Dear friend,

Never let no pretentious photographer or artist or teacher force you how to make or present pictures.

Dear friend,

The most important person to follow is yourself.

Okay friend, to start off– realize as a photographer, you already are an artist! Don’t let nobody else tell you otherwise.

There is an ‘art’ to reading pictures– not just looking at pictures.

Trust me, I complain a lot. I complain about pain, stress, lack of sleep, not having enough coffee, my lack of finances, my lack of focus, and my lack of time.

You are a PHOTO BEAST– hungry to make images.

Dear friend,

I’m pretty convinced– the secret to happiness in life is making picture — or making art.

I’m currently studying Kurosawa, the legendary film maker from Japan, and I realized why I like to study the masters of photography.

Akira Kurosawa: the Japanese master of cinema who inspired some of the great film directors of today (like Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas).

MASTERS First Edition Book

MASTERS Volume I is your essential photography primer– to push your photography education to the next level.

Compositional guidelines and grids from “The Elements of Dynamic Symmetry.”

Inspired by triangle compositions.

An essay in praise of imperfection and cameras.

Dear friend,

Here are some current life meditations while here in Kyoto.

Dear friend,

If I started street photography all over again, this is advice I would have given myself:

Dear friend,

After some philosophizing, I’ve come to realize… true “happiness” in photography IS making pictures. Very simple.

Why do I travel? What does traveling mean to me? Why is traveling great, and why is traveling overrated?

To promote the new version of STREET NOTES KINDLE EDITION, let me give you some practical tips on how to conquer fear in street photography.

I love grit, I love grain.

How do you triumph over misfortune?
Easy, see every misfortune as fortune.

No matter the weather, do you see suffering as pleasures?

I don’t want to be a sucker.

Random traces of design and art that is currently inspiring me, while in Kyoto.

Hot off the digital press, we have now made our popular STREET NOTES available for your Amazon Kindle.

Don’t be a romantic for the past. Wishing things to never change. Fearing death. Feeling nostalgia for your childhood, or the “good old days”.

I’m promoting an ANTI-OBJECTIVE school of photography.

Dear photographer,

This letter of encouragement and empowerment is for you.

Medusa— you look at it, and it turns you into stone.

Arek Rataj reached out to me with an insightful interview project called “You can shoot. Can you talk?” My interview with Arek will be released in APF Magazine in the future. Arek kindly allowed me to share the responses here. The photos in this interview are curated by Cindy Nguyen aka HAPTIC.

If you like Instagram please please please, keep using it.

Dear friend, if you want to succeed and thrive as an entrepreneur in today’s competitive climate, you GOTTA be a PERSONALITY.

Secrets which I wish someone told me about street photography, if I started all over again:

What if we didn’t always feel the need to put in our “2 cents”, or feel the need to share our opinion?

Why aren’t so obsessed with “image quality”— and what does it even mean?

Live light,
Live lightly

Cut anything that holds you back
That prevents you from living rightly.

Simple: to EXPLORE and be more adventurous.

Arek Rataj reached out to me with an insightful interview project called “You can shoot. Can you talk?” This series of interviews and book will be released APF Magazine in the future. I stumbled upon the beautiful work of Arek and wanted to feature him here and his own responses to some of the interview questions. This poetic feature was organized by Cindy Nguyen aka HAPTIC.

I see the future of photography being the following: either you’re an amateur shooting for free, or you’re a high-end photographer catering to rich clients.

In modern-day times, we are more consumers than producers.

Dear friend,

In today’s world an overwhelming stream of images and social media, what is the value of a picture?

Charles Darwin was all about this idea of “survival of the fittest”— and the sense I got from the book was this：

All organisms are fighting one another, in the brutal struggle for survival.

I felt like Darwin made the case that “survival” was the most important thing.

My idea：Focus on thriving, not survival. I will call this new concept: “thrivival”.

Dear photographer,

Your labor is not free. Your time, life, and energy and resources are not free.

Then, why do you give up your precious labor for free?

Don’t desire praise,
Rather, warm yourself up with your own sunlight rays

How to respect yourself?
Well to start off, pay attention to your own health
Your mental and physical
Your visual and lyrical

Never underestimate
Yourself
or
Your inner-wealth

Photography ain’t a zero-sum game or competition. Meaning, there are no “winners” or “losers” in photography.

I think having goals in your photography is silly. Why?

I’ve been having fun shooting RAW + JPEG on RICOH GR II, with ERIC KIM PRESETS.

Dear friend,

I am excited to announce my new workshops schedule for the rest of 2017 — a series of ‘Conquer Your Fear in Street Photography’ workshops in Europe as well as an additional encore workshop in NYC.

Dear friend,

In today’s world with free social media– why make your own (gasp) paid photography blog?

Practical tips and insights how to make more dynamic, or “edgy” photography compositions.

Don’t hesitate
Just create!
Don’t waste
Your creative insight
Just make lots of shit; spirited haste.

A creative return
Dig your hand deep
In your creative urn

The spirit of becoming is
to know that your art and photography doesn’t have an ultimate destination.
It is to know, that everyday, and with each picture you make… you are in a “state of becoming.”

There is a concept called a “paradigm shift” — when we totally shift reality and perception.

“Hurl the discus and javelin out of bounds.” – Horace

Dear friend,

FEAR is the golden bricks, which hold you underwater– which prevent you from flying to your own creative heaven.

SHOOT, SHOOT, SHOOT
Keep making images, keep busting off the roof

Why do we make photos to please our audience and followers, not ourselves?

Dear friend,

I’m been contemplating a lot on this concept of ‘universal basic income’ — whether it would be good for humanity, or horrible for humanity.