ERIC KIM ₿

Shot on Lumix LX100, processed with VSCO A6 (1/2 strength) Mobile Preset JPEG preset.

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Dear friend,

A mini epiphany I had: anything that encourages you to MOVE and be active is a good thing.

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Dear friend,

If Instagram causes your mood to fluctuate, if you feel addicted to it (in a negative way), and you want to invest in yourself and your own platform (not into Facebook), I recommend you to do something crazy: delete instagram.

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Dear friend,

A simple question: What makes a good photograph?

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SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT
give PROOF PROOF PROOF
to the beauty of life

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Dear friend,

A fun thought: what if we didn’t see life as some sort of painful duty, but rather, seeing our lives as a fun opportunity to experiment, play, and have fun?

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Why shoot street photography? For whom should you shoot street photography? What are the ethics behind street photography?

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Osaka: probably the most under-rated place to travel to in Japan (and in the world):

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You’re feeling stuck; how do you elevate your photography and take it to the next level?

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Dear friend,

The world is full of pain and suffering — we all know that. But in spite of the pain, sorrow, and despair in the world — can you still see pure light, opportunity, joy, and reasons to rejoice?

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Dear friend,

A piece of entrepreneurial advice: create your own niche.

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The sad thing is that I think a lot of our lives is wasted, trying to “prove” ourselves to others. But this is silly: I think we should instead focus on working hard to prove ourselves, only to ourselves.

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Dear friend,

A word of encouragement: realize that you’re already a photographer, and you don’t have anything to “prove” to anybody else, but yourself.

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2011-2017:

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Master your own style, aesthetics, and vision in photography.

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Dear friend,

One question I’ve been curious about the last 10 years of my life: what is the “ideal” lifestyle, and how do I achieve it, in order to be maximally “happy”?

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Dear friend,

Have you ever seen a scene that you wanted to shoot, but hesitated and didn’t take the photo, and later regretted not shooting the scene?

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What is the purpose of photography? To me, the purpose of photography is documenting the joy in our lives, and sharing that joy with others.

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Dear friend,

As photographers, we are life-affirmers. Whenever we decide to click the shutter and make a photo, we are saying:

Life is beautiful, this photograph is proof!

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This is my theory: the more often we shoot, the happier we are. But, a lot of us don’t or cannot shoot everyday, thus, we end up feeling depressed or demotivated in our photography.

What is the solution to this problem?

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As photographers, the less friction we have in our photography workflow, the better.

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Why do we lose motivation to make photos, and how can we re-inspire or motivate ourselves when we feel in a creative slump?

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30 DAYS TO JUMPSTART YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY is your personal daily photography journal to encourage you to photograph every day, appreciate your life, and see new photography opportunities.

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Dear friend,

A fun question to ponder: why street photography?

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Simple and joyful living in OSAKA.

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Dear friend,

A philosophical idea I got when reading Kant’s “The Critique of Pure Reason”: Photography can be simplified into two variables: Space and Time.

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Dear friend,

To succeed as a photography entrepreneur, you must gain more exposure for your work and photography.

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Dear friend,

A key to success: INTENSITY x FOCUS.

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Dear friend,

A thought: to be happier in your photography and life, seek to shoot MORE photos, not “better” photos.

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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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