
Are you you in control of your steering wheel in life? Or is someone else driving your life for you?


Are you you in control of your steering wheel in life? Or is someone else driving your life for you?


Nobody knows what they are ‘passionate’ about photographing; but we certainly know what we’re afraid of photographing.


Personal thoughts on how to make more art in your life, and to have more self-confidence in yourself:


I’ve been very inspired by traditional Japanese woodblock printing — strong graphics, clean lines, with soul:

Interview with Cindy A. Nguyen: essayist, dreamer, and maker.


Frank Lloyd Wright; genius maverick architect, who was one of the first leading ‘modernist’ architects, who followed his gut:

![Pericles' Funeral Oration (Perikles hält die Leichenrede) by Philipp Foltz (1852)[1]](https://i0.wp.com/erickimphotography.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Pericles-Funeral-Oration-Perikles-h%C3%83%C2%A4lt-die-Leichenrede-by-Philipp-Foltz-18521--800x638.jpg?resize=800%2C638)


“If a writer wrote merely for his time, I would have to break my pen and throw it away.” – Victor Hugo
Dear friend, don’t just photograph for yourself– photograph for your future generations:


The death clock is ticking— why do you postpone what is truly meaningful to you in life?


Dear friend; I want to write you a letter on the importance of photographing your loved ones.

Practical life and business lessons from Mark Cuban, the serial entrepreneur and owner of the Mavericks:


The easiest way to make more dynamic, better compositions: integrate more diagonals into your photos.


I often suffer from “paralysis by analysis†— I think too much when making decisions, and aim for perfection.


One of the biggest mistakes I think individuals make in life is to think that “success†is making a ton of money, becoming famous, and having tons of influence.


No, becoming enlightened is not becoming some Buddhist monk, and meditating on a rock in the middle of the ocean.


Dear friend; I want to write you a letter on finding your purpose in photography — and giving you a chance to reflect on why you make photos.


To me, Jay-Z is the epitome of the American dream: started off in the projects, and now is a self-made (almost) billionaire.


Life lessons from the Greek Historian, Thucydides — who actually fought in the Peloponesian war (between the Athenians and Spartans) then wrote a history on it.


Dear friend,
Today I want to teach you about ‘Juxtaposition’ — a fancy word that a lot of art school kids like to throw around.


Dear friend,
You might live in a shitty state of circumstances; but I want to encourage you — you can control your future and your fate.


Dear friend; here are some lessons that Socrates has taught me about photography — and can hopefully inspire you:


“To be happy means to be free. To be free means to be brave.†– Thucydides
The lesson is this:
So if you want to be happier, become more courageous.


Dear friend,
Recently I’ve been trying to combine two of my biggest passions in photography — street photography and personal photography.


Why shoot like everyone else, when you are a unique, idiosyncratic individual, with unique life experiences, different from everyone else?


I just finished skimming some of Edward Gibbon’s “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire†(through some quotes), and have some valuable lessons I want to share with you:


Dear friend,
All of us lack confidence in ourselves— how can we learn to have more confidence, and belief in ourselves?


The mind is like the universe. It constantly expands, infinitely.
So be like the universe; keep creating. Keep opening the minds of others.
Keep expanding your mind. Your mind, creativity, and abilities are infinite.
Have the ambition to live 300 years, even though you won’t. This will keep you hungry for the rest of your life, until your dying day.
Always,
Eric


Dr. Dre — the pioneer of ‘gangsta rap’, and currently worth close to $700 million dollars, after his sale of ‘Beats’ to Apple, certainly knows a thing or two about hustling.

Dear friend; if you have a shitty camera (or what you perceive a shitty camera) — yet want to make better photos, this is for you:


I was reading Horace’s advice to his friend on poetry, and he said that we should focus on knowing how to order our lives correctly, instead of being overly-obsessed with how to order our verses.


I just read Hesiod’s Work and Days; and found lots of great practical wisdom on working hard and hustling.


‘Poetry, created and invented for the delight of our souls, if it comes ever so little of the summit, sinks to the bottom.’ – Horace
Do your photos delight your own soul?

Dear friend,
If I started street photography all over again; this is the advice I would give myself:


Dear friends,
I just made a new free PDF ebook: “Leica Manual” — a culmination of everything I’ve learned shooting with a Leica/rangefinder.


If you have photographer’s block, or lacking inspiration to shoot— set a timer for 25 minutes, and do nothing but photograph for those 25 minutes.