A lot of psychologists and pseudo-intellectuals spout that humans are naturally lazy and unmotivated, and this is the cause of our obesity, our lethargy, and laziness. I disagree. I think by nature, humans are adventurous, explorers, and curious individuals who are rather made passive by video games, media, news, social media, celebrity gossip, junk food, drugs, alcohol, etc.
In diet and exercise circles, some “experts” say that by default, humans seek to conserve energy, and therefore are naturally “lazy” and won’t expend unnecessary energy.
I disagree with this line of thinking. Of course I cannot speak for everyone, but I’ll speak for myself.
For myself, I get antsy when I stay indoors all day, or if I go long periods of time without exercising, lifting weights, or walking/moving. My body craves movement and physical exertion; without it I get depressed, anxious, frustrated, and my brain doesn’t work as well.
This is my theory why the winter months can be so brutal: not because of the cold, but because the cold prohibits us from going outside and walking around as much. When it’s cold and miserable outside, it is more difficult to be physically active. I know in places where it snows, the snow and ice can even prevent you from driving to to the gym, or prevent you from even leaving your home.
If you’re interested in photography or street photography, you are a natural explorer. You desire to discover new things, new places, you desire to meet and encounter new peoples, and you desire to make new photos! Therefore the spirit of hustle, movement, and axtivs energy is what comprises your DNA!
So what are the practical takeaways from this line of thinking or philosophy?
If you belive that humans are naturally NOT lazy, you begin to have a much more optimistic view of humankind, and even yourself! Remember this narrative of humans being “naturally lazy” isn’t truth; it’s just some opinion or line of thinking which is propagated in our society by “scientists” and other authority-figures/”experts”. Therefore realize that you are allowed to have your own personal philosophical outlook on human beings and human behavior. I don’t think we will ever understand the human being, or biology 100%, which makes studying humanity so interesting! (sociology).
Don’t worry so much about the motivations of other humans; you’ll never know what the true intentions of other human beings are, and even they might not know their own motivations. Instead, seek to fully understand your own motivations in life, but also realize that no matter how smart or wise we become, there will always be limits to our own human understanding of ourselves.
I am optimistic that we can discover more about ourselves, and the more we discover about ourselves the more purposefully and effectively we can live our own lives, to achieve the goals we truly desire to achieve!
Something I’ve been pondering for a a long time: what makes something “beautiful” vs “ugly?” What makes a beautiful photograph, and what makes a “bad”/ugly photograph?
Applied wider: what makes certain designs appealing (car design, bag design, watch design, home design)? Are aesthetics 100% subjective or is there any objectivity in it? Is beauty based on things we’ve been socialized into believing, or is there some biological/evolutionary preference to certain aesthetics?
And taken further; how would you define “aesthetics”, and why even bother studying aesthetics, or what is the societal significance/impact of aesthetics?
Why I believe that aesthetics are both subjective and objective
So let me just stream some thoughts:
First of all, I believe that aesthetics are partly subjective and partly objective. Subjective because a lot of beauty is socialized. For example, in the 1800s in France, it was considered more beautiful for women to be plump, and men to be thin. Now in America (2010s) it is considered more beautiful for women to be thin, and men to be bigger and more muscular.
However, I don’t think that all aesthetics are purely subjective. I think there is some objectivity to aesthetics.
For example, if a human being had the physique of Jabba the Hut from Star Wars; I don’t think anyone would find that beautiful. I also believe if you saw a 500 pound person, almost everyone would find that physique as being “ugly”.
Where does the objectivity of aesthetics come from?
My theory is that a lot of our innate conceptions of beauty comes from nature and from human survival/thrivival instincts.
For example many aesthetic principles come from nature. For example the “fiboacci spiral” (or the “golden ratio”) is derived from nature. Look at the self-replicating pattern of a
conch shell, the proportions of inside a flower or even note the “fractal” pattern in which trees grow.
Smooth doesn’t (really) exist in nature
The problem with aesthetics is that a lot of modern aesthetics (like smooth surfaces, smooth and flat roads, and buildings/home design) is contrary to nature.
For example, take a walk inside a park, or preferably inside a wild forest. Do you see any flat surfaces or smooth surfaces? No. There is an infinite variety of textures, curves, shapes, forms, which is visually enriching and pleasing to the human eye. It is therefore of my belief that true beauty isn’t 100% symmetrical, isn’t totally smooth, and youth isn’t always the most beautiful thing.
For example, the most beautiful trees we are are knotted, twisted, and grow in all these assymetric patterns. Also of course, the older a tree is, the more we praise it. An older tree is a beautiful tree. Shouldn’t we apply the same philosophy to humans? (the older the human, with the more wrinkles, crevices and texture in their skin, the better and more beautiful?)
Anti-symmetry
The bad trend I see in photography is that everyone tries to make their photos perfectly symmetrical. But to me, this is boring.
I think assymetric compositions are far more elegant, interesting, dynamic, and epic than static, symmetrical compositions.
For example study a beautiful bonsai tree. Note how it curves to one direction, yet is still balanced. Assymetry doesn’t mean unbalanced. Trees are assymetric, yet they are still balanced (they don’t topple over).
Taking this into a philosophical direction; perhaps humans can apply an “assymetric” lifestyle, yet still be balanced and strong!
For example, Nassim Taleb talks about the “barbell” (bimodal) strategy to life, where we embrace and thrive off extremes. But the secret is this: you can embrace the extremes in life, yet still be balanced!
Practical ideas on embracing the extremes
Things which I do which work for me:
Extremes in eating: Either fast during the day (don’t eat nothing, only black coffee and water), until the evening (unlimited feasting of fatty red meats until I get full).
Extremes in work/productivity: Either be insanely focused and extreme working, or do absolutely nothing at all (sleeping, resting, or taking a nap). Better than the silly “multitasking” style of working that most modern people do with getting distracted with email, and other forms of pseudo-work.
Extremes in personality: 99% of the time I’m a very nice guy. But when I get really angry, I really fucking light off and explode. Better way of signaling when I’m being serious or not, and when I’m upset or not.
Modern art
Do you ever look at modern art and youbdonr “Get it?” Happens to me all the time.
Marcel Duchamp revolutionized the field of art when he turned a urinal/toilet and declared it “art”. It challenged all of us to ask ourselves,
What is art, and what is the purpose of art? Can ordinary objects be considered art?
Then you get innovators like Andy Warhol, who turns something as common and mundane as Campbell’s Tomato Soup into an art and cultural object.
Anything you decide is art, is art!
Which means this: Anything which humans consider as “art” is generally a human concept. If humans see something as art, it is art.
Also, I don’t think you need a majority consensus to validate something. For example, if you consider something as “art”: it is art! Of course it is beneficial if multiple individuals agree on something, but your own approval as your own artworks as being art is good enough.
For example, consider that a ruby is the color red. You don’t need 1,000 people to confirm this. Only one person is sufficient to quality/validate this claim.
Also even more interesting (Black Swan concept by Nassim Taleb) is that you only need 1 individual to devalidate or falfisy (Karl Popper) something. For example if for 2,000 years no human has ever seen a black swan (only have seen white swans), that doesn’t mean that black swans don’t exist. It simply means nobody has observed a black swam yet.
Therefore if you’re the person who totally goes against the grain in terms of “rules” in art, aesthetics, life, or whatever; you’re the only black swan that needs to exist, to validate a brand new concept or idea!
You have more power than you think you have!
To me this is a very exciting discovery, because it means that you, an individual of 1 person, can totally change the world, and innovate massively! You can be the “Archimedes lever” that can positively change the world for the better!
You have the power to dictate what is beautiful in your eyes!
Anyways sorry for getting off topic, to bring it back, my takeaway is this:
If you think something is beautiful or ugly in your eyes, it is.
Now, realize that you shouldn’t superimpose your own personal judgements of beauty on others. Otherwise we will become tyrants.
This means, we must be tolerant towards the views, perspectives, and opinions of everyone in society. But of course there are certain things we should have zero tolerance for; for example slavery, subjugation of women/children/elderly, and we should follow the Hippocratic oath, “Primum non nocere” (First do no harm). Which means, our viewpoints and opinions shouldn’t be used as weapons to harm or attack others.
Love yourself
Taken further, use your own opinion of yourself and your own body image as a barometer of your own self-beauty, and your own self-esteem/self-worth.
If you look at yourself in the mirror, and you love the way you look, then you are beautiful! Consider there are some bodybuilders whom no matter how muscular or low body fat percentage they get, they still don’t like what they like looking at.
Cultivate your own aesthetics
What do you find beautiful? Keep cultivating your own aesthetic vision.
Whatever you consider ugly, avoid it yourself. But if others find what you consider ugly as beautiful; let them be. Become tolerant to the aesthetic views of others; we can all live in harmony together in society, without forcing others to adopt our own views.
This is the beauty of a free, open, and democratic society. We all have the freedom, choice, and option of living a life however we desire, a life true to ourselves, without being forced to believe something else (dictatorship, slavery, tyrrany).
A thought I have: when life gives you two options:
A: Safer, less risky option
and
B: Riskier, more uncertain, more adventurous option
Take the option B: the riskier, bolder, or more interesting/adventurous option to live a happier, more fun, and more interesting life!
My reasoning is this:
What we often perceive as being the “safer” option isn’t actually that safe. For example, the banker who had a “safe” job, ended up losing their shirt during the subprime mortgage stock crash. In the thinking of Nassim Taleb, there is no truly “safe” option in life, and all risk-assessment tools we have right now aren’t accurate.
In today’s society, it is pretty much impossible to stave to death, or die from the cold, die from thirst, etc. Therefore, to me it means that we shouldn’t let fear of impoverishment/death dictate our lifestyle choices, or how we decide to live our lives! I believe living a more interesting life means to take more chances, to take more “calculated” risks, and for us to take the more adventurous option in life!
For example, let’s say you have two options for a vacation:
– Option A: The “tried and true” place you like to travel to, and
– Option B: You have another option of a place which you haven’t been to yet, but it might be even better or more interesting place than option A.
Which do you choose?
I believe taking the Option B in life is far more interesting, fulfilling, and fun for us in life, than taking the “safe”/boring Option A!
For myself whenever I take the less certain route/option in life, I learn more. I develop more. I evolve more. I have more new and exciting ideas which spark in my mind. Encountering random and novel ideas are a positive stimulus to my life! This randomness , chaos and chance is what makes life interesting, exciting, and worth living!
Other ways to apply this line of thinking in practical ways of life:
If you’re given a more risky job option, take the riskier job than the “safer job”, especially when your potential upside is higher than the safer choice. For example, opt for working at a “risky” startup, which can revolutionize the world, instead of taking the “safe” job at Google or Microsoft.
If you’re out shooting photos on the streets, don’t always walk in the same neighborhoods or areas. Add variety to where you shoot photos! Shoot in new neighborhoods, and realize that you don’t need to travel far to find interesting and new places! Even shooting photos in a different part of your town will be sufficient “differentness” to stimulate your creative spirit!
Spend more time with interesting people, and going to interesting social gatherings, parties, or get-togethers. You will increase your likelihood of meeting interesting people who will empower you. At worst, you might just waste an evening.
“Yall here still taking advances, huh? Me and my n*ggas are taking real chances, huh!” – JAY Z
Your life is short. At best you’re going to live to be 100 years old. At worst you might die tonight in your sleep.
Why waste any second, day, hour, or duration of your life doing boring stuff? Taking the boring option in life?
You were destined for epic greatness. Never let fear hold you back from taking the more adventurous, interesting, or bold option in life!
I’ve been super inspired by my 3 year old niece, Amelia. The way she sees the world with curiosity, excitement, and fun!
Why see the world from a child’s eyes?
Our entire life we’ve been taught to “grow up”, to stop being so “childlike”, and for us to listen to rules, to obey, and to follow instructions.
It’s insanely sad, and an injustice to humankind. We are essentially crushing the creativity out of children, in order for them to become perfect test-taking, email-answering machines.
It is of my belief that children are far more innovative, interesting and epic than adults. Children question the status quo, children test assumptions for themselves (they intuitively follow the “first principles” approach), they don’t just listen to adults for the sake of it, and they are continually curious, learning, and hungry to learn and do more!
We see this mentality being followed with all the great innovators of history. Pablo Picasso once famously said, “Every child is born an artist. The problem is staying an artist as you get older.” Steve Jobs was infamous for throwing “tantrums”, crying, and acting essentially like a big “man baby” at times, when he didn’t get things his way. Kanye West also says that when he is trying to make a new song, he tries to create like his 2 year old self. An even wiser saying from Kanye, “I want to become more and more childlike as I get older. When I die, I want to be 0 years old.”
In an interview when someone asked Kanye, “What do you think a genius is?” his answer was simply, “A genius is a kid with good parents.” (meaning, a parent who supports the child in their own personal inquiries, and doesn’t beat the curiosity out of the child).
Why?
I think the best 3 letter word in the dictionary is, “Why?”
As children, we incessantly ask, “Why?” when we are told by our parents, teachers, or authority figures to do stuff. But the adults wrongly say, “Because I said so!” (the worst thing you can ever tell a child). Thus as we get older, we become trained like domesticated dogs (Palaov dog training), to not ask “why”, and we simply follow orders out of fear.
But do we want the future of humanity and our future children simply to live according to fear-avoidance, or do we desire our children to do epic stuff? For them to create new things, to explore new frontiers of knowledge, and for them to innovate to make the lives of humanity better?
I’m essentially a man child, or a man baby. I don’t have a good attention span, I get easily bored, and I break a lot of social rules. For example if someone is talking to me and I’m bored, I will often just walk away. Or I interrupt people, or I ask people “Why?” about 5 times, enough to annoy people.
I actually think I was the most creative when I was around 16 years old, when I got my driver’s license, when I got my first job, and I had financial and mobility (driving) independence for the first time in my life. I was also quote independent and free in college. But when I started to get older and got a job, and had to do “adult stuff”, my childlike self started to slowly dither away.
But after living in Vietnam for about a year, and going into intense ZEN MONK seclusion mode, in philosophizing a ton, and questioning everything; I think this is one of my big discoveries:
In order for us to live more creative, fulfilling, and innovative lives, we must act more like our past childlike selves!
Some practical ideas:
Spend more time with children, play with them, and interact with them. Ask them questions and don’t tell them they’re wrong. Assume you’re the wrong one.
Give a kid a camera or a phone camera, and ask them to take photos. See how excited they are, and copy them!
Write down a list of dreams, hobbies, and passions you had as a kid. Do you still have them, or pursue them? If so, why? If not, why not?
I think all of us as street photographers are hunters of the “decisive moment”: that split-second of beauty in life.
Definition of the “Decisive Moment”
The term “decisive moment” was coined by Henri Cartier-Bresson (who got the concept from a poem). I would define “the Decisive Moment” as the following:
A moment which shows the beauty of being alive.
To me the interesting thing about the Decisive Moment is this:
You can create your own decisive moments in a street photograph, or you can capture a decisive moment (already) happening.
For example, I have created many decisive moments by interacting with my subjects and eliciting a reaction from my subjects!
I think the mistake we make in street photography is thinking that we cannot “influence” the scene. I think this is silly. It is my belief the more you can influence the scene, the better. Because if you influence the scene, you inject your own soul into the photo!
You can create decisive moments in your street photography by interacting and talking with your subjects. And to never miss the Decisive Moment, always have your camera around your neck (Henri Neck Strap) or wrist (Henri Wrist Strap) and always be ready before you see something interesting happening.
Also, it is important for you to shoot a lot when you see a scene in which you have a feeling that something interesting might happen.
Candid street photography
If you’re shooting candid street photography (making photos of people without their permission) here are some tips I would give you:
A decisive moment is a hand gesture, a look in the eyes of your subject, or some sort of interaction you see between several people in a scene. For example the moment someone frowns (like the photo I shot above in Istanbul).
A decisive moment can also be the moment someone notices you taking their photo. For example, the photo I shot below in Downtown LA (I made a lot of photos of the man below and I took a photo the moment he stuck his finger out at me and said, “Hey are you taking my photo?”
Therefore one technique you can do in street photography is get close to your subject, and keep clicking until they notice you, and then make eye contact with you, or cover their face with their hand:
Timing: Look for leading lines, and wait for your subject to enter the scene.
The best technical settings to capture the Decisive Moment
If you use a new digital camera with very fast auto focus, just use center point aurofocus (or on the Lumix cameras like the G9 or LX100, use intelligent auto mode, where the camera automatically focuses on faces).
If you have a manual focusing camera (like Leica or rangefinder), use “zone focusing” (prefocus to 1.2 meters, shoot at f8, and ISO 1600) with a wide angle lens like a 28mm or 35mm lens. This will ensure that everything within the range of around 1.2 meters (roughly two arm lengths away) will be sharp and in focus.
If you’re shooting with an iPhone, use the ProCamera app, and prefocus and use the “full screen trigger” mode, to get rid of the camera lag.
Always have your camera on, and turn off the “auto camera off” setting on your camera. Or turn the “auto camera off” function to the maximum duration (10-20 minutes).
How to see more decisive moments
1. Don’t listen to music or turn off your phone:
Reduce external stimuli, so you can give more energy and focus to your eyes to see!
2. Take your camera with you everywhere you go
Always have your camera ready, carry your camera with you to the grocery store, to Walmart, to Costco, to the restaurant, bar, coffee shop, to the park, or anywhere!
You want to integrate a “regret minimization framework” to your life. Reduce the amount of decisive moments you might miss, by always have your camera on your neck! (Henri Shoulder Strap).
Memento mori
The last tip is memento mori: remember that your life is short, and you will die. Live life to the fullest, and never stop hunting for beautiful decisive moments in your everyday life, whether in street photography, personal photography, or your life!
One of the most challenging things in street photography is mastering your own psychology; to conquer your personal fears in photographing strangers (either with or without permission), to overcome the feeling of moralistic/ethical guilt of photographing strangers, and how to not hesitate before hitting the shutter!
New Henri Shoulder Strap: Available in PHANTOM BLACK and CREMA BROWN
Dear friends,
Now that Cindy and I are back in LA for a few weeks (and close to our HAPTIC INDUSTRIES inventory), we are super pumped and excited to announce that our brand new product, the Henri Shoulder Strap is now available on Amazon in the limited-edition colors (CREMA BROWN + PHANTOM BLACK).
Kind of a funny experiment I’m testing out: writing (typing on a phone), while on a dynamic treadmill (a treadmill that is purely mechanical and is only moved by the movement of your feet).
I want to give you a distillation of all of the current life hacks, productivity hacks, and random creativity hacks I have– which have helped me (and which I hope can help you!)
life is cruel but don’t despair
know that you were born with guts and a pair
of wings
to do epic things
to fly to the highest peak and summit
how bad do you want it?
you got no limits
you got no roof
just push yourself to the limit
prove it to yourself, prove it to you.
I was walking down the street of my boring suburban LA neighborhood, with the Lumix G9 Pro strapped around my wrist with the classic Henri Wrist Strap, and had the thought:
The great thing about photography is the zen-like state that it gives you. That you disappear. You’re in the “Zen zone” of walking on the streets, and you lose a sense of yourself. You are totally perceptive of the world around you, and your visual-motor-cortex is in overdrive. You see and perceive all the beauty of the world around you, and you stay focused on re-arranging the visual building blocks of reality, to make your own unique art.
How to shoot more photos
So I think the secret is this:
Create the least amount of possible friction between yourself, your eyes, your hand, and the photo-making process.
For example what I mean is this:
Always have your camera on your neck or wrist: The reason Cindy and I made the new HENRI SHOULDER STRAP is to make sure you have your camera always ready BEFORE you see an interesting decisive/moment photo opportunity. I do truly believe that photography is all about regret-minimization. I’ve missed a billion photo opportunities in the past because I didn’t have my camera either on my neck or wrist, and therefore missed a ton of photo-opportunities as a result. By having my camera always around my neck with the HENRI SHOULDER STRAP or the HENRI WRIST STRAP, I end up shooting more photos. And the more photos I shoot, the happier I am!
Using the simplest possible settings on your camera (‘set it and forget it!’): I’ve been using the Lumix G9 Pro and Leica 12mm f/1.4 Lens in “IA MODE” (intelligent auto), which the camera automatically chooses your aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focus. And it works phenomenally well — it allows me to think less about the technical settings, and focus more on the creative act of actually framing, composition, and timing (when to click the shutter). Not only that, but I’ve been shooting in JPEG (medium size, around 3000px wide) so I can worry less about the processing afterwards (I just import my photos into my laptop with Lightroom Classic CC, and apply the ‘ERIC KIM CHROMA’ presets upon import.
No phone or music: I think photography/street photography is all about a ‘zen walking meditation’. For myself, when I walk without a phone (only using my “stand-alone” camera), and when I don’t listen to music — I can let my mind wander, and I actually see more photo-opportunities! My theory is that the less you bombard your mind with music-auditory inputs, and the less distractions you have on your phone, you can just become more perceptive to the world around you! Therefore, I recommend you to unplug when you’re out shooting photos. Turn off your phone completely, or if you shoot photos on your phone, switch your phone to airplane mode. I would also recommend shooting photos without headphones on. Sometimes shooting with headphones can be good to get you into the groove of making photos, but when you have your headphones off, you can over-hear interesting conversations, you can hear the beauty of the ambient sounds of the world (birds chirping, rustle of trees in the wind), or practical benefits (hearing cars driving by, so you don’t get hit and die — I almost got hit by a car once while shooting photos with headphones on and I wasn’t paying attention//couldn’t hear the sound of incoming cars).
Why walk?
A thought I’ve been pondering to myself recently: Why walk?
I mean to say this:
Do humans need to walk in order to survive/thrive?
In today’s world where we can just drive everywhere or take a bicycle/motorcycle/motorbike/scooter anywhere — what is the practical function of walking?
My theory is this: much of the human brain has evolved to coordinate our bi-ped movement (it is really hard for an organism to balance on two legs). And the reason why humans perhaps evolved to walk on two legs is to free up our hands (hands to do more intellectual stuff). And therefore if we don’t walk, perhaps we will get some sort of mental-problems/dysfunctions in our mind.
If you look at organisms that need to move in order to procure food, they all have brains. Look at plants (no brains); they don’t need to move in order to get food — they just get it from the soil and the sun.
Why I love walking
I know for myself I come up with the best ideas while I’m walking. Many philosophers in the past have said similar things:
“The best thoughts are conceived while walking!” – Nietzsche
“To first become a philosopher, start by taking long [pointless] walks.” – Nassim Taleb
Not only that, but if you’re a street photographer, you can only make photos if you’re walking! Therefore as a practical idea: the more you walk, the more street photos you will shoot!
I know the excuse a lot of us (myself included) make in our photography is that our neighborhood is boring, and therefore we don’t find inspiration/motivation to shoot. Living in the suburbs of LA, I know the feeling.
But I’m pretty amazed: even though my neighborhood is boring, whenever I walk (even around the block for 10 minutes) with my camera on my neck or in my hand, I will always see photo-opportunities! Whereas if I’m simply driving, I don’t see anything. And if I walk around the block without my camera, I generally regret it– because I will end up seeing something I want to photograph (But unfortunately, I don’t have my camera on me).
The smaller the camera, the more photos you will shoot!
I still believe the RICOH GR II is the best camera for most people as an ‘everyday’/’street photography’ camera. Why? It is small, compact, has phenomenal image quality (APS-C/DSLR-sensor), has an integrated flash, and a great 28mm prime lens.
I’ve shot with the Ricoh GR II for a long time, but the problem was always having it with me. After seeing my friend Wilder travel with his RICOH GR II in Vietnam with a neck strap, I wanted a neck strap as well, but couldn’t find any which were compatible with the RICOH GR II (the Ricoh doesn’t have the traditional lug-nuts of most cameras, but rather requires a small nylon string).
Therefore, I worked closely with Cindy and our friend Lan in Saigon, to design and make the ERIC KIM NECK STRAP (compatible with the RICOH GR II). This was awesome, I started to shoot SO MUCH MORE with the RICOH, because the camera was always around my neck.
Why are you shooting with a Lumix?
Since about a month ago (my RICOH died after about a million photos, the aperture blades get stuck) I got the Lumix G9 Pro (because I wanted to shoot more videos for my YouTube channel), and have been loving the new HENRI SHOULDER STRAP. We designed the new Henri Shoulder Strap to be longer (can be worn around the shoulder/cross-body), and also increased the size of the neck pad (which is good for the heavier Lumix G9 camera).
I’m also becoming a pretty big proponent of the Micro 4/3rds system. Why? The image quality is phenomenal, the cameras are smaller, and the autofocus is insanely fast and accurate! It is seriously the best sensor (in my opinion) for everyday/street photography. I am still a big fan of digital medium format, but to be frank I think ‘full-frame’ is overrated (either go with a really small sensor like a phone, Micro 43rds, or go REALLY BIG with a digital-medium-format).
What is the best camera?
Once again remember, the most important thing about a camera is for it to disappear. The best camera is frictionless, always with you, and you can shoot without thinking. The less you can think, and the more you can let the photograph shoot itself; the better.
The world is so full of beautiful moments, beautiful people, and beautiful matter– just waiting for you to photograph it!
There are so many ripe stories for you to tell through your photography. Never let the weight or cumbersomeness of the camera hold you back. Never stop exploring, walking, and shooting new photos! Your creative life thrives on the NEW! Never stop innovating in your photography, by adopting new technologies (like 3d/augmented reality), and new places for you to travel to and explore!
There is no “perfect” camera. Don’t fall into GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) and falsely believe that buying a new camera will make you a better photographer.
There is no perfect camera for street photography and everyone’s tastes are different. My favorite camera for street photography is the Ricoh GR II.
The Ricoh GR II is the best bang-for-the-buck camera for street photography on the market. It has an APS-C sensor (DSLR-sized sensor), a super-sharp 28mm lens (no anti-aliasing filter), and literally fits into your front pocket.
The Ricoh GR II is pretty much the same as the prior Ricoh GR, except it has Wi-Fi built in.
Why do I recommend the Ricoh GR II?
First of all, for street photography you want the smallest, most compact, and inconspicuous camera (that you can always carry with you). I find that with other digital cameras, you end up never carrying them with you 24/7, simply because they are too big. The Fujifilm X100F and digital Leica’s are fantastic tools, but honestly even those cameras are too big to fit in your front pocket.
In street photography, the size of the sensor is also not very important. In-fact, having a non-full frame camera is generally preferable, because you have more depth-of-field in street photography, which is beneficial to “zone-focusing.”
When I shoot with the Ricoh GR II, I generally keep the camera on “P” mode, ISO 1600, and center-point autofocus. I treat it like a point-and-shoot: I simply point and click. This makes me have to think less when shooting, and spend more energy focusing on the composition, framing, and capturing emotion in the photos.
Many photographers bemoan the fact that the Ricoh GR II doesn’t have a viewfinder. Honestly, I feel that viewfinders are a bit overrated — the LCD screen helps you be more creative with your compositions (shooting super-low angle, or a super-high angle), and also helps you photograph your subjects closer (putting a small compact camera close to someone’s face is less intimidating than putting a big DSLR lens into someone’s face).
Also if you want, the Ricoh GR II has a fantastic “snap mode” which allows you to pre-focus to a certain distance (1 meter, 1.5 meters, 5 meters, infinity), which is like zone-focusing on a rangefinder camera. This means when you’re shooting on the streets on a sunny day, you can set your pre-focus to 1.5 meters, ISO 1600, aperture-priority mode in f/8, and take photos that are all sharp and in-focus.
In addition, the Ricoh GR II has the simplest yet comprehensive menu out of any digital camera I’ve used. You can change the function buttons, you can change whether the power lamp is on or off, and everything in the menu is easily searchable. I believe the Ricoh GR II was designed by photographers, not simply by engineers.
The camera is extremely affordable, which means you can save all your hard-earned cash on buying experiences, not stuff. Use that money to travel to a country you’ve always wanted to travel, to buy photography books, and to invest in photography-education (workshops, classes, seminars).
Furthermore, you can charge the camera via USB, which means you don’t need to travel with a bulky battery-charger. As long as you keep the camera off while you’re not shooting on the streets, one battery should last you a full day.
Of course this is just a list of stuff that work for me. It probably won’t work for you.
But I got inspired to make this list– because it took me about 10 years to figure out the best equipment for me. And this works for me, and I hope it can help simplify your purchasing decisions (at least in photography and some other details).
I’ll continue to do articles and videos related to equipment– because I do believe (up to a certain degree) having the ‘right’ equipment in life makes life easier. But the problem is falling victim to GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) where we are buying stuff for the sake of it (has happened to me).
If you already have a bunch of equipment that works for you– stick with it. But if you need some help, I hope this list helped you.
A mini epiphany I had: If you’re not sure what to do with your life, or what direction to take it— consider your lifelong journey to be this: focus all your energy, ideas, and focus in becoming the most fully-developed ARTIST-PHILOSOPHER you can.
HAPTIC INDUSTRIES is proud to announce our newest product, completely handmade, limited edition HENRI SHOULDER STRAP, in two colors: Crema Brown and Phantom Black.
If you live in the suburbs, and want inspiration to shoot– I encourage you to try out ‘Walmart Street Photography’, Costco Street Photography, or just shoot in grocery stores, markets, and other places in the suburbs!
A random philosophical musing: I think ‘willpower’ is misunderstood/overrated in the general sense. What exactly is ‘willpower’ — do we start each day with a limited supply of it? Do we ‘deplete’ our willpower as the day goes on? Can/how you replenish your will-power? And are some people born with more will-power than others? And if you don’t have enough ‘willpower’ — is it because you lack some sort of genetic deficiency, because you are “lazy” (attributable to your lack of effort), or can/should we blame our lack of willpower on external sources?
What is willpower?
First of all, let us break down the word ‘willpower’.
a. “Will”
The word ‘will’ comes from Proto-Germanic (wiljana) which means ‘to desire/wish’, which comes from Proto-Indo-European, “welh” (which means to choose/wish).
So in the general sense, to “will” is to desire/wish something.
b. “Power”
What does the word ‘power’ mean?
The word power comes from Latin (possum/posse) which means ‘to be able’.
Therefore we can consider if someone has the ‘power’ to do something, they have the ability/faculty to do something.
Will+Power
Therefore the word “will-power” should be defined as this:
To be able to do something you desire.
The difficulty/trouble with will-power is this: If you somehow lack the willpower to do something, others will judge you moralistically. If you don’t have willpower, others will negatively judge you as being lazy, incompetent, and perhaps consider you an ‘evil’/bad person.
But the hard thing is this: as individuals sometimes we lack either the ability to do something, or we don’t know what we desire.
Self-doubting
Furthermore, sometimes we do desire something — but we mistakenly think that we don’t have the ability to do it.
For example, let’s say you want to start your own business. You got a great idea and concept, but you don’t think you have the ability to do it — because you believe yourself to lack resources, money, time, or something else.
This is self-doubt. This self-doubt comes from nay-sayers, negative “haters”, or what society or our parents have socialized us into believing. It is of my belief that if you grew up without having anyone believe in you or your dreams, it technically isn’t “your fault”; rather, you were unlucky that you were born into a life situation where you didn’t have the right support network. But the positive note is this: as an adult, you have the opportunity and power/ability to control and change your life! You can decide whom to spend time with, and whom not to spend time with. You can decide and control what to spend your time, attention, and money on. You have the power and opportunity to direct your life however you would like!
What do you desire?
This is another tricky thing: a lot of us don’t know what we desire in life. Not only that, but we must also consider: do we desire stuff (physical things?) Do we desire to obtain markings of external “success” (money, fame, influence, power)? Or do we desire to do stuff, desiring to create, or make stuff?
Personally I think we are most fulfilled when we are in the creative flow and zone of making stuff. I’m the happiest when I’m coming up with new ideas and sharing them with others. I’m happiest when I’m trying out new things, innovating new processes, discos discovering new things, learning new things, taking new risks, and taking on new challenges!
What do you desire in your life, and what do you desire to do, make, achieve, or create?
How to build more will power
So I will break it down with you; how we can build more willpower in a practical sense.
First of all, to build “willpower” we must build more strength in our ability to do stuff.
Part 1: Build your abilities and skills
Now, we can increase our abilities by the following:
Learning how to do stuff, building our skills, our technical expertise or know-how (reading books, online courses, in person-courses or workshops, school, videos, information)
Self doubting ourself less: Philosophically asking ourselves why we doubt ourselves, and asking ourselves, “Where does this self-doubt come from?” Not blaming yourself for doubting yourself, but trying to figure out practical solutions to overcome/conquer your self-doubt.
Determining whether you’re suffering from “paralysis by analysis”: You are paralyzed into indecision because there are too many options in the modern world. My solution: just do it 80% “good enough” and publish, share, or create it! Also, creating your own “minimum viable product” (MVP), which is the minimum possible manifestation of whatever you desire to create or do. For example if your big dream is to own your own big restaurant, a “minimum viable product” may be starting your own food delivery service, where you do all the cooking and delivery (and you don’t pay for rent for a physical space).
Part 2: How to build your desire
A lot of us don’t know what we desire to do or achieve in life. And not only that, we don’t know whether our desires are genuine or not; sometimes we think we really desire to do something or achieve/possess something, but in reality, we were just spoon-fed that desire from advertising, social expectations/pressures, cultural values, etc.
I challenge you friend to spend some time to “Zen out”, disconnect yourself from the outside world (uninstall social media, distance yourself from negative people in your life) and really ask yourself:
“What do I truly desire in life?”
I don’t think there are any “right” or “wrong” answers here. Just be brutally honest to yourself.
Then ask yourself: how can I achieve my dreams? How can I do this thing I desire, everyday?
Then you can setup your life accordingly, to live our your dreams (I suggest everyday).
ERIC KIM PSYCHOLOGY
I cannot speak for you, but I’ll share my personal psychology with you.
In my life, I desire to seek the secrets of living the best possible life. I want to learn these truths/secrets in life and apply it to my own life, and of course I also want to share these discoveries with others.
So a lot of this in my life is self-experimentation, self-doubting, and self-introspection, risking, attempting, and trying out as well as learning new stuff.
At best I’ll live to be 100. At worst, I’ll die today by a distracted texting-while driving driver.
I value life and I love life. I love being alive, I love all people and humanity, and I want to empower all of humanity to be as happy, dope, fulfilled, and epic as possible. That’s it.
This is why I study philosophy, this is why I write, why I make videos, and why I share these ideas with you. Because I know what it feels to feel disempowered, I know what it feels to be depressed, I know what it feels like to lack willpower.
I don’t have all the answers for myself (yet), and I won’t have it all before I die. But that’s the fun and exciting thing; I’ll never stop striving, questioning, and exploring. I want to live my life to the fullest, and also help you live your life to the fullest.
So friend, once again; what do you desire to achieve in life? What’s holding you back (if anything)?
BE BOLD, be a little foolish, have fun, and put a dent in the universe!
I am proud to announce that I did the cinematography for Cindy’s new film: “MISS STEP”. I wrote some of my personal lessons creating the film for her (in terms of doing the filming), but now I want to analyze some of the compositional techniques I learned (while shooting), and I have some practical video-shooting techniques I want to share with you (if you are a photographer who is interested in doing more video/cinema-work):
While in Photobooks DINER Megutama in Tokyo, I came across a copy of Nan Goldin’s famous “Ballad of Sexual Dependency” photobook. To me, it is the one of the most powerful photo books of all-time, about gender, sexuality, and human relationships.
If you see an interesting scene in street photography, and you think you might be able to make a good photograph, linger longer than you think you should, continue to click the shutter, keep your feet planted, and keep shooting! The longer you linger and continue to shoot, the more likely you are to make a good photo!
A list of my personal favorite street photographers, and photographers I recommend you to follow (in no particular order, just the list of photographers who pop into my head):
A life realization for myself: INNOVATE FOR THE SAKE OF INNOVATING (if you want to find daily motivation to create new things, and to find more hope/optimism in life!)
Dear friend, if you haven’t heard the exciting news already– MASTERS is now available as both a digital and print edition! To promote the book, here are some practical lessons I learned from the masters:
Lumix G9 with GoPro Fusion mounted // my new Street Photography POV Setup
My YouTube channel is mostly popular for my GoPro POV Street Photography Videos. I wanted to do this article to teach you how you can make your own GoPro street photography POV videos– and even explain: why even do them?
To thrive as photographers and artists, we need both inspiration and motivation. But what’s the difference, and how do we keep our creative flame alive?
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