I think as artists and photographers we often put a lot of pressure on ourselves. We always put pressure on ourselves to improve our photography, to take our work to the next level, and to make “original” work. In “Akademie x Lessons in Art and Life” artist (and our tutor) Shirley Tse gave lots of…
I think one of the most exciting things about being an artist is following your curiosity, passion, and to pursue a life-long path of learning. Continuing from my “Akademie x Lessons in Art and Life” series, here are some lessons I learned from the Raqs Media Collective in how you can constantly transform yourself through…
Continuing my series on “Akademie x Lessons in Art and Life”, I thoroughly enjoyed an essay titled: “Me and Marcuse” by Michelle Grabner. She exposed me to a lot of new ideas that I want to explore below on the following topics: what art is for, the importance of filtering images, undoing and re-doing your…
Continuing the lessons I’ve learned from “Akademie x Lessons in Art + Life”, I want to share some thoughts I’ve learned from Carol Bove, one and the artists and “tutors” from the book. Carol expresses ideas on self-expression, what work means to her, time and information management, as well as uncensoring and finding yourself. I…
(Editor’s Note: Words and Photographs by Ryan Tacay) In a world of instant-gratification and disposable media, it’s hard to take something like instagram as a serious way to share something artistic and long-lasting. Going past the jokes about it being all about the bathroom selfies, things I ate today, or this afternoon’s sunset, it’s actually one of the…
Continuing my education with “Akademie x Lessons in Art + Life”, I wanted to share some thoughts I have gleaned from Piero Golia, one of the artists and “tutors” in the book. Here are some of his ideas that stirred my thoughts and creativity, and how I think we can apply these concepts as a…
I just gave a free street photography webinar, and here are some of the slides that I shared on practical tips, assignments, and “traits of great street photographers”. The video recording of the event will be available in a week or so, will also make sure to share. In the meanwhile, enjoy this presentation! You…
I am currently reading: “Akademie x Lessons in Art + Life”, which is probably one of the most inspirational art/life books I’ve picked up as of late. It is a beautifully printed and bound book, folding open like a school instructional manual. I personally never went to art school. I entered college as a Biology…
Hey streetogs, after my 3-week trip in Chicago, Toronto, NYC, I am excited to finally be back home in Berkeley. It is wonderful to enjoy sleeping in my own bed, being back at home with Cindy, and the lovely weather of Berkeley. Unfortunately, I think I caught a mild cold while traveling, and will spend the…
(Editor’s Note: Words and Photographs by Jared Krause) I started shooting in June of 2009. I had causally been thinking about photography and decided to buy a camera. I started posting to a photo blog because I felt like photography was a good way to share my experiences with other people. Shooting street photos gave…
I love music. I love listening to music when I’m writing (like I am doing now), I love listening to music when I’m driving, and I love having music play in the background when I’m with my friends. I have a lot of favorite artists and I have found one thing that separates the “successful”…
(Editor’s Note: Interview by Eric Kim. Photographs by Nick Gervin.) Eric: Hey Nick great to have you. Can you start off by telling us a (brief) life story and how you first picked up a camera? Nick: Thanks for having me, Eric. I first picked up a camera in 1992 at the age of twelve. I wanted to…
In my street photography workshops, I often give the students a “5 yes/5 no” assignment. The concept is simple: you approach a bunch of strangers and ask permission to take their portrait. You intentionally try to get 5 people to say “yes”, and 5 people to say “no.” Sometimes students struggle to get all 5…
One thing to remind myself: street photography is supposed to be fun. If you’re not having fun, why are you doing it? We all have the stresses of everyday life that we have to deal with. We have to deal with stressful commutes, unreasonable bosses, difficulties at home, drama with friends and family, and financial…
One of the most interesting ideas that I’ve got from Nassim Taleb’s book “Antifragile” is his concept of “via negativa”. The concept is this: when describing something, negative descriptions often work best. What is a negative description? Well, describing what something isn’t can better define something.
From here on out, Photography Quick Links will now be known as Street Photography Quick Links. Just like from last month, a compilation of interesting news, write-ups, videos, and other things about street photography and other related genres that I have personally consumed. Since it is international women’s month last March, there’s a special section…
Hey streettogs, I just uploaded some slides for a free talk I did for Chase Toronto the other day on tips, techniques, and tricks to conquer your fear of shooting street photography. You can also download the slides for free here. Enjoy! :)
So after a long trip in Stockholm, Dubai, and London I wanted to share some of my experiences shooting medium-format (Hasselblad 501c + 80mm lens and Mamiya 7 + 80mm lens) for street photography (and traveling in general). To start off, I have been really fascinated with shooting square-format photographs recently. To be honest, my…
I just re-read an excellent book titled: “The Art of Learning” by Josh Waitzkin. If you’ve ever watched the film “Searching for Bobby Fischer” (the movie about the kid chess prodigy)— that movie was based on Josh Waitzkin’s life. “The Art of Learning” is a rare book in the sense that he became world champion…
The other night here in Chicago, I woke up in the middle of the night. I was tossing and turning (put on the heater too hot at night). In a state of being half-asleep, I started to have all of these random ideas for blog posts. One of them was: “measure your life as a…
This is a guest post by Josh White, a street photographer based in Seoul, Korea. Josh: Yesterday (and sort of the day before) I took part in the 24 Hour Project. For those of you that don’t know, it is a street photography initiative that involves photographers worldwide. Basically, how it works, is you take…
I recently stopped into the Costco in Mountain View, California with 164 rolls of Kodak Portra 400. You should’ve seen the look of the staff— it was a look of confusion, awe, and amazement. They were surprised that all that film I brought in was all shot by me. They were also partly worried that…
And so the cycle continues for Streettogs Academy! Our assignment this time round is deceptively simple. This assignment would actually go down as the assignment with the most interaction (so far). Many comments were shared and there were a number of photos that got the attention of many members of the group. If you look…
Hey streettogs, I am excited to share that my friend Walter Margerison and I are curating a group street photography show at Artís Coffee in Berkeley, comprised of 24 Bay-Area based street photographers. The exhibition is this Friday, March 20, from 6-9pm. Free alcoholic beverages will be served, and this will be a great chance to…
On October, 2014 Rene Burri passed away, at age 81. He had an incredible career of photography behind him, and produced many iconic images, which include those of Che, Picasso, and many other street photographs which perfectly combined geometry, story, and form. About a year ago I got a copy of his color street photography, which was…
I was stunned to hear that photographer Caio Proença recently translated my free e-book: “Street Photography 101: An Introduction to Street Photography” into Portuguese (free download here)! Caio writes a bit about why he decided to translate it:
I recently got a new book in the mail: “Dorothea Lange: Aperture Masters of Photography” (courtesy of Aperture) and was deeply inspired and moved by her work, life, and philosophy. I have always known Dorothea Lange’s work documenting the Great Depression (and her famous “Migrant Mother” photograph), but didn’t know much about her life and…
One thing I notice when I’m teaching street photography workshops is that a lot of photographers don’t like having their own photograph taken. This is a huge problem. If you want to build up your confidence in shooting street photography, I think you also need to be comfortable being on the other side of the…
(A.g.’s note: Photography Quick Links is a new initiative I want to do here on the blog. These are links I have personally read and sifted through. This is by no means a definitive guide but for those news stories or news articles regarding photography [but will try to concentrate it to street of course]…
Here we go with another assignment over at streettogs academy. Cheers to Harry Fodor for bagging the editor’s choice for Assignment no. 8. In his email to me, he gave a pretty nice explanation/rationale on why he chose his theme. He made a good observation of what the group is doing and I think it…
I want to write this article on a photographer, blogger, and overall cool guy — Blake Andrews. I first saw Blake’s work on the In-Public website, and was amazed by his surrealistic street photography— and his sharp eyes for shapes, forms, and visual elements.
I am excited to announce that I finally put together my free ebook: “Letters from a Street Photographer“. This book is much more philosophical in nature– and combines the philosophy of stoicism and street photography. If you seek more purpose, happiness, and meaning in your photography, this book is for you. Here is a breakdown…
“A bible for photographers” – Clement Cheroux Wow— where do I even begin? I would say that “The Decisive Moment” by Cartier-Bresson is one of the most beautiful photo books I have ever handled— and it is a book that brings me extreme joy and happiness (you can see all the photos from the book…
All systems go as our Space assignment wraps up! Thank you again to Kirk Lothian for the interesting idea and letting me play with Space and Star Trek Puns like nothing else! Let’s lift off and head on to the actual entries everyone in the streettogs academy group sent in.
I’ve just put together this list of street photography aphorisms, heuristics, and sayings. This is a distillation of all of my current thoughts and philosophies on street photography. Many of these sayings and ideas are heavily borrowed from others, and none of these ideas are original. Don’t take everything in this list as “truth”. Rather,…
Update: I re-edited this book with new images and design / April, 2016 Hey streettogs, I am excited to announce that I’ve finally published my free e-book: “Street Photography 101“. If you’re new to street photography, want to learn the fundamentals, or refresh your existing knowledge– check it out. As always, this book is “open source”…
There is no doubt that we are in an age where information on the web is fast and oftentimes free but despite that, we can’t discount the value of books. This tangible medium has helped teach men and women for centuries as it was and is one of the best way to pass information and/or…
My friend Todd Hatakeyama recently gave me a superbly refreshing book titled: “The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking”. It is a basic primer on how to think more effectively when solving problems– and can help students, teachers, and anyone trying to learn or improve their skills. Like always, I took away a lot from the…
(A.g.’s note/Disclaimer: The following are the notes I have jotted down during the Angkor Photo Festival last Nov. 28-Dec. 6, 2014. I have organized my thoughts and the lessons so that it would be easy to comprehend for others. The notes I have is most likely different from the other participants since we had different…
Dear streettogs, I am really excited to share that I have (another) free e-book for you guys (because I love you) titled: “The Street Photography Project Manual” The concept behind the e-book was this: I wanted to put together all the information I knew regarding coming up with ideas with street photography projects, how to…
Today I turn 27 years old, thank you for all the kind birthday wishes! I am currently in LA for the weekend, visiting some close friends and family for a quick birthday dinner, then heading back home to Berkeley early Sunday. I am generally not the person to reflect very much. I kind of like…
In this video presentation I share compositional techniques to make better street photographs (diagonals, figure-to-ground, curves, leading lines, framing). You can see all the slides for this presentation here. Articles on Street Photography Composition If you want to learn how to improve your compositions in street photography, enjoy these articles: Composition Lesson #1: Triangles Composition…
As a part of my on-going “Ask Eric Kim” series– here is a question I have from Darren Hoyland from my Facebook fan page: Darren Hoyland: How [do you] keep yourself motivated whilst out on the streets when you have that deja view moment of been here done that? Hey Darren, I face this a lot:…
I am a big fan and believer of “heuristics” (or rules of thumb). I was first introduced to the idea of “heuristics” from Nassim Taleb (in his book “Antifragile“) and later more from Gerd Gigerenzer (a German psychologist who wrote the excellent book: “Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious“). Below is a list of heuristics…
In this video lecture above, I share some practical tips, thoughts, and philosophies about being “invisible when shooting street photography. You can check out the slides here. If you want to learn how to overcome your fear of shooting street photography, I also recommend watching my video lecture: “How to Overcome Your Fear of Shooting…
This morning on the way to the gym, I was listening to the newest podcast episode of “Invisibilia” (a new NPR podcast on cognitive and behavioral science) and they had an episode titled “Fearless”. The episode was fascinating to me— as I have always been obsessive with this idea of conquering your fear of shooting…
Cheers to another Streettogs Academy Assignment done and let’s continue the voyage with the Assignment from editor’s choice, Kirk Lothian. Here’s a hint to what it is: It should make us boldly go where no one has gone before.
All photographs copyrighted by the estate of Harry Callahan. You can download this article for free as a .docx, PDF, or Google Doc. I recently came upon the work of Harry Callahan from a friend and former workshop student named Chris Giuseppe. This past weekend, I organized a small meet-up in San Francisco in the…
Another two weeks, another assignment done over at streettogs academy! Sam Trachsel gave us Opposites as a theme for this assignment! Let’s look at how the members of the group interpreted the theme!
I just finished a book called “10% happier”, which preached the benefits of meditation and mindfulness in everyday life. There is a lot of pain and anxiety from everyday life, and one of the main causes of that is longing for something. Wanting something that we don’t have. By focusing too much on the future and…
It is that time of the year again— to make resolutions for the new year. In 2014, I wrote a post, “40 Street Photography Resolutions Ideas for 2014” and I also wrote a post titled: “15 Street Photography Assignments to Re-Energize and Re-Inspire You” (inspired by the book: “The Photographer’s Playbook: 307 Assignments and Ideas”).…
Hey streettogs, to continue with my “Ask Eric Kim” series (any questions you had about street photography, business, marketing, social media, etc.) I put a question out on Facebook regarding what questions you had (so I could try my best to help out and offer some ideas): Kai Kienzle asked the following: “How [do you] discover interesting scenes in your familiar…
Thank you to Fujifilm Vietnam and Gin Tran for putting together this feature of me shooting street photography in Saigon this summer. I hope the tips I share in this video can help you when it comes to traveling and shooting street photography. I also give some tips when it comes to shooting with the…
Everyone seems antsy and excited for the next assignment. So I’ll be quick and not do my usual introduction this time and head straight to it! Here is what Streettogs Academy 6 editor’s choice, Sam Traschel picked for us:
In an effort to be more helpful, I am going to start putting together more video lectures and features for YouTube. In this presentation, I give some practical advice how to overcome your fears of shooting street photography– including the philosophy, approach, and tips. Articles on Conquering Your Fear Check out my Free Ebook: “31…
If you’re like me– you deal with moments of “uninspiration”. There are days that you want to go out and shoot, but there is some sort of “resistance” which holds you back. What is a good way to become re-inspired?
Street photography is one of the most difficult forms of photography out there. Not only do you have to rapidly compose, frame, and approach strangers— but you have to do so with the risk of “injury.” They might injure you verbally (threaten to break your camera, give you a dirty look and call you a…
All photos copyrighted by Alex Webb / Magnum Photos. You can pick up a copy of “The Suffering of Light” on Amazon here. After my month-long trip abroad in Stockholm, London, and Dubai I am finally (mostly) over my jet lag and have recovered at home. I’m sitting in my apartment and thinking to myself:…
(Editor’s Note: Today’s guest post and photographs are by Switzerland based street photographer Hakim Boulouiz. Enjoy!) Hakim: One of the first lessons in photography has to do with the famous quote from photographer and ecologist, Ansel Adams, “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.”This magic formula applies to all facets of photography without exception.…
Here we are once again with the results and analysis! Things have been going fine in the group as I have recently posted new policies and updated the criteria to further clear the mission/vision of what streettogs academy really is. As we go along, I hope people get a lot out of the group and…
Hohoho, Merry (upcoming) holidays streettogs. If you weren’t sure what to ask for the holidays this year, I have compiled this list of street photography books to ask Santa (or your friends, family, significant other) for. Read more to see my full list of recommended books below!
In “The War of Art”, the author Stephen Pressfield talks about “The Resistance” — and how it is the biggest obstacle to all of our artistic pursuits and endeavors. We can encounter “The Resistance” in many ways in our life. We encounter it when we want to start our own business (and we have thoughts…
As this article is very long, I recommend reading this by saving it to Pocket or Instapaper. All photos in this article are copyrighted by Henri Cartier Bresson / Magnum Photos. I recently picked up a copy of “The Mind’s Eye” – which is a great compilation of thoughts and philosophies Henri Cartier-Bresson wrote. Aperture published this great…
I recommend reading this article by saving it to Pocket, Instapaper. All images in this article are copyrighted by Josef Koudelka and Magnum Photos. “Exiles” by Josef Koudelka is one of the must-buy books of this year. Previously (before this re-print by aperture) the book would sell second-hand for around $300. I personally couldn’t afford…
Now on it’s 10th year, the Angkor Photo Festival has always been a great showcase of photography in the Asian region. This year, they keep doing what they do best by giving everyone the best photography in Asia has to offer. If you have nothing to do on Nov. 29 to Dec. 6, I suggest…
Josef Koudelka is one of my favorite photographers of all-time. I love how he has been able to craft his life around photographing only what he wanted to photograph, how he is able to capture emotional and empathetic images (especially in his “Gypsies” project), his ability to continue to re-invent his photography (switching from 35mm…
At Gulf Photo Plus, as a part of the “Street Photography Series” in November in Dubai, I gave a free talk on street photography yesterday (11/24/2014). The title of my presentation was: “10 Lessons Street Photography Has Taught Me About Life” in which I share some of my personal philosophies about street photography (and life).…