To be stubborn and to be a late adopter — to wait, the great procrastination and only get things waaaaay later than everyone else.

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Advice I wish I had access to:

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Contrary to what others may say, I don’t think you should always be reading books. In fact, to over-read books is bad. If you always are reading, your own inner thoughts will be crowded out by the material you read in books.

I say the best time to read is when you’ve already exhausted all of your creative ideas, and you need to recharge yourself — let your creative side grow a bit fallow, and then use reading as a tool to re-stimulate your own thoughts.

Best to NOT read first thing in the morning. Mornings should be reserved for creation, which means when you first wake up don’t allow yourself to be attacked by outside and foreign stimuli. No reading or checking your phone first thing in the morning. Do your artistic creation first thing in the morning, after your morning coffee, for the freshest and most insightful thoughts and ideas.

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What is my great mission in life as a photographer? To motivate others. And it seems in today’s world, what we don’t need in photography is more equipment and gear, but we need more insight, motivation, ideas, inspiration, and turbo photo thoughts to get us going:

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Only pursue your great curiosities in life:

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No matter how good the iPhone Pro gets for photography, RICOH GR III will always be at least 10x better in terms of image aesthetics, resolution and camera ergonomics.

I love the new iPad Pro (M1 chip with USB-C). It is a great step to my ideal of “USB-C EVERYTHING”.

iPhone Pro — not so much. iPhone Mini is superior to iPhone Pro.

If you want a superior creative tool, for your photography and visual creative arts, get iPad Pro. Don’t get iPhone Pro.

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NEWS

Two turbo thoughts this morning:

Perhaps dissatisfaction is good

Then

The lust for more

This is my big thought:

Perhaps dissatisfaction and the lust for more is actually good.

Now the tricky thing — how can we channel this lust for more in a positive way?

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The only way is the way forward.

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Perhaps life is all about the lust for more.

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The thought of the day:

Perhaps dissatisfaction is good.

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Perhaps looking at your old photos is almost akin to shooting them anew.

Socrates one said an unexamined life is not a life worth living. Perhaps in photography, old photos from the past which lie unexamined aren’t worth shooting either.

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All the photos you shoot are good. Thus the goal is for you to just keep shooting.

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A great turbo thought I had tonight:

When contemplating purchases or investments, try to honestly ask yourself — “Will this give me an (unfair) advantage in life, or not?”

For example, buying that new luxury car (if you already have a car) won’t lead to any meaningful advantage. Having an iPhone is certainly superior to having an Android phone, but having the most high end or brand new iPhone won’t give you a meaningful advantage in life compared to a standard iPhone.

Similarly speaking, shooting with a Leica won’t give you any meaningful advantage in life, in your photographic life.

So try to think hard and deep — don’t get suckered by things which you perceive won’t give you a meaningful advantage in life.

An epiphany I had:

What is a great motivator? Pain. That is, pain is the stimulus for action and activity.

For example, boredom is a type of pain. Boredom is a good stimulus for us to act. Similarly speaking, when your body aches, or your back or knees hurt, perhaps it is your body signaling that it wants to move and to be active. Thus rather than thinking about pain as a signal for you to stop and do nothing, perhaps pain is a signal for you to move and act.

My whole photographic life, the most difficult thing is motivation when it comes to photography. Some simple ideas to get you going:

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In today’s over-saturated social media world, it is the best time for you to start your own photography blog (bluehost.com and install WordPress.org). Why?

1. Your own open source platform for your photos, thoughts, or anything in-between.
2. You are the owner, the master — you own your domain.
3. More control, more power. An online archive of your photos and life.
4. Good way to get discovered on Google (SEO).

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When it comes to photography and artistic matters, best to think:

It is all art.

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Perhaps the purpose of art is to become more provocative. To provoke a reaction or emotional response:

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After much contemplation and experimentation, I believe that the 28 mm lens is the best, perfect, ideal, and supreme lens for street photography, and generally most types of photography. Why? My thoughts:

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Life is training:

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With the street photography you do, ask yourself—

Are these photos personal to me?

Pursue street photography which speaks to your soul.

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More personal photos. RICOH GR III, digital medium format, less iPhone. I’m quite bearish on the future of iPhone Pro for photography. If you love the ultimate aesthetics for photographic art and images, best to get a RICOH GR III, a Fujifilm digital medium format camera, or a used Pentax 645z.

The future of open source JPEG and PDF ebooks and e-magazines. Open source WordPress.org blogs. iPad for enjoying your photos.

Less need for “better” cameras, mote need for publishing ideas, motivation, inspiration, entrepreneurship, passion. More need for feedback (arsbeta.com).

Since 2017 I considered myself retired. And also since then, I achieved financial independence. How did I do that? My thoughts and experience:

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It seems everyone wants to FIRE (Financial independence, retire early). But once you got the financial independence and you retire early… then what?

Simple ideas, at least for me —

1. Focus on arts generation, philosophy, entrepreneurial ideas to motivate others, and photography.
2. Focus on physical culture: physique, power building, bodybuilding, powerlifting, gym, or kettlebell home life.

But the big thought:

FIRE as a means to an end, not the end itself.

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The thought — if we think about “practice” as a road and a means of becoming, then to do is to become.

That is —

Figure out what you desire to become, and simply do more of it.

We are defined by what we do, make, create, and how we act. Then our identity as something fluid, and dictated through our actions. A +1 towards free will, free self-determination.

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Assuming photography is our passion,, the question:

How do we do more of it?

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“We talking practice???” – Allen Iverson

One of the (few) good concepts I’ve gotten from the yoga folks is this:

They don’t call it “working out”, they call it “practice”.

Why is this a good concept? Well, it allows us to think of the practice not as some toilsome labor, but rather … some activity we engage in, because we legitimately enjoy the process.

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What does society hate? The true and deep individual.

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True innovation happens *NOT* from asking others for their opinion or ‘focus groups’, but trusting your own artistic gut.

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In the world of rapid and ruthless innovation, the practical question, when should one upgrade and one should one not upgrade?

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Photography is my passion. And what brings me insane joy? To do more of it.

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Just visited an Amazon fresh store, and what is so fascinating to me is the ruthless efficiency. cutting down waist, cutting down excess, and distilling to the essential. Spartan business.

We are alive. We exist in embodied reality.

But in today’s world where we got virtual reality, video games, Netflix, etc… what is the purpose of being alive and what is the purpose of existence? And what do you want to derive from reality?

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Far superior to iPhone Pro, especially for us photographers. The iPad M1 pro as essential for photographers, because we could quickly import our photos via the USB-C SD card reader, and there is no processor I’ve use which is as buttery smooth as the Apple M1 chip.

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GO GREAT IN LIFE:

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A realization why I don’t like owning things:

I like to have extreme optionality, that is, at any moment to ditch it, trade it, or move somewhere else or no longer own it.

For example the other day I realized I’m kind of over Lamborghinis. The design isn’t extreme enough, and it has become a bit boring for me design and design philosophy-wise. More into Porsche GT2 and GT3 (manual transmission).

With phones, I got a refurbished iPhone Pro, and just the other day the new new iPhone Pro came out. Even Leica cameras and rangefinders are starting to feel played out.

Then, what is the goal? Extreme optionality, to pivot at a seconds notice, to disdain consistency, and to stay eternally productive!

ERIC

Dear friends,

A thought:

You’re not just a photographer, you’re also a visual designer.

What does this mean? As a photo designer, you decide what to include in the frame, and what to EXCLUDE.

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Anything which is in between and tries to get the best of both worlds is a bad idea, and a compromise.

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Life is too short for you to not follow your passion.

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Looking at the new Leica digital M10 rangefinders with fresh new eyes I now think:

Wow, the design is so boring.

The design is classic and timeless, but … boring!

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The street photographer as humanitarian, who transforms society into his/her artwork.

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In a different life I can totally see myself going to design school (like RISD) and studying industrial or architecture design. Why? Design is king — it dictates almost everything in our lives. And us as designers, we *designate* what is important and what is not important.

If you happen to have fallen in with photography as your passion, also acknowledge you’re a designer … a visual embodied reality designer. You designate importance by deciding what to put (and what not to put) in the frame.

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It seems in today’s world, we are seeking perfect or the best in almost everything. But the question — is this desirable?

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What do you do once you’re a bitcoin billionaire, or once you become a crypto whale?

To me, it seems the only logical thing to do is to focus on your photography, to focus on your artistic creations, and to focus on your own personal self development.

The true privilege is via negativa:

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Dear friend,

If you are hungry for an epic street photography adventure and experience, I cordially invite you to my upcoming San Francisco Bay Area ADVANCED STREET PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP, November 13, 2021:

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The iPhone has a great tool for street photography. Not quite as good as the Ricoh GR 3, but good enough.

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Something funny I noticed— all of my friends with good jobs and good salaries in life are quite complacent in their lives. Very happy and comfortable, pleased with where they are, no qualms, no gripes.

But the problem — this breeds complacency (pleased with one’s standing and where one is).

So then it seems that the life goal is this: When you’ve succeeded and reached in certain level of success, hate complacency. Always strive for more. This can be striving for more in your photography, to hate complacency in your artistic and creative endeavors.

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My favorite and most personal city for street photography:

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The best judge of something and its worth:

Do you use it daily, or only on the weekends, or almost never at all?

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My critique of Tesla cars and humans in general:

I don’t like beautiful but boring.

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Why PORSCHE is cooler than TESLA:

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I am amazed– the experience of viewing your photos on iPad (Pro with M1 Chip) is insanely great. Why?

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Our aesthetic ideal. Thinner socks, thinner soles for shoes, thinner devices (why iPhone Mini is superior to iPhone Pro … the Mini is thinner and slimmer).

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ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER >

You’re an artist and a creative visionary. Some ideas for you:

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My simple life mission:

Strive to turbocharge myself to the maximum, and to turbocharge others.

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Why get a Lamborghini over a Tesla Model S Plaid, when the Tesla is obviously the superior car? The aggressive shark-like design (teeth and all) of the Lamborghini over the mostly … soft and jelly-like looking Tesla Model S.

My theory — masculine design strives towards the aggressive, loud, and “angry”. Thus the more aggressive the design, the better.

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Rather than try to conquer others, self dominance and self conquering is a much more noble an interesting goal. Why is that? This is because you could become your own inner tyrant. In fact that is what Nietzsche defines as willpower, the tyrant within.

The best empire is yourself — an empire over yourself.

What does it mean to become a photographer? Simple: the idea that every moment you’re in a state of becoming, and every moment you’re photographing that process. Thus, being in a state of becoming as a photographer is for you to become more cogent and cognizant of your life, realizing how beautiful it is, despite any tragedies and downsides.

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We exist. We are in a state of being. However, far more interesting to be in the state of becoming over being.

Being is static. Becoming is dynamic. The notion of “being” is stagnant, boring, and doesn’t go anywhere. However the state of becoming is striving for more, striving for more difficulties, striving for more obstacles, striving for more resistance, and striving for more power and strength. Life is the beautiful struggle of becoming.

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