gallery), turn off crop, and make it 1-column, and re-review my photos as a blog post.
Then what I do is re-review my photos as a blog post, as a slideshow, and I re-scan my photos again, and re-filter then, and make a *new new* edit based on the photos which popped out to me (again):
Then my theory:
Perhaps photography is simply a process of continual refinement, distillation, and editing down of your photos?
Assume like it will all eventually be rendered into black and white.
For example, let us say the color of your car, clothes, etc. Dress and purchase/buy and design things as if they will all ultimately render in black and white.
For example, disregard red. If you have a red car in real life, or red clothes in real life, note that they will just render as black in your photos.
For example, I’ve found that white shirts are really bad for photos. They blow out the highlights, distract your camera’s metering system, and also confuse skin luminance. For photographing Seneca, it is best when he is either topless, or wearing a more neutral colored shirt (like a grey, light grey, black, or darker color).
Or let us say you bought a new Lamborghini or a Tesla. The question:
Which color will best render in your black and white photos?
My drive in my photography– to create a type of image I’ve never seen before? Also my desire to travel and see, experience, witness, and conquer new foreign places, lands, and places?
Also my interest in car design, and products? And just design, and industrial design in general. Also applies to software, website and blog design.
There’s a lot of things I like about the new iPhone SE, but when I do not like: it seems that the new iOS doesn’t work well with the old hardware, the old-school iPhone design of SE.
For example, the new iOS on the iPhone is optimized for the notch in the top left and top right of the phone. It is not well optimized for the old-school design of the iPhone SE, with the flat top.
Therefore, as much as I love the new iPhone SE, maybe Apple should just get rid of it. This will allow greater integration between iOS and hardware. Deeper integration between hardware and software.
Kind of like how Kanye‘s new Donda 2 album is well optimized with his new stem player.
Just like food: we keep on eating. And just like water, we keep on drinking. And just like coffee, we keep on drinking. Maybe the purpose of our creativity is simple, just keep posting:
To promote my new and upcoming WORKSHOPS, I wanted to share some insightful thoughts which can hopefully turbocharge you:
1. Why street photography?
When I consider all of my writings and thoughts on street photography, the good thing is that as time goes on, I become more fascinated in the nuances around street photography.
In fact, as I become older and more experienced in street photography, I’ve become more open minded around street photography, what it means, and how to do it.
Even at the moment, the current bane of my existence is trying to live a virtuous life in the suburbs.
However perhaps the good idea is to think:
I can do street photography anywhere — I just gotta be creative and flexible enough to modify my current life situation to make street photography interesting to me.
Or if you’re busy with work, work around that. Lars Tunbjork did a great series on ‘office’– in which you can shoot street photography even in insanely sterile office environments.
Depressing enough, when I think about when I started street photography (knee deep) when I was a year out of college (around 21 years old) and now looking at myself (I was born in 1988), I have seen so many street photographers rise and fall, and lose motivation.
Why? I believe the culprit is social media, fame, and the ‘metrification’ of ‘success’ in photography.
For example, going viral as a photographer can be the worst thing that happens to you, as you become insanely famous and popular, then fade into obscurity. This is not good for your ego.
How was I able to conquer this?
For myself personally, creative isolation. My 2016-2017 is the best thing I did for myself creatively, getting rid of my phone, not checking my email or using email for 2 years, etc.
Then what you want to do is to allow yourself to become the own judge of your photos. If you want honest feedback on your photos, arsbeta.com, but otherwise, allow yourself to become the own judge of your photos by thinking:
If nobody else looked at this photo besides myself, would I still care?
