ERIC KIM ₿

A thought when studying Nietzsche: with evolution and animals, they’re ruthless. They “steal” the useful adaptations from other animals, and incorporate these behaviors or attributes to themselves. Which made me wonder– as artists, shouldn’t we do the same?

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I’ve recently started to re-study the work of Weegee, and I’m so inspired by his work.

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Photos shot on Digital Medium Format by Pentax 645z and processed in VSCO Mobile preset on iPad Pro 10.5 inch:

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Isocrates: another master of wisdom who can benefit us with his wise thoughts. For more inspiration, pick up ZEN OF ERIC

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Shot on phone, and processed with the VSCO mobile app:

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Much of street photography is surrealism, owing to the surrealist tendencies in our godfather, Henri Cartier-Bresson:

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Dear friend,

If you want to discover more purpose and meaning in your photography, I encourage you to start your own long-term photography project!

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Dear friends,

A life update from Dalat, Vietnam! I wanted to share all the exciting stuff we’ve been making at HAPTIC.

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Practical thoughts, tips, and ideas on starting your own photography business:

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Get off the rat race, like the Red Queens, you keep on running and stay in the same place.

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Behind the scenes. SUITS print edition coming soon. Email hapticindustries@gmail.com to reserve your copy.

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A recent understanding — you can better measure your success by the amount of “haters” you have, instead of measuring your success by how many “fans” you have. #zenoferic

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I love to travel and live nomadically. I also think most people would benefit from traveling more. Why?

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Is satisfaction good? Is dissatisfaction bad? #zenoferic

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Dear friend,


I believe what we all intuitively desire is more power in our lives — the power to live our lives the way we desire, the power to control the hours of our day, the power to say “yes” and “no” to the requests of others, and to have the faith and self-confidence for us to pursue our own interests, and the power to make these dreams into a reality! #zenoferic

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A preview of my upcoming print edition of my book, SUITS. First print run will be limited to only 30 hardcover copies. Email hapticindustries@gmail.com to reserve your copy.

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Dear friend,

A philosophical question I’ve been pondering to myself:

Are we more than our memories?

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ZEN OF ERIC: Your personal manual to empowering yourself in photography, philosophy, and life.

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What time is the best time to shoot? Now! Also in other news, my new book: ZEN OF ERIC is now live!

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Dear friend, if you’re gonna buy a new phone for photography, I recommend buying a Google Pixel, or any Android phone that allows you to use HDR+ from the Google apk (works on OnePlus, apparently the new Samsung Galaxy devices as well) #computationalphotography

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Seize today
Not tomorrow
Live today to the fullest with no regrets to prevent sorrow tomorrow

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There’s nothing which brings me more joy and delight in life than innovating new things, new processes, and new ways of sharing!

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In Vietnamese there is a saying: “Go/do for the sake of understanding it.” (di cho biet):

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Kodak Trix 400 black and white film pushed to 1600, with yellow filter. Buy FILM NOTES to learn more.

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VSCO A6, a love letter to Zach and the team at VSCO. Keep building your epic tools, which is empowering all of us creators and visual artists!

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A realization: what is holding us back from achieving our fullest potential in life? I don’t necessarily think it’s because we lack willpower or because we’re “lazy” and bad/evil people. I think the problem is that we’re a nation being sedated with drugs, alcohol, entertainment, video games, and media.

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Why do I love color photography? Simply put, I think the colors of color film just aesthetically look nicer than digital color photos!

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My friend Josh White is my favorite contemporary photographer. Why? He shoots with his soul, his photos are authentic, and reveal who he is, and how he sees the world.

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Dear friend,

Recognize that if you have some epic photography entrepreneurship idea; don’t be afraid to take a risk and just do it. Why? At worst your “failure” is just feedback to try again in a different way!

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Dear friend,

A suggestion when you’re working on photography projects, or selecting/editing your best work. Don’t share dull/boring photos:

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The silver rule of ethics in photography: Don’t photograph others the way you wouldn’t want to be photographed. Much thanks to Nassim Taleb (Skin in the game book) for the idea and inspiration.

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I see photography as a meditation on life and death: gratitude on being alive, but also a reminder — that I (and my loved ones) will all eventually die.

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I’ve been passionate about street photography ever since I was 18 years old. But I never stopped to think, consider, and reflect:

Why street photography?

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Dear friends,

Me and the HAPTIC CREW (Cindy, Annette, Jennifer) are currently working on an epic new project called “Photolosophy”: a digital starter kit that will comprise of video content, PDFs, articles, photos, and text to empower you as a photographer.

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Discover all of the new epic products in the HAPTIC SHOP:

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Take your own destiny in your own hands with empowering Photography Entrepreneurship Philosophy:

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Henri Cartier-Bresson: the godfather of all contemporary photography and street-documentary-reportage photography:

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Study the work of George’s Seurat, his colors, layers, and composition. His work reminds me of the classic work of Henri Cartier-Bresson (people by the water), and also the layered compositions of Alex Webb.

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Dear friend,

Photography is philosophy. Let me expand some of my thoughts with you:

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KODAK TRIX400 pushed to 1600, with yellow filter. Buy FILM NOTES to learn how you can master film photography for yourself!

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Personal travel hacks I use when I’m traveling and shooting photos:

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Why does black and white photos seem more classic or timeless than color photos?

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Free downloads to empower you:

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Dear streettogs, STREET CLUB: Summer School Starts Now. Your first assignment: CAFE assignment.

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Is there such a concept of making photos that are timeless, which resist the ruthless jaws of time?

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Dear friend,

As photographers, the more energy we have— the better. More energy means more power to make photos. More energy means more ability to walk further distances, with less fatigue. More energy means we can get more “amped up” to shoot with more enthusiasm, life, and vigor!

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Continuing our MATRIX series, what happens when you free your mind, and stop doubting yourself?

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Make photos which you peeceive as beautiful for yourself. I feel we should make photos for ourselves, that when we look at our own photos, we feel happiness and joy!

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Dear friend,

A philosophical idea: I think to live the best life possible, we must seek to empower ourselves to the maximum possible extent — to maximize our energy, self-confidence, and inner-power.

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Dear friends,

To promote our brand new book, “My First Photography Book” (the first children’s book on photography!) I wanted to share some tips, thoughts, and practical philosophy on teaching your child (or the kids in your life) how to make better photos:

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Dear friend,

I want to share with you how you can become more optimistic in your photography!

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Dear friends, HAPTIC INDUSTRIES is super excited to share the news that the new ERIC KIM PORTFOLIO BAG is now available for preorder in the HAPTIC SHOP.

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Hustle hard for today, not tomorrow
Ignore your sorrow and your pain
Your limbs are strong not lame
And you got a smartass brain!

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Head over to STREET CLUB Summer 2018 at the ERIC KIM FORUM to receive weekly challenges, learn to give and receive constructive critiques on your photos, and win prizes!

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Dear friend, when you’re traveling on the road and shooting photos I recommend trying to shoot a photography project. Why? It will give you a focus during your trip, and also yield you something tangible by the end of your trip!

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Reflecting on my experiences 4 years ago in Saigon (Saigon Diary 1, 2014). Photos shot on Fujifilm XT-1 and 27mm lens.

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Dear friend,

A life suggestion: only make photos which give you personal meaning in life, and live a life which feel purposeful to you.

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Dear friends, team HAPTIC is super pumped to share that MY FIRST PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK (hardcover and digital mobile edition) is now available for pre-order in the HAPTIC SHOP >

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I remember when I was 20 years old, ready to embark for my first international photography trip. I was going to backpack through Europe for around 30 days, and I had no idea what camera/equipment to bring.

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HAPTIC PRESS is almost done with our new and upcoming children’s photography book, “My First Photography Book”, and I wanted to use this opportunity to reflect: “As adults, why is it beneficial for us to shoot photos like children?”

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Dear friend,

I’m currently working on a print edition of my book, “SUITS“, and one of the main images in the book is a photo of a man in a suit with golden handcuffs. But what are golden handcuffs?

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William Klein: the ultimate street sociologist, artist, painter, and lover of life:

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So something interesting I learned, the word “focus” actually comes from an optical metaphor — like asking what is the focusing point of a lens; where the concept of “focal length” comes from.

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Your life shouldn’t be tracked by numbers and percentage points; you should judge the progress of your own life, according to your own scale, your own ruler, your own barometer.

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All of us have a soul. But what is a soul, and why does it even matter?

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Anthony Bourdain, a guy I really loved, committed suicide recently. I was flabbergasted: he seemed like he had it all! Why did he do it?

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Visual mood board of what inspired me from 2016-2018:

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Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki has given me so much more joy, curiosity and amazement/optimism/hope in life:

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Jetlag is to me, one of the most painful body states. How do we conquer it, or at least minimize it?

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A philosophical musing on travel and photography:

If you’re traveling, and you experience interesting things, but you don’t take a photo of it — did it still happen?

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