Freedom of time, freedom over your schedule, health (physiological vigor), and motivation and power to create your own artwork.

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A thought while shooting on a phone today:

What is “Image Quality” when we talk about it in photography? Are there objective measures 9r “image quality”? And when we say “image quality”, what do we *really* mean to say?

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I love democracy, open-access, and I like the idea that no matter how rich or poor you are, you can gain access to the same tools.

This stems from the fact that I grew up poor and I always wondered:

If I were richer or had more money, would I somehow become more empowered with certain (expensive) tools?

For example in the domain of photography; always wondering whether if I bought a full-frame camera that I’d unlock more of my artistic potential. Or conquering my fears in street photography by owning a stealthy Leica.

After my last decade+ of inquiry, here are some of my thoughts:

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The more things you own, the more things own you.

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Never stop being curious in your photography:

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One of the sentiments I hate in photography at the moment:

Everyone thinks they’re a photographer now.

But the truth is everyone has already been a photographer! Why this pretentious nonsense of trying to categorize some of us as photographers and some of us as non-photographers?

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Photography is kind of like Pokémon:

The ultimate telos (purpose) is to catch all of the Pokémon which exist.

So I wonder for us as photographers– is our purpose to capture as many photographic moments/photos as possible?

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A little bit ago I watched the classic Arnold Schwarzenegger documentary “Pumping Iron” on Netflix, and loved it. But a thing that I found very curious or strange:

None of these super strong and buff dudes working out are using headphones or really listening to music.

Which made me wonder:

If they can get that strong and lift so heavy weights without headphones or listening to music; what do they know/experience that I don’t know?

Which made me wonder:

I wonder if I can become stronger at the gym without listening to music/headphones?

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A thought:

In today’s sedentary society, it seems that the ultimate luxury is (one of the most basic human needs): the ability to walk!

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After shooting with the Leica Q2 for about a week (having shot crop APS-C sensors and digital medium format) — I was thinking:

Is full-frame overrated or underrated?

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Making photos as a way to augment your memory (looking at old photos to more vividly remember lovely memories!)

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Flash opens up the world, changes the world, and creates so many new photo opportunities!

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This is a super basic idea, but I think an important one:

Do you enjoy looking at your own photos?

Moreover:

Would you pursue photography as an art-creation form, even if you couldn’t share your photos with others?

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One of the biggest inspirations behind the idea of ARS:

Recognizing that your artwork and life is always in beta (testing) mode.

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Ibarionex Perello: When I began teaching photography, a photographer noted that I described my process as making rather than taking photographs. It had never been a conscious thing, but rather a natural assessment of how I created my photographs. 

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A philosophical idea:

Perhaps to live the best possible life, we should treat every and each day like a mini-lifetime (as if we were going to die tonight).

This is why I think this:

1. If you lived everyday like today were your last, you would squander/waste a lot less time. You would do more, accomplish more, create more, move more, experience more, and become more!
2. Overcoming paralysis by analysis: Too many choices in modern life means we become paralyzed to doing anything. Thus, by allowing ourselves to make mini small victories everyday, we will do more and accomplish more. Furthermore, I like the idea of working on “mini” magnum opuses (lots of small great works) instead of laboring to try to make 1 ultimate magnum opus in life. For example writing lots of blog posts on the daily instead of striving to write a “legit” book.
3. Perhaps we shouldn’t get so obsessed with our photography projects, and instead on just shooting everyday. Perhaps better to just shoot a lot everyday, and figure out how to organize and categorize it later.
4. Do everything you like everyday: For me that means going to the gym everyday, having coffee everyday, shooting and making photos everyday, and spending time with my loved ones everyday. Strive to exploit the maximum of your own present situation instead of seeking to have a more ideal “other” situation in life.

So friend– if you knew today were your last day on earth what would you do today and what would you NOT do today?

ERIC

A true friend: someone who wants what is best for you, is friends with you because they want to help empower you (giver).

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Shots from Leica Q2, shot on JPEG, max contrast, saturation, and sharpness in the “ vivid” filter:

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I love this notion of “tabula rasa” (clean slate philosophy).

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Publish and things in progress, because your art (ars) is always in beta mode (arsbeta.com)

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My thoughts of today (reading “The Genealogy of Morals” by Nietzsche) at the Potrero Hill Library in SF:

1. The point of life isn’t to minimize pain. Why anesthesia yourself? What if pain was a necessary accompaniment to achieve epic greatness?
2. How to fight depression — prioritize yourself and your own needs/self-focus to the greatest extent. To reformat your mind (philosophy). Live in Vietnam, or any place with a very low cost of living? Take a year off from toilsome labor, to focus on your own creative work?
3. Why allow yourself to suffer from yourself? Why suffer? Do you have the power to inflict suffering upon yourself? If so, do you willingfully inflict suffering upon yourself?
4. Don’t seek pain, nor shirk away from it. Don’t flinch.
5. Why fear becoming conscious? Do you not like being around your own thoughts? Why drown out your thoughts with drugs or alcohol? Why not enhance your thoughts and make them more powerful instead?
6. Have confidence in the future. Hope is dope.
7. What do you consider lacking in your life, and how can you close that gap?

Shoot based on your gut, choose your photos based on your gut, and process and share your photos based on your gut.

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Focus progressing in your own life according to your own ideals.

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A thought —

When you have the opportunity, never buy anything brand-new.

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Make more, own less.

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Closeup crops of Leica Q2:

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What is technology? My definition:

The power to do more with less.

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Oliver Byrne — made Euclid’s “Elements” book into color — to aid learning. Learn more here, or access more below:

• Download PDF link (holybooks.com)
• Digitized PDF (Jemmy Button)
• Digital Math Archive

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A thought:

It seems now, we all can afford the same great tools (in terms of functionality).

However there are still “luxury” tools (iPhones, Leica Cameras) as opposed to ‘Democratic’ tools (OnePlus Android phones, RICOH cameras), etc.

So perhaps the future of technology and society is this:

Either you will have a ‘luxury’ device/tool (that has superior aesthetics and user-interface/build quality) — or a good standard ‘democratic’ tool.

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When I see the work of Kline, I see his soul through his brush strokes, and I also “see faces”:

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Thinking about 10x:

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It seems what I love in life (from an economic/innovation/technology/life perspective) is value.

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A thought:

Life is too short to be prudent and to “plan” for the future. Perhaps to live a happier life we should live more recklessly, dangerously, and take more epic risks in things which interest us, or things which were curious about.

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What I’m digging right now (Nike Labs, Panerai, Rolex, Honda, Y3, Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton):

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The Leica Q2 is epic:

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A thought:

Perhaps to maximize our creativity, we should cycle.

Cycle between the cameras we use, cycle with our different focal lengths, cycle with our aesthetic (color or monochrome, or post-processing style) and cycle with the places we live.

Essentially — the idea is to never desire stasis, and to never desire staying the same/consistency/predictability/sameness.

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Currently testing the new Leica Q2– and I think it is an ultimate camera. Let me share my thoughts:

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A simple idea:

Perhaps instead of striving to become “better” photographers or making “better” photos, we should strive to simply make photography more fun!

It seems we are all obsessed with ‘photography projects’, or ‘art projects’. It seems the bias is that if we are ‘serious’ photographers or aspire to become more ‘serious’ in photography, we need to work on a concentrated/focused/’serious’ photography project.

But is this all nonsense? What is even the definition of a ‘project’? Let me try to essay some thoughts below:

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Huge fan of the new Leica Q2. Some quick thoughts:

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Thanks to my friend Anthony for letting me play with his new RICOH GR III— with the ERIC KIM WRIST STRAP and ERIC KIM CASE.

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I think we photographers desire to always be inspired/motivated to make photos which give us deep joy. And in order to do that– we of course need a camera. But is there a perfect or ideal camera which will empower us to constantly be making new photos? A ‘perfect’ camera which maximizes our creative productivity? Also a camera which is affordable, a camera which is small, powerful, compact? If so — that is the RICOH GR II.

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A fun idea:

What if you only shot with your camera or phone in JPEG (with a certain filter/preset in-camera), and you didn’t allow you to further post-process your photos afterwards?

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A thought:

Simple photo project to pursue:

Shoot textures.

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Some fun experiments of shooting flash and no flash:

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To better understand images, composition, design — almost anything — deconstruct it (take it apart, dissect it, then figure out why you like it):

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What Does it Feel Like Living Without a Phone?

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I just tested the new iPhone XS (Max) camera for photography — and a huge fan. Here are my thoughts as compared to my prior iPhone XS (normal) review.

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I’m no longer high off the social-media opium dream; I’m empowering myself and building my own self-esteem.

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The iPad Pro (10.5 inch) is what I currently have, as well as the Touchbar MacBook Pro (13 inch) and I can say I enjoy looking at my own photos at least 5x more on my iPad Pro. And my basic idea:

The device on which you view your own photos is of tantamount importance.

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My freshest batch of my YouTube Videos (from Mexico City and beyond):

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Go super hard during the day, and super relax to recover as effectively as possible.

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The flaneur — to walk aimlessly, elegantly, slowly, poised — and to photograph anything you find interesting.

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ARS; the best (recent) innovation for photographers seeking true feedback/critique on their photographs:

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Motivation literally means “to move”. We need to move and act to do anything; we need to move our fingers to type, we need to move our feet to shoot photos, we need to move our bodies to get from point A to point B, and we need to move heavy weights off from the ground to build our muscles and strength.

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It seems the best place to get visual inspiration for me as of late is luxury goods:

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Practice:

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To grow as a photographer is to constantly shoot more, get more feedback on your photos (arsbeta.com), and to integrate the feedback of yourself and others into your future images.

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I think one of the greatest notions which have entered our psyche is the notion of ‘streaming’.

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Some recent thoughts on life:

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Simple photography exercises to get you going!

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A thought:

Focus on your physical and photographic (art) fitness in order to become a more productive photographer and visual artist.

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For too long there has been a bias towards consistency. But I believe consistency is for suckers.

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Practical thoughts on gear and how easily we adapt to it:

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To get honest feedback and constructive critique on your photos is impossible on Facebook and Instagram. That is why we created arsbeta.com in order for you to receive and give meaningful feedback on photos:

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Porsche as the best designed sports car (inspiration from my buddy Don).

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Disregard your “weaknesses”; simply focus on maximizing your own potential strengths, maximizing your own power output, and unashamedly maximizing you.

I often like to photograph things because things look different photographed!

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