Often I forget the old photos I’ve shot in the past! To look at my old photos is almost akin to experiencing it for the first time:

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What is the best? Typically that which has the most utility.

What is the most utility? That which gets utilized and used the most!

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FREE MOTIVATION ON ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER >

Dear friend,

In today’s topsy turvy world, being optimistic is hard. But my happy thought is this:

The future world will continue to exist, and you will continue to thrive as a photographer.

Just imagine —

What new photos have you yet photographed?

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Or why California is overrated:

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To study composition means to steal visual inspiration from anywhere and everywhere.

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In my opinion, I believe it takes more skill and courage to be hopeful, joyful, cheerful and optimistic than pessimistic and nihilistic. Our goal as photographers is to have motivation to shoot until we’re 120 years old. So how does one do this?

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Hopeful photos … the promise of a more beautiful tomorrow and day after tomorrow. Photos as the great bringer of optimistic hope and joy!

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Henri Cartier-Bresson once said he had a passion for geometry. This mixed with his pursuit of photography is interesting — hybrid of both geometry/shape/form, and photography (instant sketches of life).

My new interest — studying Archimedes, mathematics, and projective geometry to cross-pollinate with photography and composition:

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Too long we have separated the two. No, we must integrate them. 

A photographer is an artist. Artists are also photographers.

Almost everyone I know who is interested in photography has an artistic spine and bones within them. It’s simply a matter of other artists who act pretentious and try to talk down on photographers.

Photography as just another medium or media, as Aristotle said (On the Soul).

So photographers … we express our souls via the medium or media of photography?

Also—

No photograph is sacred. We can remix, reshape, glitch, filter, adapt, change, paint, sketch, or trace our photos and repurpose them as we see fit!

A type of photo “upcycling”. Photographic renewal, visual energy.

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On iPad and Procreate app:

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Archimedes “On the equilibrium of planes”— a fascinating look into how mathematics, art, science, design, and visual architecture are all interconnected:

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An effective photography composition technique — circles:

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For me a “good” photograph is a photograph I find personally interesting, curious and worth lingering over.

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Visual acuity means “the art of seeing beautiful scenes and potentially interesting photos”. The concept behind our book “How to See”:

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First sent on ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER >

Dear friends,

Some quick black and white photography assignments to get you going:

1. Photograph your hand. Shoot in RAW, and increase the contrast, to see more details in your hands
2. Inverse your photos: Choose some monochrome photos of yours which you like, and inverse them, to gain a more interesting view into them.
3. Shoot with a flash: Monochrome and a flash renders interesting scenes. Shoot everything you see with a flash and without a flash. You can experiment with RICOH GR II Program Mode and the integrated flash, or the integrated flash on your Fuji, or even the iPhone with Noir mode with the integrated flash!
4. Make a portfolio of your favorite (current) monochrome photos and upload them to your website portfolio.
5. Study the masters of monochrome photography. Andre Kertesz, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Josef Koudelka, Richard Avedon.
6. Experiment with RAW or JPEG high contrast for monochrome. You can download ERIC KIM PRESETS for free to experiment with.
7. Exposure compensation: When you see something interesting, shoot it at -1 exposure compensation, 0, and +1 exposure compensation.
8. Abstract your photos as much as possible. This means, blur your photos, shoot your photos out of focus, and make them more surreal!

Upload your favorite monochrome photos to arsbeta.com

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The goal … to make more personally meaningful photos. Monochrome/black and white is an effective way:

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Black and white; my first passion and love:

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Your style in photography is always changing and evolving. As Heraclitus would have said:

Your photos and style and creative/artistic vision is always in a stream of becoming.

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Not more ‘happiness’ or even more ‘joy’ in life … more physiological energy, power, and force!

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Simple ideas to get you going:

1. Spend a day shooting photos only on your phone, and explore all the filters in the default iPhone/Apple Photos app, or the default filters in Google Photos.
2. Spend a day shooting only creative selfies of yourself. Selfies of yourself in a mirror, your reflection, etc.
3. If you have the urge to buy a new camera or lens, buy a new photography book instead. For new photographic inspiration and motivation, buying books not gear is the way.
4. If you’re lacking motivation to make new photos, start shooting videos instead! Shoot lots of random video clips and drag them into imovie and export them as a ‘life vlog‘ of your video photograph snapshots. Best way I would describe it as “creative snapchat like” photo-videos.
5. Take some photos of yours which you like, and glitch and apply fun and creative filters to your images to re-imagine them in novel ways.
6. To give feedback on the photos of others is also creative. Upload your best photos and provide feedback on arsbeta.com
7. If you got a standalone digital camera, choose a jpeg filter you like and stick with it for a month, as a way to cultivate an artistic style. I like high contrast monochrome and cross process filter on RICOH GR III.

The purpose of life to create, be creative, and never stop creating and iterating your creations!

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The other day, for some reason after sleeping at midnight I woke up, wide awake at 4am. Drank a few coffees and did some creative work in the morning, but for the rest of the day I felt like absolute shit and it was one of the most physiologically painful and unpleasant days I’ve experienced in a long time. But I suppose the good that came out of it was realizing:

What I truly desire is more physiological energy, physiological power to pursue my artistic, creative and philosophical ends!

To advance photography for all, not just the privileged few.

Also, to innovate in photography for the sake of opening up new opportunities, new avenues for photographers to express themselves creatively via photography. Also, photography philosophy and entrepreneurship … photography as risk taking, and life living!

What’s Your Higher Mission in Life?

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One of my favorite Nietzsche quotes. A realization —

When I am listening to music (especially with noise cancelling headphones, BOSE QC 35 Mark II), I can actually focus. My mood and physiological energy levels are improved probably 100x, and my delight and joy in life and existence is magnified to an insane degree!

Which makes me think:

Perhaps we should listen to *MORE* great music, to augment our lives and our life experiences?

What we are trying to do as artists is not to give a factual depiction of something, but the *impression* and the *feeling* of something!

For example, with hyper cars … the sensation and impression of speed and dominance, even when it is stationary!

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When should you photograph? I cannot speak for you, but let me speak for myself:

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If you desire to make more “artistic” photos, try to make photos that *don’t* resemble reality!

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Photography is interesting when our photos can be used as a stimulus to imagine … to imagine what was *really* happening behind the scenes. Also, when we apply filters to our photos, we allow our viewers to imagine more!

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Something that philosophers of the past haven’t figured out (for some reason or another):

To study philosophy or to philosophize about non-utilitarian things is the ultimate luxury.

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In life and entrepreneurship, and art… the worst:

To be ignored.

Thus it seems a better position to put yourself is this:

Create, produce, share, and be yourself insofar much as you cannot be ignored by others!

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Towards becoming a fully-realized full-stack visual artist:

Combine photos videos and also music (making my own beats).

Total independence:

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A view into my workflow:

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New visual arts:

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Photography as a movement of light:

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There are no rules to photography … just guidelines and suggestions. But with all suggestions in life, you can either take it or leave it!

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In life, the end-game:

To create.

Create … anything!

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If you’re in a position in which you’re trapped at home and want to be creative, virtual reality may be a good option for you (Oculus Rift S + Gravity Sketch or Google Tilt Brush) as great avenues to create in 3D!

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I’ve had the privilege of living in many different types of living situations, homes, lifestyles (digital nomad, location independent, etc).

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We talk much about the “hedonic” treadmill (a life in which we are just trying to maximize our base sensual pleasures). Why don’t we ever talk about the social media treadmill — in which we just keep producing things and uploading things to get more likes and followers and social media fame, towards what end?

To create, produce and beget more life! More life via having kids, producing new food and energy, and creating new products and inventions which motivate people to do more, create more and live more!

This is how we Americans view happiness:

If I only owned my own home (big), had a nice luxury car/sports car, had a lot of money in the bank, could buy whatever I want, travel the world, eat really great food, feel no sorrow or sadness, and have “passive income” and stay perfectly content at home I’d be perfectly happy.

The problem with this line of thinking? It is a bovine-like (cow) existence and happiness, while also making our personal happiness *dependent* upon purchasing x, y, z.

Thus the American is a trap to consumerism, workaholicism, desire for travel and exotic sights, base sexual pleasures, novelty and pain-reducing luxuries, and sloth and entertainment.

A more robust form of happiness:

A life in which we produce our own joy and create our own joy via social interactions, physical activity and exercise, arts creation and great entrepreneurship and attempting for epic risk and adventures in life!

Photography is our primary interest and pursuit. But why? Towards what ends?

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What’s our passion? To curate and to purchase and buy things, or to create things?

Why is it that some spaces, environmental and such are more productive for our thinking and artistic creativity?

Perhaps what it means to be human (or what we are biologically engineered for) is for variety, randomness and chance in our environments? This is the hunter gatherer instinct within us?

Lesson: optimize life towards maximal environmental randomness to keep us sharp and awake?

Let us not be fooled and suckered by other petty-minded photographers:

All photography is creative!

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The insanely motivational thought:

If reality existed simply for the sake of photography … it is worth it!

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Technically, any photo you create is “creative”. When we say “creative”, I think what we mean to say is “innovative, unique perspective, artsy, artistic”, etc.

But truly speaking … I think creative photography can be anything. To simply create photos, or “photograms”, or photo visual images, or visual art works derived from photos, or even sketching or painting over your photos (analogue or digitally) is “creative”. Applying filters or glitching effects is creative. It’s all creative!

So then what’s the goal? Simple … to just keep iterating your photos creatively, in innovative and new ways. To have fun with it, to never stop switching up your style, growing and evolving as a photographer, visual artist and creative!

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Apparently this was the last words of Goethe. Perhaps this is also a good motto for our lives and photography?

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Use your life and existence as a tool of experimentation … figure out how much joy and thriving you can extract from existence!

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To glitch your photos as fun creatively, and also allows us to re-imagine our photos in a novel way? And also forces the viewer to better focus on the surrealism in our photos?

Similar — applying grain (post processing) to our photos to add additional clarity?

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Free photo motivation on ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER >

Dear friend,

Big epiphany:

Let us not be fooled and suckered into thinking we are just mere ‘photographers’ who must capture reality ‘true to life’.

No — we are CREATIVE ARTISTS (visual artists) who enjoy the art and approach/technique of photography as a means of artistic self-expression. It isn’t photography for photography’s sake, but photography as a means to or as a road to artistic flourishing and self-expression / artistic self-outpression!

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The purpose of filters are many. Some ideas:

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The new “glitch” and “chromatic abbreviation” filters on Procreate on iPad is insanely fun, creative and my new muse!

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No, shooting with filters or applying them afterwards is not “cheating”!

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The great optimistic thought:

What is the purpose of being alive and of reality? Simple — reality is our play thing in order to visually and creatively thrive and play photographically!

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Once you got all the riches in the world or everything you need …then what?

My belief:

The end of life and our lives is artistic creation.

To create things *beyond* ourselves. To create art — manifested however we see fit.

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With photography, you can be creative in a quadrillion different ways!

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Today’s brave new world and society:

1. More time living indoors, working from home, working remotely, etc.
2. Nothing is really open anymore, which means you probably don’t have *that much* utility for money besides paying for rent and groceries to cook at home.
3. Potentially a non-travel future. The desire to travel is often a trap. Now we cannot travel anymore … how can we still inject novelty and interest in our everyday lives?
4. There are still *some* places that are open (some indoor, outdoor restaurants, some gyms, etc). Therefore for you to do anything or attempt anything requires a real risk. And the question … *is the risk worth it*? This acts as an ultimate filter … how much you really care to do x, y, z or how much you care for people x, y, z.

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The word “street” is originated from “strata” (Latin, for a “paved road”). I suppose in the past, a paved road was only in a public space in the city (polis) in an open space.

But in today’s brave new world and society … a “street” (paved road) can be almost … anywhere (the park, the mall, the beach, indoors or even outdoors! Or even the gym, or inside an apartment or condominium complex?) or even inside a skyscraper!

Imagine street photography in the future … inside space ships (cruise), or even on different planets (Mars street photography?)

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Street photography of people you know … one of the most exciting and innovative ideas which will open up so many new avenues for you!

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Street photography composition … still so much ground which hasn’t been covered or discovered! Some practical ideas:

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The desire to build your strength — a noble pursuit.

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I always strive to increase my ‘one rep max‘– this is my primary interest in strength building and powerlifting. However, I don’t always achieve a new one rep max.

So the lesson:

In life, the attempt is far more interesting than the result.

What I mean:

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The more pride you have in your self, and the more pride you exhibit, the better:

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Before asking yourself or others whether they like your work or not, ask yourself whether you like your own work or not, and then you must position yourself in such a way that you are *proud* of yourself and your work. Pride is not a vice; it’s a virtue. The more pride you have in yourself, your art works and anything you create the better!

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Epiphany:

Rather than complaining and bemoaning the facts of life, best to work with nature and physics in our favor.

For example, I’m currently living in this massive 4-story home and most of the home is cold … besides the top top floor (heat rises). Also, the top floor has the most natural light. The bottom “lobby” floor is insanely dark (no natural light) and even installing 5-6 lights, it is still dark and depressing. So my realization:

Why was I wasting time downstairs, trying to warm up the space when I could have just stayed upstairs the whole time and striving to enhance the upstairs?

So taking all my lights and nice furniture and bringing it upstairs instead!

So I suppose from a general and metaphorical sense, it means flowing *with* the river (in your benefit) than against it!

For some reason, it seems I am more motivated to shoot monochrome than color. Why?

Perhaps because with monochrome, everything just looks more interesting and abstracted? Considering we don’t see the world in monochrome!

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GYM — might become a relic of the past?

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Photos which enact an effect upon the emotions or mood of yourself or your viewer… this is an ‘effective’ photo. Photos which enact an effect is the goal.

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What is it that I desire? More energy, more physiological power (what we tend to think about “inspiration” or “motivation”).

Inspiration and motivation for the muscles and mind and body, in order to do anything you desire! The body as the proper starting point! Good stimuli for the body includes open air, walking, weight lifting, social stimulation, light, hot-cold contrasts, and randomness and variety in environment and schedule!