Dear friend,

If you can focus on just one only thing to help you become more successful in your entrepreneurial pursuits, your street photography, or your life — what would it be? Conquering fear.

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A simple way to simplify your life: make more binary decisions in life/photography/art: KEEP or DITCH.

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Life is good in Osaka.

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“I would believe only in a God that knows how to dance.” – Nietzsche

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Inertia: the force which we must overcome to exert force.

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Dear friend,

Here are some of my personal life hacks, tips, exercises, and activities I use for me to be more inspired, motivated, energetic, and productive as a photographer/visual artist.

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Dear friend,

If you have a hard time finding time or inspiration to go out and shoot– just shoot photos at home!

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Dear friend,

There is only one you. So why waste time, resources, and energy trying to be someone else?

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What is the soul of the photographer? The soul of a photographer is a child— ready to play, explore the world, and re-arrange reality as he/she sees fit.

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Dear friend,

Here are my personal recommendations for the best cameras and lenses for street photography:

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Dear friend,

If you want to know what a photographer is– consider the photographer as an ‘arranging artist’. As a photographer, we decide how to arrange the building-blocks of visual reality. It is the arrangement (composition/framing) in which we make photographs which creates the meaning!

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Dear friend,

A word of encouragement: shoot photography however you would like — everything is permitted in photography; there are no rules!

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A philosophical thought I had: you don’t always need to be in a joyful, upbeat, or “happy” mood to live a fulfilling, meaningful, and heroic life.

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Dear friend,

If you want more inspiration to shoot, intentionally shoot blurry and out of focus photos.

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Dear friend,

In lieu of the whole #DeleteFacebook movement, let’s do a thought experiment: How would you share your photos if you didn’t have Facebook, Instagram, or other forms of social media?

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A fun creative photography challenge: shadow photography.

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Dear friend,

A thought: it is better to do things poorly than not to do them at all!

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Dear friend,

I don’t think there are “good” or “bad” emotions. To become the fullest developed human, we must feel the furthest extents of our human emotions. What matters to succeed and thrive in life: harness all of your emotions, desires, and dissatisfactions in a positive way— to propel you forward, and to the highest summits of life!

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Fresh from HAPTIC DIGITAL: Annette Kim presents an awesome new visualization on 10 visualization challenges to boost your creative photography:

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To me, I think the opposite of happiness is boredom. To be happy, simply avoid being bored.

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Dear friend,

For the last 10+ years, I’ve been living on the road, living abroad, and traveling the globe. But why?

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To me, true joy in photography isn’t finding inspiration when you’re traveling or in exotic places. Rather, it is about finding joy all around you — finding inspiration to shoot in your everyday life, regardless of how ordinary or mundane your everyday life may be.

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As of 2018, here is my favorite travel street photography equipment:

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Dear friend,

I just wanted to give you a life update from Osaka, Japan (where we are living the next month or so):

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To celebrate our love of books, we present to you HAPTIC PRESS BUNDLE. The bundle includes all of our current pocket HAPTIC PRESS books:

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Dear friend,

Never let anyone tell you how to shoot street photography, what “street photography” is and isn’t. Rather, define street photography for yourself, and shoot according to your own terms.

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Dear friend,

It doesn’t matter if someone else has shot it before; you haven’t shot it before!

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Dear friend,

In order to become a better photographer, learn how to be a better constructive critiquer of the works of others (also being a better self-critic).

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Dear friend,

A truth I’ve discovered: a good way to find more joy and happiness in your everyday life is to enjoy the same things, but by adding variety and doing it a little different every time.

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Dear friend,

A simple question — why make photos?

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A thought from Ferdinando Galiani: money can buy us only a little, and cannot destroy our boredom or our sources of ennui in life.

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Dear friend,

One of the secrets to living a happier, more productive life is to learn how to become extremely resourceful.

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Dear friend,

An entrepreneurial idea: in order to most effectively create new wealth (new sources of value for humanity), it is best to leverage and focus on your pre-existing strengths, rather than trying to build upon your shortcomings or weaknesses.

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A revolutionary idea/strategy to succeed in today’s world as a photographer: go open-source.

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Dear friend,

If you have a hard time getting out of bed, or finding inspiration in life, this letter is for you.

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Dear friend,

One of the most difficult things in life is to trust yourself. How do we learn to trust ourselves more, and why trust ourselves?

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Video Slideshow: NYC Diary x Boston Diary 2018

NYC mp.3:

BEATS by KIM VOLUME I

Download: Beats by KIM – VOLUME I

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How much money do you really need to be “happy”? What relationship does money and happiness have?

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Dear friend,

If you’ve ever wanted to monetize your passion in photography, build a loyal following, and stand out as a photographer, I cordially invite you to my new Photography Entrepreneurship 101 Workshop in San Francisco (Sept 22-23, 2018).

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To never run out of inspiration in your photography, you must only photograph what you’re passionate about.

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An idea from STREET HUNT: shoot street photography on the subway, bus, or public transportation.

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If you are pursuing your passion in life, there will always be people out there who hate you for it.

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Dear friend,

If you’re interested in photography entrepreneurship and want to learn how to monetize your passion– ask yourself, “How can I create value?”

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We all want to live a happy life, but often we confuse “happy life” with “comfortable/predictable” life.

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Dear friend, if you’ve ever dreamed of becoming a photography entrepreneur– this letter is for you.

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Dear friend,

If you want to take your street photography to the next level and achieve your personal maximum, invest in yourself in one of my upcoming workshops in San Francisco:

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A limited inventory of our popular HAPTIC products will be available for a limited time on Amazon.

• ERIC KIM NECK STRAP – minimalist leather strap, optimized for the Ricoh GR
• ERIC KIM WRIST STRAP – leather wrist strap, optimized for the Ricoh GR
• STREET HUNT Print edition – Freshly pressed from HAPTIC, challenge your photography and go on an adventure!

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STREET HUNT Print Edition is your personal guide to push yourself outside of your comfort zone, and to embark on new, exciting, and fun street photography adventures!

Pick up yours now!

> HAPTIC SHOP (ships internationally, first 20 orders receives FREE COPY of  mobile edition)

> STREET HUNT MOBILE EDITION (comes in PDF to use on your phone, tablet, or computer).

> PURCHASE STREET HUNT ON AMAZON

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Dear friend,

In order to succeed in life, you must learn to ignore nay-sayers.

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HAPTIC presents I SHOOT STREET PHOTOGRAPHY by ANNETTE KIM.

 

I SHOOT STREET PHOTOGRAPHY is the perfect way to proudly display your love of street photography.

I SHOOT STREET PHOTOGRAPHY is part of the minimalist collection, priced to be inclusive for people of all budgets.

I SHOOT STREET PHOTOGRAPHY is an original artwork created by Annette Kim. Inspired by Eric Kim’s first shirt released 10 years ago, I SHOOT STREET PHOTOGRAPHY is the updated version with modern typography and a minimalist illustration.

100% of the proceeds directly supports the artist.

See the HAPTIC SHOP >

See all our products on Amazon >

FEATURED ARTIST: ANNETTE KIM

The Complete Works of Annette Kim

Video Interviews with Annette Kim

See the HAPTIC SHOP >

See all our products on Amazon >

What is Haptic?

HAPTIC means ‘relating to the sense of touch and proprioception.’ HAPTIC honors the meaning of ‘touch’ by making artistic tools, educational resources, and collaborative platforms. HAPTIC also inspires the making of art that touches others and uplifts our spirits.

• Haptic Industries Mission Statement
• Haptic the Place to Be
• On Haptic by Eric Kim
• Introducing Haptic (August 2016)

You have much latent energy, potential, and inner-greatness … just willing to express itself. But do you ever let fear of judgement of others get in your way, or prevent you from expressing yourself, sharing your artwork, or just being you?

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Last week to pick up a copy of Sean Lotman’s Sunlanders available for a limited time in the HAPTIC SHOP.

VII.

For my last postcard for now I would like to post this image from my photo book, Sunlanders, because it means so much to me as something emblematic of a street photography image. When I was working on the project traveling throughout Japan, I had Robert Frank’s The Americans on my mind. Like Frank, I was a foreigner attempting to interpret my adopted country with photography. Of course, this picture is made slightly in homage to Frank’s cover shot for this book– a passenger on a bus. The light was so good that day that it created a triptych of reflections, including the brick on the passenger’s face. The passenger himself is an everyman, a man in his twenties or thirties with glasses and a flu mask, a man you might see anywhere in Japan but who has come into some poignancy with this light, a poignancy he never knew he had at that moment. I love the tricks light plays on surfaces and mirrors and the good luck the photographer has in occasionally finding and seizing it. And I photographed this on Shijo, a busy thoroughfare in Kyoto where I live, after a long day of walking back and forth, hoping to see something beautiful. The best things happen when you keep on keeping on.

• Postcards from the Darkroom: I
• Postcards from the Darkroom: II
• Postcards from the Darkroom: III
• Postcards from the Darkroom: IV
• Postcards from the Darkroom: V
• Postcards from the Darkroom: VI

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Here are some of the simple joys in my life:

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Dear friend,

I cordially invite you to the open beta of ARS, an innovative new photography feedback platform, that gives you real, unbiased feedback on your photos from a community of real-life photographers.

What is ARS?

ARS is an innovative platform that gives you the opportunity to get frictionless feedback on your photos.

With a simple ↑ Upvote and ↓ Downvote mechanism, you can share your photos and get real feedback from the community on whether you should “↑Keep” or “Ditch↓” a photo.

Why use ARS?

If you have a photograph that you’re not sure whether you should “↑Keep” or “Ditch↓” — share it on ARS to get real feedback from other members in the community.

ARS thrives on your feedback– which means that you must also give feedback to other users in order to get feedback on your photos.

Follow the golden rule:

Treat others the way you would like to be treated. Provide honest feedback to as many photos as possible and others will do the same for your photos.

How does ARS work?

www.arsbeta.com

1. Signup for ARS with your Google Account. If you have any issues signing up, copy the link and open in a different browser such as Google Chrome, Firefox, or Safari on your mobile device or computer.
2. Upload a photo and ↑Upvote and ↓Downvote the photos of others.
3. For every 5 photos you vote on, you can upload 1 more photo for feedback.
4. Have fun: Keep up-voting and down-voting photos to give honest feedback to other photographers.

Signup for ARS Beta Testing >

Let us know what you think!

You are part of an exciting new platform and community and we would love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, and ideas. Let’s build something amazing together.

For feedback and support, email ArsBetaHelp@gmail.com

Ars Beta: http://arsbeta.com

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Story Behind ARS

Over dinner, good friends Eric, Kevin, and Cindy discussed our dream to build a ‘productive’ community to learn photography by giving and receiving real feedback.

We emphasize the word ‘productive’ because we do not want this platform to just be a mindless ‘consumptive’ platform. Late one night Cindy realized that she was wasting her brain power on the meaningless act of scrolling and clicking like/favorite on others’ photos. She realized that there were so many people around the world like her, who had to much to give but the platform was not conducive to channeling that feedback in a productive way.

How is ARS different from Facebook or Instagram?

The existing platforms for photographers to give and receive feedback are limited to Instagram and Facebook. However, photographers never actually receive feedback because how well a photo is “liked”  is dependent on closed social media networks and popularity algorithms. In other words, currently on Instagram and Facebook the photo that you share is not evenly shared to everyone equally.

We – Eric, Kevin, and Cindy – want to change the way photography was shared, seen, and provided feedback. We aspire to revolutionize the photography community by going back to the core of photo making and photo sharing.

Thus, we built ARS. We want to make ART ours again.

Fair feedback on your photos

Your photo will be uploaded and shown to others anonymously. No hidden algorithms based on popularity, your posting time, or your social media networks. Others will vote on your photo honestly and you can use that feedback data to help you learn and understand  whether you want to “keep” or “ditch” a photo.

Learning photography is difficult without a sense of feedback and understanding what makes a good photo. Of course, we should like our own photos, but giving and receiving feedback on our photos is a crucial part of the learning process.

BETA Testing

This is beta version one, with the simple act of just voting “keep” or “ditch.” We have big dreams for ARS, but also want to keep the beta version simple, because the simple feedback of “keep” or “ditch” is valuable information for photographers to learn and improve their photography and help other photographer’s understand their photos along the way.

Let’s learn and grow together as a photography community.

Eric, Kevin, and Cindy

February 19, 2018
http://arsbeta.com

ARS, Be Part of the Movement

We’re still iterating, improving, and experimenting. Join us by beta testing ARS and provide feedback to email ArsBetaHelp@gmail.com

ARS =

• MAKING ART, OURS
• ART REALIZATION SYSTEM
• AUTHENTIC RATING SYSTEM
• ANTI-SOCIAL MEDIA
• A ROAD TO SEEING
• ART REVOLUTION SOCIETY

We have big dreams, and so do you!

(Update March 24, 2018):

On Cindy’s 30th birthday (February 19, 2018) we had an extremely successful beta launch. We received hundreds of e-mails from excited and enthusiastic users providing valuable feedback and suggestions of features to implement to improve community and user experience.

We have so many big moonshot dreams and visions to build up ARS as a revolutionary community of photography, photo sharing, and learning!

Currently we are looking for

• Front-end developer to produce a mobile version of ARS for iPhone and Android
• Investors and collaborators
• Ambitious, self-driven visionaries who aren’t afraid of Nay-Sayers

Please contact us with your 1) Resume and work experience 2) Innovative big moonshot ideas or collaborations with the subject heading: “ARS Work” at  ArsBetaHelp@gmail.com

FAQ

Q. I received a “403” Error Message from Google.

A. Copy the link www.arsbeta.com and open it in a new browser such as Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, on both your mobile device and computer. Do not open the link in an embedded mobile browser such as Facebook Messenger or e-mail app.

Q. I do not have a Google account.

A. Currently our beta version only supports Google login. We apologize for the inconvenience and plan to implement more login options in the future.

Q. What are the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service for using this service and uploading my photos?

A. Here are the full Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, and Community Guidelines.

Q. I have another issue or feedback I want to share to improve ARS.

A. We welcome all feedback, ideas, responses. Please let us know what you think and send Eric, Kevin, and Cindy an email at ArsBetaHelp@gmail.com  If you have a technical issue, please send us detailed information on how that issue occurred (including device, browser, specific steps) so we could work to solve the issue as quickly as possible.

Q. I received an “Internal Server Error” on the signup page.

A. Currently our beta version can only handle ASCII characters (no diacritics, accent marks, non-Roman characters). We apologize for the inconvenience at this time.

Early Reviews of ARS

• “The simplicity is actually the strength of this new idea.”- Daniel Mitchell: Eric Kim’s ARS
• “ARS might just give people back a small platform to share their work away from the billionaires’ playgrounds. And for that, I have a lot of hope.”- Simeon Smith: Human Nature- Some first thoughts on ARS Beta

Dear friend,

A little mini-epiphany: to feel more happiness, human flourishing, and joy in life– seek to NEVER STOP CREATING (making stuff), instead of seeking to obtain more stuff.

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My theory: life is all about striving for more. More power, more influence, more impact.

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If you want to make better photos while traveling, here are some practical tips:

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Dear friend,

I want to reflect with you some life lessons I’ve learned while living abroad and on the road for the last 2 years.

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Dear friend,

I am currently writing these lines in (cold) Boston — a city which is incredibly beautiful, historic, and has fascinating juxtapositions.

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One interesting thing I’ve noticed in a lot of street photographers which debilitates them from shooting street photography: the feeling of guilt of photographing a stranger without their permission, the feeling of guilt that they are “bothering” or “upsetting” their subjects, and the feeling of guilt that what they’re doing is inherently wrong or “evil”.

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If you’re looking for photographic inspiration, shoot in these different places:

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What is self-confidence, why is self-confidence important, and how can we become more self-confident?

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Creative dynamite
overcome your pain and strife
keep flying high; creative kite
be excited for the future, its all joy no bite

Creative flight,
this shit is tight
and rife with hope and opportunity
never feel fear; just make art and do it fluidly
make art like a child, stupidly
and foolishly.

Creative wheel,
Keep your axles spinning
perpetual motion

Keep streaming with the digital ocean.

ERIC

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POETRY

• KILL EK
• ROOTS.
• MURALS.
• Keep Sailing