BE BRAVE
no need for you to behave
You gotta stay strong with yourself right now
Now not never, wherever the weather.
Be brave
You’ve stayed and paved your own path in life, beyond the plight and blights
Your future is bright and bold. You make your life— ignore what you’ve been told!
ERIC
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Many of us bemoan the fact of COVID-19. But my thought:
Right now is your uber-unique opportunity to document history in the making!
We might not have had the opportunity to shoot World War 1, World War 2, the Vietnam War, or any of the things happening in Europe during the days of Magnum (Robert Capa, Cornell Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson). But we have the chance to shoot this brave new COVID world!
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I’ve shot with all the cameras for street photography and I can confidently say that RICOH GR is the best camera for street photography. Why? Simple reasons:
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In street photography — best to shoot in such a manner in which you’re *not* hiding behind a bush, or not pretending to *not* be shooting photos. In some sense, to make it obvious that you’re shooting a street photograph of someone or your subject is more honest and genuine (ethics in street photography). Why? You expose yourself to the risk of the other — you shoot the scene knowing that your subject knows that you’re photographing them. As a consequence, street photography is one of the most difficult forms of photography but also one of the most rewarding forms of photography!
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What makes an “artistic” street photograph, and how can we make more artistic street photographs? Some thoughts:
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Get free inspiration on ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER >
Dear friend,
With the new year is a new artistic and creative new you. Here are some very practical and pragmatic ideas I got for you:
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A series I started while in Vietnam, inspired by my ‘Learn from the masters of photography‘ is this — the ‘traditional’ masters of art (mostly painters). But still … hugely useful to study!
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What is artistic virtue-signaling? Simple:
(more…)When (pretentious) and petty (insecure artists) name-drop other famous artists of the past (hoping you don’t know who they are talking about), use obscure art terms, or other strange “art world†concepts to befuddle you, confuse you, make you feel small, and have them feel superior to you due to your lack of artistic knowledge, experience, or “in-speakâ€.
On top of photography and visual arts, calligraphy is one of my huge interests and passions.
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To invest means to clothe yourself in financial security for the future. Or investing is the embodied hope for a more prosperous and beautiful future.
Many people invest for the future, but why doesn’t anyone invest towards the now?
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A thought while doing some calligraphy and studying some great calligraphy (Eulogy for Burying a Crane and the Art of Chinese Calligraphy)
With calligraphy, what makes a great calligraphy is emotion, dynamism, energy, force, and the “chi†of the artist.
With photography — precision is overrated. Emotional photography is the future.
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How does one become a more interesting and intrepid photographer? Simple — just take it photo by photo. Every new photo you shoot, keep, ditch, edit, upload, process, marinate, witness, remix, etc helps you self-develop further as a photographer visual artist.
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Just when I thought I got all of photography figured out, it still continues to surprise me.
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What keeps me going in photography? Simple — how joyful and beautifully simple photography can be, and the beautiful sublime images photography can produce!
As a visual artist, what am I hungry for? The visual sublime. To discover new art works which turn me on, excite me and fascinate me, and also for me to take my hand and to attempt to make my own art works which I consider visual sublime.
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Beyond philosophy, all I care for is art. Arts creation, artistic thinking, and anything to do with art.
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Why is it in modern times, to have “fun†is seen as bad and indecent? Perhaps it is a result of industrialization, the Protestant work ethic, and the thought:
Whenever you are *not* working and being “productiveâ€, you’re actively sinning.
But has there been any philosophers or thinkers who have seriously thought about fun … as a good and productive thing?
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What is one of my personal ambitions and life-goals? To become the uber-photographer — the greatest embodiment of the photographer. Greatly prolific in my shooting, photography philosophy, approach, thinking, insight, innovation, entrepreneurship, and more…
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My friend Jeffrey Lam said it best:
ERIC, it seems that in life you optimize for “mindspaceâ€, and you’re willing to trade money, convenience and other things to maximize your mindspace.
I agree. For me, the best mind (or my own optimal mind for myself) is mostly via negativa: I want *fewer* worries, cares, and needless thoughts in my mind. I want to have a crystal clear mind — to gain a more clear picture of things and the world. Clairvoyance — clear vision is what I desire.
And what to do with this clear mind?
Let interesting innate thoughts and ideas come to me, to speak to me, in order for me to focus on my creative “ideationâ€.
And these more interesting ideas and thoughts — I desire to meditate, think on them, marinate them, and eventually write about them and share them with the world!
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Culture as anti-individual. Culture says you *should* do x, y, z and actively *discourages* you from self-experimentation, self-discovery, and trying to learn things empirically (based on your own life experiences).
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A simple life lesson I’ve learned:
Never trust the hearsay or the second hand talk of others.
Instead, place 100x more weight in your own experiences, your own thoughts, conscience, gut, and life.
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“I took photos with my camera and my heart†– Gabriel Cualladó
Huge thanks to my friend Mark for sending me this great photo book on Gabriel Cuadallo and his photography. A new source of visual and photographic inspiration for me, especially in street photography:
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A very simple thing you can do as a photographer to augment your joy (especially with our new quarantine lifestyle in which we are spending a lot of time at home):
(more…)Print your favorite photos, and mount them on your walls at home!
A thought and realization:
Without physiological strength and wellness, no good creative work can be done or accomplished.
Thus if your physiology or health feels poor, focus all your efforts on improving your health towards maximal physiological health, then your creative work will easily follow!
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First sent to ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER >
Dear friend,
2020 was a hell of a year. My deep optimism:
(more…)2021 will be a great year for your photography.
Critic means ‘judge’. Certainly it is good to judge our photos (to know which photos to keep, and which to ditch). However when our inner-photographic critic is bad:
It prevents us from shooting *new* photos because of a fear that the photograph might be ‘bad’.
Simple thoughts:
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Recently got an “all in one†Black + Decker oventop baker, “air fryerâ€, toaster and oven and learned:
None of it works that well.
Compare this to this funny “Nuwave ‘Infared oven’†Cindy and I got which actually works very well. Super simple — one function (to cook stuff), super simple buttons and controls, and it just works.
Which makes me think:
Perhaps the best tools are specialized tools.
For example, iPhone Pro is great for photography but ultimately if your goal is to maximize your photography, RICOH GR III is perhaps 20x better. Why? The Ricoh has only one function — make photos, and all the functionality is optimized towards that— fits well in your hand, compact, lightweight, great high ISO performance, etc. Whereas the iPhone needs to do a lot of stuff — make phone calls, text message, play games, operate apps, use as GPS, etc.
Thus the takeaway is this:
Don’t get suckered by “all in one†solutions and tools — there will always be a compromise somewhere.
Better than decide or determine what *to do* (or to do more of this year), better to think of deciding what you don’t want to do this year, what you want to do less of this year, and what you want to remove or subtract from your life.
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How do most philosophies and modes of thinking fail? The bias:
Life is bad, and being born is the worst thing which could have possibly fallen upon you.
But in truth, being born is one of the greatest privileges known:
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The joy of photography:
The hope and excitement for a more bright future— a future replete with many new life experiences and opportunities, and many new chances to make new photos!
A new thing I’m experimenting with: HDR photography (in-camera HDR setting on RICOH GR III), and have been having a lot of fun:
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A good thought:
The reason why photography is so great … deep excitement, hope and joy for this upcoming new year!
New year, new experiences, new laughs, new sorrows, new happenings, new news, and new photos for you.
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The other day I cashed out some gains I got from crypto (Bitcoin), and thought to myself:
How is it that this profit was created out of thin air?
Which makes me realize:
Money is just a social construct— based on hope for a more prosperous future.
In other words:
When we “investâ€â€” we are hopeful! We are excited and interested in the future, and what the future will bring us!
Thus when it comes to making money via “investingâ€â€” we sell hope and the future.
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There ain’t much we can control in life, but one of the variables we can control in life is this:
How much (the degree) of excitement we decide to pursue in life.
And the thing is the riskier and the more interesting the life path we pursue, the more joy, hope, optimism and excitement we derive from life and existence!
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I don’t think I can say I’m the best blogger, but I can certainly say I’m the most productive and prolific blogger. I don’t know anyone else who has written as much as I have, in the course of a decade.
As I’ve eclipsed the 10,000 blog post mark (your first 10,000 blog posts are your worst), some reflections:
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I’ve always been an Android and anti-Apple fanboy ever since my college years. I preferred the open system of Android, Chrome, etc.
But now as of 2020, Android and Google is starting to creep into ways into my life which I don’t like.
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A Taoist “wu-wei” concept. No need to force things; let things naturally resolve itself by letting go. Follow your gut. Much wisdom in purposeful procrastination. Only do work when your body is strong enough for it!
Overall, I am very bullish on crypto (cryptocurrency (Digibyte, Bitcoin), smart contracts (Chainlink), and other forms of cryptography in regards to security, decentralized financed, etc).
Why? It seems simple:
In Providence I went to the local Roger Williams park and discovered by chance this Japanese zen garden, which is pure sublime. I had soooo much fun just running around and photographing all the textures, branches, trees, frozen waters, etc. Which made me truly appreciate the zen and visual sublime bliss of shooting nature … especially when Japanese Zen aesthetics are applied:
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We are hunting to get more and more, to procure more and more money, savings, etc in order to finally feel “secureâ€. But will we ever feel secure? No.
Thus it seems the practical advice is:
(more…)Don’t delay your artistic creativity, do it now, today.
I just cashed out some gains I got from Bitcoin (cryptocurrency) and currently I feel very pleased and secure with my finances. But the thing is:
With cryptocurrency, you can be very rich on paper, but most of your cryptocurrency may not be liquid which means … your feeling of being rich and overly abundant in wealth is mostly a mental thing.
Which makes me think and philosophize:
(more…)Perhaps we should address wealth from a mindset and mental thing … not an objective numbers-based thing.
In arts, creativity and life — to become more uninhibited is superior!
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When in doubt, optimize for speed. Speed will always win — when it comes to business, entrepreneurship, workflow, and life:
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My vision of open source art:
Release your artwork openly and freely to the web. Open standards like PDF, JPEG, RAW, TIFF, PNG, .ZIP, etc.
No need for copyright, watermarks, DRM (digital rights management), or other “protectionsâ€. Artwork wants to be free, and we love artwork which is open and free!
Direct downloads, from your own FTP server, or public download links via Dropbox/Google Drive. The encouragement of sharing, being open, and having your art be decentralized!
In this game of art, you’re the artist. You’re the creator, curator, and taste maker.
You don’t require the permission or validation of any other external party besides yourself. No need to quote others, piggyback off others, or build your clout off others.
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Everywhere I look, design is king.
For example think about Apple, Steve Jobs, and Jony Ive and now Tesla and Elon Musk. Since then, designers are the new demigods of society.
If we consider design and art as one in the same (I see design as artwork, applied in society, made practical and useful) then we realize that design and art is essential in life for human flourishing!
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Why eat meat? Why *not* eat meat?
I have yet heard a philosophical argument *for* meat-eating. All new-agey philosophy and modes of thinking are staunchly ANTI-meat eating. Or for the more ‘woke’ folks (who don’t want to openly admit to liberal-elite educated circles that they like to eat meat), they will say they only eat meat ‘once in a while’ or ‘in moderation’ or ‘only grass-fed humanely slaughtered meats’ or they say ‘they no longer eat red meat, only chicken breast or other white meat’.
Some philosophical thoughts on meat-eating:
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Consider —
All these new buildings and monuments which are built in devotion to the ‘arts’ and ‘creativity’ and ‘creative arts’.
Why are these things important?
Once we have made a ton of money, and want to leave some sort of legacy … we want to impart the gift of entrepreneurship, arts, techniques, theater, culture, and creativity to future generation … not just mere dollars and zeros for the sake of it.
The end of all wealth, success, and society is the creative arts.
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Currently I am at my peak physical condition. Deadlift is at 455 pounds (I can do more), Squat is at 375, floor bench is at 265, etc.
I am convinced … one of the greatest joys I am experiencing right is the fact I am in peak physical shape, strength, and condition. I have never been this strong before in my life (I am currently 32 years old), and I know that my strength is still building and climbing. Extreme optimism for the future.
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Random thought:
Why is it that I can concentrate more when I am working at a coffee shop (with some stochastic resonance noise … aka small background noise), and why is it that I am also physiologically stronger at the gym surrounded by others (I gain more strength when I am weight lifting at the gym, instead of home).
Also — why am I more energized when I do an in-person (or virtual) online workout class versus doing it myself at home?
Thought:
(more…)Perhaps the randomness and chaos of other humans, and other human interactions is what keeps us mentally sharp. Having to judge others, judge yourself, when surrounded by other humans is what helps us keep in peak shape?
Not to cleave to one lifestyle. Rather, as your life progresses, you allow yourself to *dynamically change* based on your circumstances and life.
This means:
There is not one perfect lifestyle for your entire lifetime … rather, think about lifestyle in *phases*.
For example, certainly your lifestyle as a teenager should be different from your lifestyle as a young parent. Same goes if you’re over 60 years old — your lifestyle should be different than what was in your 20’s.
Perhaps the desire to cling onto a certain lifestyle for a long period of time is fear of change?
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Honestly at this point, I believe Apple Photos (the default photos app for Mac) to be *superior* to Adobe Lightroom Classic for desktop.
Why? Some thoughts:
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Simply put:
The camera you always have with you, and is the easiest to shoot which allows you to shoot more … is the best camera!
This can be RICOH GR III, iPhone Pro, Google Pixel, etc.
Typically speaking, the best camera is:
Ironically enough, failing my one rep max attempts at the gym is almost as good as successfully achieving new PR’s (personal records) for one rep max’s in my lifts.
Why? The big reason:
When I fail at a one rep max attempt, I realize … it ain’t so scary!
And this gives me huuuuuge new confidence and motivation.
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Creative photography is our pursuit. Thus the simple question:
How do we become *more* creative in our photography?
Some thoughts:
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As long as we are stuck in this cult of productivity and thinking of utilitarian aims and ends … we can never truly conquer creativity.
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Creativity is the goal of existence — to make art, and keep making it!
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Let us think deeply on this:
(more…)What do you *really* want in life, or *from* life … and for what ends?
For me the ideal trifecta to build:
I think I get this from Bruce Gilden as a photography assignment: shoot what you’re afraid of. Totally makes sense. If you see something which scares you, it probably interests you. And the more you can harness your fear and adrenaline in order to make more epic photos, the better.
Like Jimmy Iovine says:
Don’t let fear get in your way. Instead, you harness the fear and get it to push you ahead from behind!
What are we truly hungry for and searching for? Deeper photographic wisdom.
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Your opinion regarding your own photos is always in a state of flux and changing. Certain photos which you were super enthusiastic about one day, you might lose that enthusiasm over time.
Typically time is the ultimate judge. The longer you allow your photos to sit and marinate, you gain deeper wisdom and insight into your photos.
Thus to always be editing your photos means to always review your photos (new and old), and always re-upload and make new albums with old and new photos.
And the great optimism of always editing your photos:
You’re always being creative!
ERIC
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Something which endlessly fascinates me:
How to make the best composition of a given scene?
I was looking through some photos, and a simple realization:
(more…)The simpler the photograph, the more superior.
