I believe all photographers will benefit hugely from owning an iPad. Even the cheapest one is fine — only $329!

Why iPad? Well, after experimenting with all the different ways of editing and selecting flagging photos, I get the most joy from using iPad to look through my photos. Why?

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I was thinking:

How much *should* you shoot in photography?

And my general thought:

The more you shoot, the better.

Why? Creative iteration. The more you shoot, the more you learn. The more you shoot, the more risks you take which can lead to creative new photographic innovations.

Also, if you want to make more interesting compositions in photography, you need to shoot a lot, and you need to shoot a lot of risky photos. One of the big downsides of film photography is sometimes we get too scared to “waste film”.

To shoot a lot is like exercise. The more you shoot, the more “reps” (repetitions) you get in. And there is also this myth of “the decisive moment”— that somehow these demigod photographers would get their great photos with just a single shot. And why this bravado that somehow nailing a great photo in one shot is better? We gotta get rid of this ridiculous romantic notion (all romantic notions are false to reality and bad).

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Certainly there isn’t a certain quota of photos you should everyday, but at the same time, it doesn’t seem to hurt to shoot a lot of photos everyday. Lately I’ve been quite productive with shooting — around 800-1000 photos a day.

For myself, this seems to be beneficial. Shooting small JPEG, with high contrast monochrome or cross process filter on RICOH GR III seems to be great. Why? Small JPEG allows me to quickly import photos to my iPad or laptop, and allows me to upload quicker. Also, shooting pre-processed JPEG means less time having to post process.

Above all, it seems the more you shoot, the better. Why? Because the bias is typically we don’t shoot enough, because we are too much perfectionists. Also, we suffer from “paralysis by analysis”— we don’t shoot photos because we are worried the photos won’t be “interesting enough”, even though in our gut we want to.

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I think I finally have this Henri Cartier-Bresson quote figured out:

The beauty of photography is that you can reveal beauty in even the smallest thing.

Or in other words:

All things, no matter how small can be beautiful.

Then it is simply your task as a photographer to strive to seek, discover, notice, and document these small beautiful details. In praise of capturing beauty in the mundane.

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Why photography? It is the great affirmation of (new) life. I myself wouldn’t desire a life and existence without photography.

Creative fears:

They typically have to do with your fear of negative judgements from others.

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Good fear: fear which keeps you alive. For example my fear of dying if texting while driving, or walking on the street while texting.

Bad fear: fear of social chastisement which prevents me from pursuing my artistic and creative passions in life.

Good fears are mostly physiological; fear of a potentially early death, or permanent disfigurement (Nassim Taleb). Bad fears as mostly pertaining to how you live your life— your lifestyle choices, your artistic modes of self expression, etc.

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Get free photographic motivation on ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER >

Dear friend,

Some quick creative motivational ideas to get you going:

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The basic idea:

Your best creative ideas will come *INDIRECTLY* to you.

Your creative ideas are best when you are creatively ‘promiscuous’ — you disregard borders, boundaries, and genres. You draw creative nectar and honey from *any* creative source which inspires and turns you on!

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Just because you’ve already done it once doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it again. Eternal and perpetual creativity is the goal:

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If we think about humanity, there is an innate instinct for us to procreate. The natural sexual drive of both men and women in order to create children. Certainly without the will to procreate, humanity would have died off a long time ago.

Then what makes me think:

How can we channel this desire to procreate in a positive and productive way? To channel this desire into our arts creation and to not demonize this innate powerful drive we have within ourselves?

To not demonize the sexual drive, but trying to figure out how we can harness this physiological power to our advantage?

Is our desire as artists to procreate art works rooted from the sexual desire to procreate children and new life?

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If we extrapolate this “via negativa” concept to productivity and motivation the question to ponder:

What kills our motivation? And what “un-inspires” us?

Perhaps the best way to become a “better” photographer is mostly through the negative (Nassim Taleb). For example:

1. To make better compositions, best to *SUBTRACT* and try to get rid of the distracting elements.
2. To be more motivated, best to GET RID of social media (delete your Instagram) instead of seeking more followers and more likes.
3. More photo opportunities by subtracting color options (in praise of monochrome).

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Perhaps this notion of having “positive role models” is not useful. Why?

We often put the personalities, characteristics, and pursuits of certain individuals as *above* us. For example, we all want to become more like Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, etc. However … is this truly something to be desired? Instead of seeking to become someone else, or to emulate the personality character traits of others, better instead to look at yourself, your own innate personality traits and to see your own self and your own personality as king.

Then when it comes to other humans, instead of seeking “positive role models” to emulate, better instead to consider all of the bad role models who you *don’t* want to become. For example myself, I don’t want to become like my dad, so I just do everything *opposite* of what he did. Thus I have a very good blueprint in terms of becoming a good future father —

Study, and analyze your “anti role models”— and use their negative traits as a positive learning experience.

Once again — just “go opposite” of negative folks and their character traits and actions, and you will be golden.

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If you have a passion for black and white photography, does this mean that studying calligraphy (black paint on white canvas) can also give you artistic insights and good “creative cross pollination”?

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A thought this morning:

Photography *is* painting.

We get this intrinsic joy from painting. Photography as painting with light. Thus perhaps the more painterly thoughts we can have, the better?

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Or why I think everyone should have a blog:

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We must play for the long game. This means:

Focus on your photography, artwork, artistic production for life.

The infinite road — photography as your passion that will burn on forever. And how do you stay motivated and perpetually inspired in your photography? To continually discover new sources of visual or artistic inspiration from other sources, from within yourself, and from life itself.

A thought:

When we desire x, y, z … is it ‘worth it’ if it will only directly benefit us, with no chance of benefitting others?

My thought:

Perhaps the only good selfish actions and means are good, if somehow eventually … it will help benefit others, broader society, and humanity as a whole.

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A fun workout you can do at the gym (or at home, assuming you got some heavy dumbbells or kettlebells):

A heavy one-handed overhead press.

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First sent on ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER >

Dear friend,

A thought:

Photography is your passion … so why not prioritize it?

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Whatever you use or do to make artwork … this is the end. Which means:

Ultimately out of life … if you can direct all your energies, efforts and resources to make art … this is the most noble goal!

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As photographers, perhaps the way we can gain maximal creative productivity is this:

Spend much time both (concurrently) shooting new photos while also reviewing your old work!

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Something which is hugely fun to me:

Take your photos, choose a few you like, and import it into Procreate on iPad, and apply the “glitch” feature to see how you can remix your photos in fun, interesting and novel ways!

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Also, the worst camera is the one which is collecting dust on your shelf or even worse, in your drawers.

Why is it that we don’t take ourselves and our artistic passions seriously? Simple: because we lack respect for ourselves and our artwork.

Consider we take our (labor) work “seriously”. But isn’t our art(work) more important than our “work work”?

We all have different passions. But why is it that we don’t don’t allow ourselves to take our (non-money making passions) seriously? In fact I’d say it is better to start taking your work and employment less seriously, and taking your creative passion *more* seriously.

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To motivate yourself to make new photos, or to find joy in photography — this is our goal. Simple ideas:

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A thought while looking out of my front window and seeing an Amazon delivery truck:

The reason why Amazon so successful is that it has made the movement of goods far more effective and efficient. 

Which makes me think:

The more you can move products, people, things and ideas … the better!

Or why you don’t need to “force” yourself to do anything contrary to your nature. And also —

Not all action is good.

You also often exhibit your true beliefs and true preferences based on what you decide *not* to do, what you decide *not* to participate in, or what silly games you decide *not* to play. “Via negativa” beliefs.

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What is the best car? The call which motivates and allows you for the maximal movement — to drive more, explore more and experience more. Preferably a small fuel efficient car (hybrid) or a small electric (high range) car. Ideally all wheel drive to allow for you to go on drives even when the weather is poor, rainy, snowy.

What is the best camera? The one which is the least cumbersome. The one which motivates and allows you to maximally explore and photograph with as little hesitation as possible.

Also with exercise — perhaps the best exercises are the ones which allow for the most fun and dynamic movements?

The best music — the music which motivates you the most to move!

A thought:

When I watch videos (moving objects), and also see real people in real life moving around … it brings me great joy, and motivation.

Why is this?

Some thoughts:

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Towards a “one rep max” attempt in life. Or thinking about “proof of concept” living —

Using your life to experiment with things which interest you, and the joy of the scientist to have proved even one small thing as true!

Simple ideas to spark some creative energy into your photos:

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I find the most effective way to study the artwork of other artists is by studying their psychology, psycho analyzing them, but also tracing and drawing their art works which interest you.

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Red and black vision:

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PHOTOGRAPHY
I love to make images, with you and me

Photography helps me be me, to see the world more clearly with depth
To see more broad and visual depths into the wind swept scapes

Photography isn’t just a visual escape — it is reality augmented. Reality made fuller, richer and more pure.

Photography — where would we be without you? Photography helps us stayed glue to the here and now. No need to fear, the future is clear.

ERIC

Or in other words, never force yourself to pursue any desires you don’t have a strong inclination or passion for. All great desires require no “effort”. If you truly desire something, the motivation will come easy.

For example I have a strong desire to become stronger. Thus going to the gym requires zero “effort” from me. I do it without thinking — and yet I come every day!

With arts, photography and creativity — I don’t need to “motivate” myself to do it. I just do it because I love it and have a strong desire to produce creative things and art works.

In the past I had an insanely strong desire to become self employed and to *not* be employed by a third party and to *not* have to report to a boss. Thus the motivation to become self employed and an entrepreneur came naturally to me.

Imagine a blockchain for photos and photographers. There is a verifiable history of when it was shot, what the original photo was (either RAW or JPEG), the history of post processing to it, and a full history of all the “likes” and comments it got — platform agnostic.

Perhaps this can be the future for ARS Photo?

Arsbeta.com as the current iteration.

Greed: when you do something which is good for you, and not good for me.

Or, when you do something which is contrary to my own personal morals and ethics, and I feel slighted that you aren’t doing as I think you should do.

So in other words:

When others call you “greedy”— they themselves are the intolerant ones.

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As artists and creatives, what do we truly desire and want/need?

Thought:

Perhaps what we are hungry for is perpetual creativity.

This means:

From morning to the moment we sleep, we are always full of creative energy, muscular strength, vigor, enthusiasm, motivation and inspiration!

And ideally — we have this creative flow state for the rest of our lives?

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A new photo workflow which has been awesome for me:

Shooting JPEG on RICOH GR III (small size) then uploading it into Apple Photos (on desktop) and having the photos all neatly synced on all my devices (iPhone, iPad, laptop) which makes it far easier to always be looking through my photos, selecting them, and working through them.

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Gym; a fun place to photograph, video. Some sort of visual kinesthesis between our muscles, movement, and photo?

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Currently I’m using a cheap Motorola smartphone (bought it brand new for $150), and also using an older iPhone 7 Plus (given to me from my brother in law). An interesting thought:

The iPhone (without a SIM card and 4G internet connection) is really great as a “standalone” creativity device — I just keep it in airplane mode and connected to WiFi!

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To combat and challenge the cult of productivity, GTD “getting things done” religion, and Inbox Zero. Perhaps leaving things undone and having the courage to ignore the superfluous as more wise and aesthetic/elegant.

We talk much about physical health, mental health, and spiritual health. Why does nobody talk about artistic and creative health?

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When it comes to art, why is it that we perceive that artwork (or details) created out of intention is superior to artwork created “unintentionally”?

Why this bias that intentionality is superior than unintentionality?

Something bizarre I’ve figured out:

Why is it that we feel we need to purchase x, y, z or upgrade x, y, z in order to become more artistic, or to be enabled to create our artwork?

My answer:

Capitalism, consumerism, and modern society has programmed us to feel that to create art is a “waste of time” (and thus a sin) and the only virtuous reason why we should make artwork is that it is good for our “mental health” (in order to become more productive).

In some ways, we feel good and justified to purchase a thing in order to enable us to become more artistic. This goes with cameras, phones, tablets, laptops, computers, or any other creative tools.

This is the goal. But the question:

How does one flourish artistically?

In other words:

What are the optimal conditions to allow you (the artist) to flourish maximally?

What is our modern vice? The guilt associated with the times in which we are *NOT* productive. When we aren’t actively being productive, we feel guilt. This is indecent.

Which makes me think:

In modern times, it actually takes more skill, courage and wisdom to force yourself to *NOT* be productive for periods of time.

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Something interesting:

In the Iliad and Ancient Greek mythology, even the gods sleep.

Sleep is described with all these blessed words. Even the battle-weary soldiers have the blessing of sleep.

So why is it in our strange modern times we see sleep as something undesirable, and a sign of the weak? Shouldn’t sleep be seen as one of the most godlike summits?

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A strong and simple primer to monochrome:

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Blur is great in photography. Why blur? If you look at a blurry photo (especially in monochrome) the photograph feels more dynamic. You feel the movement. And if we believe in visual kinesthesia, then a photograph that feels like it is moving, spurs you to move as well!

The best photos — personal, full of depth, include your own soul.

Substance — your photos carry emotional and personal weight. Your photos reveal something deeper and more substantive of you.

Content: What do your photos contain? What are you photographing? The best subjects are of those who you love and care for — for example, my ultimate best photos are that of Cindy.

Composition and framing is certainly essential in photography, but let us recognize that at the end of the day, your subject is king.

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Currently reading “Blockchain 2035” (co-written by Jared Tate, founder of Digibyte [DGB]– which I own). One of the concepts thrown around a lot is “decentralization”. Beyond just this anarchist-hippie libertarian utopist perspective, the general notion of decentralization is good. For example, best to *not* have all your photos stored only on Instagram. What if your account gets deleted, blocked etc? Then you’re fucked. Same goes with trusting everything to Facebook, Twitter, etc.

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Creative entrepreneurship. Artistic risk taking. The realization and thought:

To not allow yourself to be stuck, and to follow a pre-ordained path for your artistry.

Also—

Once you’ve become successful in your given domain of art, not to stay there and sit on your laurels. Instead, using that opportunity to double-down on your creative innovation.

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Art photography — photography that doesn’t need to be “realistic”. In some ways, disdains “realism”.

Also the childlike joy of making images for fun — for the sake of it!

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Something which is very elusive for us artists and visual artists:

The desire to capture or create the visual sublime in our images and art work!

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To think about photography composition — studying musical theory is useful. The repetition in a song, and the visual repetition in an image — this makes for an interesting photograph.

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Something which I contemplate on much:

What is the psychology of the photographer-artist?

In other words:

Why do we photograph? Why do we get so much joy from photography? What makes our psyche as photographers unique from others?

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A random thought:

Assuming that meeting our basic human needs is easy, then perhaps the best way to harness our human metabolism is towards artistic and creative ends?

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I recently saw this photograph by my friend Jun Goodhouse Kim, and felt it greatly stirring. It reminded me much of how I photographed my own grandfather’s funeral.

Jun then told me that his GRANDFATHER series was actually in-fact, motivated by my project and experience. Jun told me that seeing my original Grandfather project gave him the motivation and strength to pick up the camera, to document it.

I was really touched by his original article on photographing his grandfather’s funeral and his relationship to his grandfather. Being a fellow Korean-American, it spoke deeply to me:

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If the purpose of life is to create, then the question:

How does one create *MORE*?

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To photograph simply for the sake of it; this is sufficient!

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Creativity — the desire, propensity, and guts to create, innovate, experiment, and try new things. To attempt new uncharted paths, territories, and to use all the creative tools in your creative toolkit to make in a fun and “iterative” manner:

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To concern ourselves with only artistic and photographic matters … isn’t this the most beautiful, joyful and creatively flourishing life?

Something I think about a lot:

What are the ideal conditions for us artists to thrive?

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Prologue

As I contemplate my future and past, I think and reflect much on street photography. How much street photography has given and afforded me, how many new opportunities street photography opened up for me, and all the epic life journeys I’ve been able to experience through street photography.

As I start a very new exciting and brave new life in 2021, I wanted to use this chance to reflect on my past lessons, journeys and experiences and reflections in order to share them with you. My hope is that you gain some practical insight from what I’ve learned, and you can use these lessons to your own benefit and continue to pass them on to others!

ERIC
Providence, 2021

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As our best friend Steve Jobs once said:

To make something simple is insanely complex.

For example, why is Apple so great? Their products are simple. Everything is beaten to the rawest form and functionality (beaten with a ‘simple stick’).

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