Whenever I have followed my passion in life, I have succeeded in life. And so can you.

A thought:

1. I am hyper-healthy
2. I am hyper-strong
3. I have much wealth
4. I have succeeded in all of my life goals

The question is:

Now what?

Don’t live life like Russian roulette. Texting and driving 99% safe… 1% death.

Photographic nihilism means:

What is the point of making photos? They are insignificant anyways.

Nihilism: the (loser) philosophy that ‘nothing has meaning, thus I shall do nothing’ (Arthur Schopenhauer’s philosophy). Unfortunately this type of nihilistic thinking victimizes intelligent (atheist) individuals. If we live in a world without god, or a cosmic “reason” to life — why do anything?

Success as a photographer means to never stop shooting new photos!

If we use this as our definition for photography and art, then perhaps Henri Cartier-Bresson wasn’t a successful photographer (he gave up photography), and we can consider Richard AVEDON (died while on assignment) and Josef Koudelka (in his 80s and still traveling and making new photos) as highly successful.

When I start blogging, I have no idea how it will end

Similar thinking: treat blogging as “live-streaming”your mind! With all your “flaws”and “bad” grammar.

More important for it to be your own personal and genuine thoughts. To not simply rehash what others have said. To express YOUR OWN opinion on a matter!

Andre Lhote— the teacher of Henri Cartier-Bresson:

The eternal return — what would you want to practice forever, for fun?

My only definition of failure:

Being a coward in [x].

What is success?

Courage.

Acting courageously, and not obtaining your desired consequences isn’t “failure”. It is just practical information you can use to tinker, improve, and trial-and-error yourself forward and upwards!

My definition of financial independence:

To no longer be a slave to money as a way to self-value yourself, your worth, or your progress in life.

An ethical thought:

When it comes to interacting with others — there are times in which your “selfless” actions are actually very self-interested. And other times when your “selfish” actions are actually quite selfless in benefitting others.

But when is one which, and when is it the other?

Street photography gives me a reason to live! To thrive! To explore, to make art, and to share.

Some composition studies of my own photos:

PDF (208MB):

• PDF Download (Dropbox) >
• PDF Download (Google Drive) >

I consider myself one of the greatest bloggers of all-time.

Why?

1. I grew up with blogging (started blogging since age 16, in high school, with Xanga).
2. I can type 150+ words per minute
3. I am fearless when it comes to writing
4. I can ‘stream’ a stream-of-consciousness style of writing, which is friendly, conversational, and practical.
5. I’m always hungry for more.

If Henri Cartier-Bresson started photography today, would he have shot with a digital Leica M10? Or a RICOH GR III?

I think he would have chosen the RICOH. Some thoughts:

A new street photography lesson:

When shooting multiple subjects or even single subjects, put space between your subjects (or space between the subject and the background).

Belief in travel, new experiences, new sights, freedom, art, joy, and love:

With art, aesthetics and life:

Cultivate your own taste. Don’t let others superimpose their tastes upon you!

The best photography is of human beings:

One of my current life goals:

Live to be 140 years old, in hyper-health.

How can we do this? Let me share some ideas:

PDF Downloads (300mb):

• Dropbox Download >
• Google Drive Download >

A thought:

I am happiest when my metabolism is strong!

Also you can download at:

• Dropbox (61MB) >
• Google Drive >

Richard Avedon— one of the masters of photography, and one of my personal favorites. Free PDF downloads below:

• Dropbox (390MB) PDF Download >
• Google Drive (390MB) PDF Download >

See all the photos below:

Pursue a photography project of something you actually care about. There’s no right or wrong approaches or techniques in photo projects; only authentic or inauthentic.

• Authentic: you actually care for the project.
• Inauthentic: you don’t care for the project, you’re just doing it to look like a good artist, or to seem “legitimate”

Color makes people more real; monochrome makes people more abstract.

AVEDON as one of the geniuses of composition:

Ignore what society or “experts” tell you “what is good for you”. Instead, focus on spending much time with yourself, your own thoughts, and to meditate to yourself:

What do I really want for myself? And what are my true tastes and preferences in life?

Do this for,

1. Lifestyle choices (do you really prefer a simple or minimalist life, or is it what others tell you how you “should” live your life?)
2. What possessions, tools, things, equipment do you really want? For example do you want a Leica camera because it’s the best camera for you, or because of the mystique of the brand, and because of the price?
3. Do you really want that luxury or sports car, or that watch, or that bag because you really want it or because others persuade you to sucker you into thinking that you want it?

Don’t get suckered or milked by a system which tries to “educate” you on what ‘good taste’ is!

On the cult of productivity:

Heavy cameras are the WORST thing for your artistic thriving as a photographer.

Futurism— belief in movement, dynamism, evolution, dynamic energy— that the future is bright, exciting, and epic!

Futurism in photography means EXTREME OPTIMISM.

How important is ‘image quality’ (aesthetics) of a photograph to make it a great photo?

Something very curious to me:

Why did HCB give up photography?

Some of my theories:

Why photograph, interact, or talk with strangers?

Some ideas:

Classic compositions reverberate throughout time:

Avedon as more of a genius than people realize:

Why I might like Richard Avedon over Henri Cartier-Bresson:

1. Avedon as more confident, humanistic.
2. Avedon as realizing the ultimate beauty is the human and human form. HCB thought it was geometry, surrealism.
3. Avedon as more prolific. HCB gave up after around 30 years. Avedon went well into his 80s, towards his death.
4. Avedon as being bolder with his artistic vision. Avedon as admitting that his photos were about himself, whereas HCB had the pretense that he was the “objective outside observer”. Also the difference between HCB’s portrait of the duke and duchess vs Avedon’s depiction.

A realization:

My only regret in my photo life is this — not having the courage to share photos which I thought others wouldn’t like.

Photos which I liked, but photos which I was afraid others wouldn’t like.

If you cannot write code, build value by writing (blogging). Share information, knowledge, and your personal life journey.

Idea from Naval Ravikant (founder of anglelist).

Steve Jobs’ vision has been realized:

The iPad is truly a magical device for photographers, visual artists, creative types, readers, writers — essentially everyone.

Art x humanist photos.

This is why I consider Henri Cartier-Bresson and Josef Koudelka so successful — they both blended artistic photos that centered on humanity.

Great Josef Koudelka compositions:

What I’ve discovered in my life:

1. When I succeed, it ain’t that big of a deal.
2. When I fail, it ain’t that big of a deal either.

Nietzsche is my best friend, guide, mentor, and hype-man. Nietzsche is probably the most life affirming person. Second is probably Kanye.

Anyways, here are some of my favorite quotes from Nietzsche, and why it shapes how I live:

A fun play from the Nietzsche quote: “Without music, life would be a mistake.”

Assuming photography is your primary art-form, a life without photography (your art) isn’t a life worth living.

What makes street photography so fun and interesting?

The hormonal rush we get from it!

How do you stay inspired and motivated to photograph until you’re (beyond) 120 years old?

Simple:

Enjoy the process.

Get free photography inspiration on ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER >

Happy Monday friends! I just wanted to send you some quick inspiration, tips, and ideas.

In some regards, I think that Henri Cartier-Bresson is highly UNDERRATED. By looking through ~5,000+ of his photos, here are some under-known photos I analyzed, and the elegant arabesque (curve) compositions I uncovered:

PDF

Video slideshow

We all have this romantic notion of the photographer: nomadic and wandering, lightweight, simple lifestyle— extreme delight in making beautiful images.

Where does this notion come from, and is it a good one? Or bad?

Some of my personal favorite compositions from Henri Cartier-Bresson, from some of his lesser-known photos (found on magnumphotos.com website).

Color is only fun when it’s unrealistic, exaggerated and extreme!

HYPER CHROMA:

When I was getting my feet wet in photography and street photography, I came across the Leica camera (the camera that Henri Cartier-Bresson globe-trotted with). I was confused. Why is the Leica M camera worth $7,000+? And the lenses often $2500+?

When in doubt, shoot ‘bad’ photos!

The photos you shoot today will become the history of tomorrow.

As photographer-artists, what is it we are hungry for, and what we are searching for?

We all obviously like money, and desire money. But for what?

1. Do we want money to buy things?
2. Do we want money to simply give us a ‘basic income‘ for basics of living (paying rent, basic food, utilities)?
3. Do we want money as a form of ‘keeping track of our success in life?’ Money as used as a metric of success?

Some thoughts:

A thought today:

What percentage of us is biological and genetics, and what percentage of us is socialization?

A useful heuristic:

Study the masters of the masters you admire, in order to learn deeper.

When people say, “the camera doesn’t matter”, what they really mean to say is:

Your skill as a photographer doesn’t increase proportionally with the expense of your camera.

For example having a $10,000 camera won’t make me 10x skillful than if I have a $1000 camera.

So this is what I want to explain — how the camera matters in photography.

To ‘entertain’ literally means “to hold the attention” [of x].

Many of us like to be ‘entertained’ (by others). Generally speaking, entertainment is seen as a passive act.

My thoughts and questions:

Why do we get bored, and why do we want to BE entertained (passive receiving), instead of actively entertaining ourselves (by producing, making, and creating)?

You don’t take a photo, you make it (Ansel Adams)

Is your desire to spend more time with yourself and with your own thoughts, or to escape yourself and your own thoughts?

Dear friend,

If you want to make great photographs while elevating your photographic skills, technique, and artistic vision, I cordially invite you to my upcoming NEW ORLEANS Street Photography Experience (Feb 29-30th, 2020).

O yeah, and the FOOD, coffee, sights, culture, drinks, atmosphere (and beignet deep-fried donuts) are out-of-this-world!

Without art, there is no life.

The eternal joy of creation (and destruction), just like Heractlius‘ child — continually building sand-castles, only to break them down again, or let them wash back into the ocean!