We are often told that life has much grey in between. But I don’t like the idea. I prefer the idea that life is binary — black and white, strong or weak, to keep or ditch, friend or not friend.

Consider with consumerist and purchasing behaviors as well — either you buy it, or you don’t.

Perhaps the further we can advance life as being binary, the better. Or simply put:

Avoid the middle, avoid the grey, avoid the boring and mediocre in life.

All or nothing. Barbell philosophy. Embrace the extremes.

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Optimize your life for street life.

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SHOOTING IDEAS:

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IPAD IS GREAT:

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Hey streettogs,

Just came back from Seattle after teaching my Seattle MASTERWORKSHOP, and some street photography thoughts:

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As much as I love color, color seems too obvious.

I say far more innovations await monochrome. Avoid the color-trend right now in photography/street photography. Monochrome is timeless and king.

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I love Seattle:

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Street thoughts on my mind:

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Just got back from Seattle, and when reviewing my photos:

The photos I shot on monochrome are far more interesting to me than my color photos.

Why is this? My simple thought:

Color photos are too obvious.

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Assuming that it is all about you, and you’re the end goal into yourself, then —

What should we focus on in our lives?

I say solo photography. Solo entrepreneurship.

And out of all these types of photography, what is the highest and greatest? Simple, I say street photography.

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Transform yourself into a unicorn and a pony:

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Love Seattle and Capitol Hill for street photography, travel, and the dynamism of the city and friendly folks.

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Simple life lesson — with physical things, goods and tools (and even homes), bigger and heavier is worse. Even if it’s bigger and faster or stronger, it’s worse than something smaller, more agile, nimble and quick.

iPhone Mini over iPhone Pro. Normal size iPad over the bigger one. Smaller minimalist luxury apartments over big homes. Smaller cars (Model 3) over bigger ones (Model Y, X and S).

A simple thought about decision making: optimize for what is best, not what is most convenient.

Something I learned from my friend and student Richard Reed:

Reduction is an extremely effective compositional concept, both in photography art and life.

Reduction in terms of making your photos as dark as possible (ADAP) by using minus exposure compensation. Or reducing distracting and superfluous distractions in the background.

Contrary to what people believe, I actually think Seattle is highly *UNDERRATED*. Great vivacity in the city (I love Capitol Hill), the people are very friendly and also very unique, and the grit (and growth) of the city is fascinating.

The best coffee in the states (Vivace, Vita, Victrola — the 3 v’s). Also seeing all the new skyscrapers and growth of the city is highly fascinating and hugely optimistic!

I would personally prefer living in Seattle over the Bay Area or SF.

What do we desire and hunger for as entrepreneurs? To move the world. To shake the world.

Consider the success of Amazon — moving people, moving packages, things, products.

Tesla — moving people in cars (autonomous).

With music, literally moving the muscles of people.

Nike — shoes that (literally) move people.

For us, perhaps to make photos that move others (emotionally or literally). To share ideas that also literally move others!

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Simple thought:

We can divide almost everything to boring or not boring.

Boring or not boring music. Boring or not boring films. Boring or not boring people, thoughts, ideas, design, photos, artwork, etc.

Simple way to live life:

Just opt for *NOT* boring!

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AFFIRM
BE FIRM and rigid in your purpose in life
Knife sharp, stay straight
Disregard the placation or relation with others
Disclaim the popular acclaim of the masses
Skip the classes and drop out of popular ideals
What direction is your virtue and effort? Only you can steer the wheel!

ERIC

Simple thoughts:

1. Bitcoin as a word is easy to pronounce and say, regardless of the foreign language. Even my mom and Cindy’s mom can pronounce “Bitcoin”— imagine them trying to pronounce “ethereum” or any other cryptocurrency name.
2. Orange is dominant: Orange as the brightest and most eye catching color. Note the silencer tab in iPhone is orange, NIKE boxes are orange, traffic cones are orange. The most prized Hermès accessories as orange.
3. Pirate bay seems to currently only accept Bitcoin as their sole donation cryptocurrency. Strong skin in the game marker, or the reflection of seeing what people do rather than what they say.
4. John Wick: consider how all the characters of John Wick exchange services for “a coin”. Because Bitcoin is now worth so much, it’s easier to simply exchange 1 Bitcoin for 1 Car (like 1 Bitcoin for 1 entry level Tesla Model 3), or perhaps exchange 20 Bitcoins for a home, etc. Leave the small and micro exchanges to credit card companies and cash.

Always refrain to categorize and classify yourself. No anchoring. There is nothing else or nobody else who you could compare yourself to. Furthermore, it is our ego and our pride that we cannot stand being likened to anybody else but ourselves.

Classification as a trap and a prison.

That which we hate is stagnation. That which we love is growth.

Thus when judging yourself, others and investments ask yourself:

Is this stagnant or growing?

For example in cryptocurrency, Bitcoin as growing. And this is good! Avoid any speculative investing which you see as stagnant and uncertain.

Optimize yourself for growth

Optimize yourself to continue growing, and avoid any stagnant traps. All stagnant traps include genres, classifications, and categories.

You cannot be classified, because you’re in a category of yourself.

In someways, I think seeking financial independence is a trap. What is far more important is artistic independence. There are a lot of people who are financially independent, but morally, ethically and artistically enslaved.

Why do we seek financial independence? Because we currently hate our current existence. In someways when we think about the religious notion of afterlife, we all strive towards it. Perhaps the striving for financial independence is simply the atheist notion of an “afterlife“.

Only do that which your internal self drives you and compels you to do. Avoid weak inner compellations.

DIFFICULT IS THE WAY:

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Rather than seeing your life and your photography is two separate things, better to see them as one integrated thing.

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The new you is better than the old you:

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Life and growth is all about the dynamic, not the static.

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Just watched the last 300 movie (rise of an empire) and I found it not as satisfying as the first original one (300). Why? This is what I concluded:

The main character (Themistocles) is not as buff and impressive as King Leonidas (Gerald Butler).

Similarly speaking, the Greeks of Themistocles army aren’t even a quarter as impressive as the 300 spartan soldiers who accompanied King Leonidas in the first 300 film.

Thus in terms of films that get your adrenaline and testosterone up, it seems that having main characters who have more muscle and brawn as more impressive.

And most of all, our aesthetic ideal more towards the Hercules concept (Farnese Hercules): the more brawn and muscle, the better.

Thinking about the philosophy of efficiency:

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Rather than thinking what is better or worse, perhaps better to think about your lifestyle and strive to optimize for what is more efficient and effective for you.

Adrenaline is good for us street photographers.

For example, how do you know if a scene might be an interesting street photo or not? Simple — if it gets your adrenaline up!

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It seems in today’s world we are so obsessed with “content”. But perhaps rather than thinking about “content”, it is better to think about yourself.

Anything and everything you create is simply an external manifestation of you.

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How I understand photography:

The end goal of photography is infinite, therefore, we must embrace the idea of an ‘eternal return’ to our photography, in our never-ending quest for more experiences, more photo-taking, and more artistic creation!

Never stop chasing that horizon!

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Dear friend,

The turbo thought:

Perhaps the goal for us as photographer visual artists is to become more visually innovative.

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Simple way to thrive as a photographer:

Own all your platforms.

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This is where I am bullish about Apple:

Apple is a photography company.

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What do we desire and strive towards, in terms of our physiology?

Creative vigor.

That is, to have the vigor, the strength, the strong desire, and the ‘chutzpah’ to create recklessly, dangerously, and freely:

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Big fan of the new M1 chip iPad Pro. Great design, aesthetics, comfortable in the hand, and fast and buttery smooth performance. Highly recommended. Might also be great for AR/LIDAR  artistic and creative production!

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I typically see goal setting as a bad thing, and as a trap. But perhaps to have some sort of general loose goal(s) in life can be good, at least with strength goals. For example, 100 kettlebell swings in a row, or a certain one rep max for your deadlift.

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Just got the new iPad Pro (M1 with LIDAR, the normal 11 inch size), and my thought —

This is great as a creative tool.

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No need to hate the virtues or vices of others
Stay deep in yourself
Focus on your own vision, your own ideals and your own code of ethics
No need to pity the pathetic or honor the mighty

Iterate yourself to greatness. You pave this path.

ERIC

Physiological strengthening. That is if the aesthetic gives you physiological strength or not. Or even worse, ugly design as ROBBING you of strength, high spirits and physiological strength.

New thought: rather than thinking of a design as “good” or “not”— better to think and consider what kind of physiological effect it has on you.

Great design strengthens and gives vigor to your muscles and legs!

As photographers, what do we aspire and strive towards? I say we strive for a photographic eudaemonia, that is, photographic and artistic flourishing.

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What is the best way and the best direction to live? This is what I say: establish personal ideals for yourself, and strive with all your might and will power towards those.

A simple entrepreneurial thought: when in doubt, just risk it.

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HAPTC INDUSTRIES

HAPTIC AMAZON

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My joy of re-discovering these older KODAK PORTRA 400 photos of Cindy:

1. The Cindy Project
2. Take Photos of Your Loved Ones on Film
3. Film 101
4. PORTRA 400

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To make the future a more creative and prosperous future for yourself and others.

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In praise of low-key luxury — luxury goods which aren’t obvious and loud. For example OUTLIER NYC t shirts (expensive, simple yet great), Hyundai Genesis car, Leica M-P (no red dot) camera, RICOH GR III, iPhone Mini and other non branded things.

HAPTIC INDUSTRIES — also low key luxury is my aesthetic.

FREE TURBO THOUGHTS

Dear friends,

The turbo thought of today:

Perhaps the best trait for us is curiosity– to become MORE curious.

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What do we really want? Not the Lamborghini but the RAGING BULL concept and aesthetic. When watching the new COUNTACH video, I realized this.

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If I started street photography all over again, some thoughts:

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Why do we love images and visual artwork? It acts as a tonic for our soul and physiology. A life without beautiful images ain’t a life worth living.

What is paramount for us creatives and creators? Our physiology— that is, our health, muscles, rest, outside sun exposure, sleep, napping, fasting, fatty meat consumption, digestion, exposure to fresh air, and physical exercise and walking. Prioritize your physiology and all of your creative work will take care of itself!

Cross-over between photography and video:

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How do I judge my own photos, and figure out which photos I love?

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Perhaps the goal in Street Photography is not to become a “better” photographer, but to become a more profound and philosophical photographer.

Therefore our goal is to think about the philosophy of our photography, and the philosophy of our street photography in general.

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Perhaps this is our inner motivation and impetus behind our street photography?

Heraclitus on my mind.

I was always curious on how Kodak Portra 400 looked. Here are some files and examples, with different scanning settings. Some shot with flash, some without:

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The secret to making better monochrome photos:

Make your photos as black as possible (under-expose your photos to the maximum darkness, to the point where you can still see *something*).

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How and why self critique in photography is good:

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