Dear streettogs,
Life is good in Berkeley! Just finished a fun 1-day intensive street photography portrait crash course workshop in SF, and after meeting all the great students, I’m more pumped up to write articles, produce content, and share what’s in my neck of the woods!
11th assignment of the Streettogs Academy! We are nearing our 12th assignment that might be just in times for the anniversary as well. Congratulations to Monika Jaskowska Bablok for getting the editor’s choice for the previous assignment! Let’s keep cracking on the next one. This one is going to be a bit of a challenge but should be a great change of pace especially for those shooting in black and white.
In “The Artist’s Way†by Julia Cameron, I came across this interesting idea: that creativity is like a shark. If sharks stop swimming, even for a minute, they will sink to the bottom of the ocean and die.
A lot of things in life are about momentum– about creating positive habits, that allow us to achieve our dreams.
If you are in Toronto (or closeby) and want to take your photography to the next level, check out the upcoming Magnum Photos Editing Masterclass in Toronto as part of the Contact Photography Festival 2015. You will get the help of acclaimed Magnum photographers Michael Christopher Brown, Mark Power, and Larry Towell.
For photographers who are starting a project, mid-project, or if you’re stuck shooting and want to move your project forward.
A monthly compilation of interesting reads, videos, books/zines, or portfolios to follow about street photography or other related genres. Check out the April 2015 edition.
I just finished reading an excellent book on art, creativity, and following your passion titled: “The Crossroads of Should and Must†by Elle Luna. The original idea was written on Medium here, and then blew up on the internet.
The premise of the idea is this: in life you are pulled between things you “should†do vs things you “must†do. But what brings real happiness? If you want to learn more, read on.
I recently met up with Ryan Lum, one of the awesome guys at Narrative, a wearable camera startup. I joined them in their office last week, and talked about my beginnings in street photography and my blog, how it was getting fired (and running this blog full-time), how to shoot street photography (and not get punched in the face), and more. I hope you enjoy the video interview above (and pardon the immature masturbation jokes).
I am currently reading “The Artist’s Way†by Julia Cameron— an interesting book that links creativity, spirituality, and overcoming your artistic self-censor.
I know a lot of photographers who are perfectionists or have a lot of self-doubt. This causes them to not pursue their dreams of becoming a photographer. Not becoming a full-time photographer, but to be someone who makes photography a part of his or her everyday life, soul, and existence.
Many milestones have been hit for the tenth assignment! We just crossed 3,000 members, implemented new rules for the group, and have the ninth assignment translated in russian and german! The community is growing and we have to keep on going!
Here we go!
I love attention. I hate criticism and negativity. I want everybody to love me, to love my photography, and my writing.
Contrary to popular belief, I actually have very thin skin when it comes to criticism. I pour my heart and soul into my work— whether that is my blogging, my photography, or teaching.
But I still get criticized a lot despite my good intentions. Every since I was a kid, I always wanted to please other people. More often than not, pleasing other people was more important than pleasing myself.
But I think it is impossible to go through life without pissing someone off. Even if you have the best intentions in the world, you will always inadvertently hurt somebody, offend somebody, or upset somebody.
I often have a hard time going out and making “street photosâ€â€” and I have a lot of other friends who face a similar difficulty. A lot of street photographers disdain their busy lives, and how they aren’t ever able to make time to go out and hit the streets and shoot “street photographyâ€.
But being really inspired by my friend Josh White— I realized that you don’t need to be a “street photographerâ€, you just need to be a “photographerâ€. Or better yet, don’t even be a “photographerâ€, be a human being with immense amounts of curiosity about the world, with the passion and drive to document it.
Eric’s Note: I am excited to feature the work of Ximena Echagüe, a street photographer based in Brussels, Belgium. I’ve been doing online 1:1 lessons with her the last year, and have been amazed with her progress. Below is an interview I did with her, check it out and her projects!
Dear streettogs, I am excited to share that I have a new free e-book to share with you guys: “On Being an Artist and Photographer“. The chapters include:
This free e-book is a compilation of all of the previous blog posts I’ve been writing on the book: “Akademie x Lessons in Art and Life“. I know the blog posts are a bit difficult to download and access, so I put them together in an easy-to-access free download file.
This book is “open source†meaning you are free to distribute, edit, change, remix, or share this with your friends (freely and openly). Enjoy:
If you want to read the full e-book on this blog, “read moreâ€. You can also save the book to “Pocket” and “Instapaper“.
Here are some other free e-books on street photography you might enjoy:
I think as artists and photographers we often put a lot of pressure on ourselves. We always put pressure on ourselves to improve our photography, to take our work to the next level, and to make “original†work.
In “Akademie x Lessons in Art and Life†artist (and our tutor) Shirley Tse gave lots of interesting ideas on art that are quite taoist/buddhist in nature. Her ideas reflect on self-compassion in art, and some of her lessons include loving (not judging), being critical without being judgmental, sharpening one’s visual intelligence, and not worrying so much about being original (but more focus on being authentic).
Let’s dive in.
I think one of the most exciting things about being an artist is following your curiosity, passion, and to pursue a life-long path of learning.
Continuing from my “Akademie x Lessons in Art and Life†series, here are some lessons I learned from the Raqs Media Collective in how you can constantly transform yourself through art, how to step outside of your comfort zone, and thrive in a life-long pursuit of learning:
Continuing my series on “Akademie x Lessons in Art and Lifeâ€, I thoroughly enjoyed an essay titled: “Me and Marcuse†by Michelle Grabner. She exposed me to a lot of new ideas that I want to explore below on the following topics: what art is for, the importance of filtering images, undoing and re-doing your world-constructs, and the importance of learning:
Continuing the lessons I’ve learned from “Akademie x Lessons in Art + Lifeâ€, I want to share some thoughts I’ve learned from Carol Bove, one and the artists and “tutors†from the book.
Carol expresses ideas on self-expression, what work means to her, time and information management, as well as uncensoring and finding yourself. I hope you enjoy these ideas:
(Editor’s Note: Words and Photographs by Ryan Tacay)
In a world of instant-gratification and disposable media, it’s hard to take something like instagram as a serious way to share something artistic and long-lasting. Going past the jokes about it being all about the bathroom selfies, things I ate today, or this afternoon’s sunset, it’s actually one of the best ways to get one’s work out there and seen.
For starters, with instagram claiming they have about 300 million active users compared to the 92 million that Flickr has, it’s safe to say that although the images are displayed no larger than a 640×640 pixel square format, there’s a larger audience. Having come from Flickr since 2005, I get more traffic and activity on instagram these days. It has become my preferred method of sharing my street photos.
Continuing my education with “Akademie x Lessons in Art + Lifeâ€, I wanted to share some thoughts I have gleaned from Piero Golia, one of the artists and “tutors†in the book. Here are some of his ideas that stirred my thoughts and creativity, and how I think we can apply these concepts as a photographer.
I just gave a free street photography webinar, and here are some of the slides that I shared on practical tips, assignments, and “traits of great street photographers”. The video recording of the event will be available in a week or so, will also make sure to share. In the meanwhile, enjoy this presentation!
You can also see the presentation on Slideshare here. You can see the full list of all of my presentations here.
You can also see some of my other free video street photography lectures below:
I am currently reading: “Akademie x Lessons in Art + Lifeâ€, which is probably one of the most inspirational art/life books I’ve picked up as of late. It is a beautifully printed and bound book, folding open like a school instructional manual.
I personally never went to art school. I entered college as a Biology major (to become a doctor like a good Asian kid), but upon going into school (and realizing I hated science and math), I switched to the exact opposite: sociology.
Hey streetogs, after my 3-week trip in Chicago, Toronto, NYC, I am excited to finally be back home in Berkeley. It is wonderful to enjoy sleeping in my own bed, being back at home with Cindy, and the lovely weather of Berkeley. Unfortunately, I think I caught a mild cold while traveling, and will spend the next few days recuperating. Fortunately, caffeine and green tea has been my new friends (gonna take a break from the coffee for a while until I get better).
(Editor’s Note: Words and Photographs by Jared Krause)
I started shooting in June of 2009. I had causally been thinking about photography and decided to buy a camera. I started posting to a photo blog because I felt like photography was a good way to share my experiences with other people. Shooting street photos gave my photography purpose, a goal and a style to pursue rather than just taking random shots of anything. It was a edgy and new to me. I decided to start posting photos to my blog every day, and did so for over a year. In that period, I got very comfortable using my camera, and quite familiar with light, contrast, colour and the other elements involved in photography. Even though I wasn’t shooting street, I was learning.
I just finished reading a new book titled: “Becoming Steve Jobsâ€, which is a new biography on the life of Steve Jobs. I also read the other (more famous) Walter Isaacson biography: “Steve Jobsâ€, and found this to be a great refresher to the life, work, and passion of Steve Jobs.
In “Becoming Steve Jobsâ€, one thing I found fascinating was how Steve Jobs was a practicing Buddhist. Although he could be a ruthless businessman, he balanced that with meditation, mindfulness, and Buddhist practices.
I love music. I love listening to music when I’m writing (like I am doing now), I love listening to music when I’m driving, and I love having music play in the background when I’m with my friends.
I have a lot of favorite artists and I have found one thing that separates the “successful†artists and from the “unsuccessful†artists: the “successful†artists continue to produce work (and don’t die off).
(Editor’s Note: Interview by Eric Kim. Photographs by Nick Gervin.)
Eric: Hey Nick great to have you. Can you start off by telling us a (brief) life story and how you first picked up a camera?
Nick:Â Thanks for having me, Eric. I first picked up a camera in 1992 at the age of twelve. I wanted to document the graffiti art I was discovering in and around Portland, Maine. At that time, the city was in poor shape and it had a lot of derelict buildings that I would skip school to explore.
I really had no clue what I was doing when it came to photography; I was more of a point-and-shooter then. Still, I felt that the documentation was important and, later on, it would prove to be. Like all things in life, the graffiti didn’t last forever and the photographs I had made then helped document a subculture. I continued to point-and-shoot over the years, mostly with disposable cameras.
It is inevitable. Sooner or later, someone will give you shit for taking their photograph. No matter how good your intentions are, there will always be someone who will be offended.
You can smile, be friendly, and use all the right techniques — but there are just some people who won’t respond positively.
There will be some people who will give you dirty looks, tell you to fuck off, or threaten to call the cops on you.
In my street photography workshops, I often give the students a “5 yes/5 no†assignment. The concept is simple: you approach a bunch of strangers and ask permission to take their portrait. You intentionally try to get 5 people to say “yesâ€, and 5 people to say “no.â€
Sometimes students struggle to get all 5 people to say “yesâ€, and sometimes students have no problem.
So what are some good strategies to quickly develop a rapport with strangers, and have strangers to say “yes†to having their picture taken?
One thing to remind myself: street photography is supposed to be fun. If you’re not having fun, why are you doing it?
We all have the stresses of everyday life that we have to deal with. We have to deal with stressful commutes, unreasonable bosses, difficulties at home, drama with friends and family, and financial stresses and worries.
Street photography is supposed to be the exact opposite of that.
Street photography is therapy for the mind, soul, and body. Street photography is a chance to (momentarily) escape all the bullshit of everyday life. Street photography is the chance to empty our minds, and to simply stray the streets without a single oppressive thought in our mind.
Street photography is the chance to wander, to explore, and to feel like a child again.
Street photography is the chance to meet interesting strangers on the streets, to enjoy nice and fun conversations, and to meet other like-minded passionate people.
Street photography is having the thrill of the “huntâ€â€” of trying to find an interesting image (in an area that might be boring).
Whenever street photography becomes like a chore or stressful for you, take a break. You’re doing something wrong.
You shouldn’t treat street photography like a job. Treat it like leisure. Treat street photography as an activity that brings you supreme happiness and joy in your life. Treat street photography as an outlet which makes you feel truly alive.
Don’t compare yourself to other street photographers. After all, their life circumstances are different from yours. Perhaps they don’t have a family and have much more free time to shoot than you. Perhaps they live in a more “interesting†city than you do. Perhaps they are better connected, and therefore are more “famous†than you.
Strive to become the best street photographer you can, and enjoy the journey and the process.
Be like a kid again— have fun like a child in the playground for the first time.
The street is our playground.
Now go hit the pavement and have fun :)
One of the most interesting ideas that I’ve got from Nassim Taleb’s book “Antifragile†is his concept of “via negativaâ€. The concept is this: when describing something, negative descriptions often work best.
What is a negative description?
Well, describing what something isn’t can better define something.
From here on out, Photography Quick Links will now be known as Street Photography Quick Links. Just like from last month, a compilation of interesting news, write-ups, videos, and other things about street photography and other related genres that I have personally consumed. Since it is international women’s month last March, there’s a special section on the work of great female photographers!
Hey streettogs, I just uploaded some slides for a free talk I did for Chase Toronto the other day on tips, techniques, and tricks to conquer your fear of shooting street photography.
You can also download the slides for free here. Enjoy! :)
So after a long trip in Stockholm, Dubai, and London I wanted to share some of my experiences shooting medium-format (Hasselblad 501c + 80mm lens and Mamiya 7 + 80mm lens) for street photography (and traveling in general).
To start off, I have been really fascinated with shooting square-format photographs recently. To be honest, my first real fascination with shooting squares was from Instagram (and of course photographers like Lee Friedlander and Vivian Maier).
So I first started shooting a lot of squares on my smartphone (squares in-camera, post-processing in VSCO, and uploading to Instagram and social media). Then I realized I had a Hasselblad that my friend Jeroen Helmink gave me about 2 years ago (which was collecting dust on my shelf) that I wanted to try out. Dutifully while living in Berkeley, I carried around my (quite heavy) Hasselblad while on my daily chores and just exploring the neighborhood.
OBSERVE is holding their first group exhibit in opening on June 12, 2015 in the Städtische Galerie in Iserlohn, Germany, and will run through July 26, 2015.
The exhibit will feature the works of the 13 members of the collective. Several members will be present in the opening as well.
In line with the exhibit, OBSERVE will hold their first ever street photography competition with a total of over €1000 in prize money. The theme is “Under Construction”. The competition is open to all photographers of all ages worldwide.
I just re-read an excellent book titled: “The Art of Learning†by Josh Waitzkin. If you’ve ever watched the film “Searching for Bobby Fischer†(the movie about the kid chess prodigy)— that movie was based on Josh Waitzkin’s life.
“The Art of Learning†is a rare book in the sense that he became world champion not only in chess, but also later in competitive Tai Chi “push handsâ€. In the book, Josh breaks down how he was able to learn at an incredible pace, how he was able to push his own creative boundaries, and how he achieved excellence at a master-level.
For this article I want to break down some lessons that I’ve personally learned— which can help you in your street photography or life in general. Let’s go:
I’ve always believed that good work will stand out on its own and it will spread. That is pretty much what happened in our assignment No. 9. given by Harry Fodor. Everyone gave out great black and white work which in turn gave a bit of limelight to the group attracting new members.
Streettogs Academy is pretty much close to 3,000 members now. With that in mind, there are new policies and guidelines implemented so that everyone will be guided on how to interact and post in the group. As always, I am in deep gratitude for everyone’s participation in the group and its assignments.
So let’s jump straight into the next assignment Editor’s choice Chilun Leung gave us!
The other night here in Chicago, I woke up in the middle of the night. I was tossing and turning (put on the heater too hot at night).
In a state of being half-asleep, I started to have all of these random ideas for blog posts. One of them was: “measure your life as a photographer in decades, not years.â€
I recently got 164 rolls of Kodak Portra 400 developed after a year of shooting (and not looking at any of the images). I would have to say— I was so impatient towards the end. I wanted to see my images, and I started to get frustrated. There have been many times when I’m frustrated waiting for my film to get developed that I think of just switching all of my work to digital— to get that sweet, blissful instant gratification.
This is a guest post by Josh White, a street photographer based in Seoul, Korea.
Josh: Yesterday (and sort of the day before) I took part in the 24 Hour Project. For those of you that don’t know, it is a street photography initiative that involves photographers worldwide.
Basically, how it works, is you take one photo per hour for 24 hours in your given city (cities in my case). So, from 00:00 on Saturday, March 21st, until 11:59 I was to stay awake and take and post one photo per hour. By the time 00:00 rolled around I felt more like #fml than #24hourproject.
I have been re-reading a lot of stoic philosophy recently, especially “Letters from a Stoic†and “On the Shortness of Life†by Seneca, and “The Meditations†by Marcus Aurelius.
One of the biggest things that I have re-learned is that for true happiness, we should focus on appreciating what we currently have, rather than what we don’t have. Seneca says the following:
“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.â€
By focusing on making the best of what we have in life is the key to happiness.
I recently stopped into the Costco in Mountain View, California with 164 rolls of Kodak Portra 400. You should’ve seen the look of the staff— it was a look of confusion, awe, and amazement.
They were surprised that all that film I brought in was all shot by me. They were also partly worried that they would have to process all of it. I reassured them by telling them to take their time— I wasn’t in a rush. After all, I had been sitting on my film and letting them “marinate†for nearly a full year.
And so the cycle continues for Streettogs Academy! Our assignment this time round is deceptively simple. This assignment would actually go down as the assignment with the most interaction (so far). Many comments were shared and there were a number of photos that got the attention of many members of the group. If you look closely, the photos that got selected and got the most interest are the ones that had the simple basic requirement of a good image: A strong visual hook. So let’s see all of them.
Hey streettogs, I am excited to share that my friend Walter Margerison and IÂ are curating a group street photography show at ArtÃs Coffee in Berkeley, comprised of 24 Bay-Area based street photographers.
The exhibition is this Friday, March 20, from 6-9pm. Free alcoholic beverages will be served, and this will be a great chance to meet other street photographers from the area! Don’t miss out, hope to see you there, and bring a friend (or two!)
Artis Coffee Address: (Google Map)
1717B 4th St
Berkeley, CA 94710
You can RSVP on Facebook.
I recently finished “Being Mortal†by Atul Gawande. It is one of the most touching books I have ever read this past year. Atul talks about the tension between living long (versus living a meaningful life).
This made me think a lot about my personal mortality, and always how this relates to photography. Here are some of my thoughts:
On October, 2014 Rene Burri passed away, at age 81. He had an incredible career of photography behind him, and produced many iconic images, which include those of Che, Picasso, and many other street photographs which perfectly combined geometry, story, and form.
About a year ago I got a copy of his color street photography, which was published in “Impossible Reminiscencesâ€â€” and was deeply moved by his color work. I feel that his photographs have an emotional and cultural sensitivity to them. Rene’s work feels like a more empathetic Henri Cartier-Bresson.
I therefore felt inspired to write an article on Rene Burri. Unfortunately there isn’t too many interviews he has conducted, but based on what I could find online— here are some lessons I have learned from him:
Dear streettogs,
This weekend is the last opportunity for you to qualify for the early-bird discount for my Toronto Intermediate/Advanced Street Photography Workshop. I am also excited to announce I have added an Amsterdam Intermediate/Advanced Street Photography Workshop as well!
If you wanted to take your street photography to the next level and invest in your own growth and education, join me at one of my upcoming street photography workshops in 2015:
San Francisco – Week-long Intensive Street Photography Workshop – SOLD OUT!
Chicago – Intermediate/Advanced Street Photography Workshop - OPEN!
Toronto – Intermediate/Advanced Street Photography Workshop - OPEN!
New York City – Introduction to Street Photography Workshop – OPEN!Â
Seattle – Introduction to Street Photography Workshop - OPEN!Â
Paris – Week-Long Travel Street Photography Workshop – OPEN!
Amsterdam – Intermediate/Advanced Street Photography Workshop – OPEN! (NEW!)
Prague – Week-Long Travel Street Photography Workshop - OPEN!
Vienna – Introduction to Street Photography Workshop - OPEN!
Berlin –Introduction to Street Photography Workshop – OPEN!
London – Introduction to Street Photography Workshop – Register Intent – NEW!Â
Istanbul – Week-Long Travel Street Photography Workshop – Register Intent
Stockholm – Introduction to Street Photography Workshop – Register Intent – NEW!
New Orleans – Week-Long Travel Street Photography Workshop – Register Intent
You can learn more about my street photography workshops here.
I ultimately want to be happy. But unfortunately there are a lot of sources of dissatisfaction in my life. There are a lot of things I want to change about my life, and my outlook in the world.
In this article I want to share some of the 10 deepest sources of dissatisfaction I’ve had in my life, and strategies I’ve been able to cope with these issues. I hope this can help give you some sort of help (if you’re dealing with similar issues as me).
In this presentation, I share how to come up with and shoot a street photography project, and also cover what makes a great street photography project. Some of the projects we cover are:
Project tips/advice:
Ways to stay motivated
Links:
I was stunned to hear that photographer Caio Proença recently translated my free e-book: “Street Photography 101: An Introduction to Street Photography” into Portuguese (free download here)! Caio writes a bit about why he decided to translate it:
I recently got a new book in the mail: “Dorothea Lange: Aperture Masters of Photography†(courtesy of Aperture) and was deeply inspired and moved by her work, life, and philosophy.
I have always known Dorothea Lange’s work documenting the Great Depression (and her famous “Migrant Mother†photograph), but didn’t know much about her life and philosophy. In this article I will share some of the lessons that Dorothea Lange has taught me about photography, and how you can apply that philosophy to your own work:
One thing I notice when I’m teaching street photography workshops is that a lot of photographers don’t like having their own photograph taken.
This is a huge problem.
If you want to build up your confidence in shooting street photography, I think you also need to be comfortable being on the other side of the camera.
Julius Motal (passionate street photographer) from The Phoblographer recently did a podcast interview with me on their new podcast series, ISO 400. We talked about how I joined my interests in sociology and photography (to grow my interest in street photography), the projects I am currently working on, as well as tips and advice for street photographers.
Enjoy the video interview above!
I just finished a week-long intensive street photography workshop in SF, and man– was it one great experience. The students all did an incredible job stepping outside of their comfort zones, improved their street photography, and built up an amazing sense of teamwork.
I am so proud of all of their improvement through the week, read more to see all of their before/after images! Also if you are interested in improving your body of work, learning more about composition, and building your confidence in in the streets, check out my upcoming street photography workshops.
“I am content with few, content with one, content with none at all.†– Seneca, Letters from a Stoic
I have a problem. I have really high expectations for myself. I want to become the best photographer I possibly can, the best teacher I possibly can, and also the best blogger that I possibly can.
The downside?
I put a lot of pressure on myself.
I put pressure on myself to constantly be shooting, to constantly be improving my teaching, and to also constantly be writing.
But I often feel that having too high expectations for myself is counter-productive. I feel that putting so much pressure on myself has lead to fatigue, depression, and anxiety. Not only that, but the more pressure I put on myself— the worse I actually perform.
What is the antidote that worked for me? Having no expectations.
Hey streettogs, I just put together a video introduction to using Lightroom 5 for editing, post-processing, and workflow. In the video I share some fundamental hotkeys, tips, and suggestions. I hope you enjoy the video, and please let me know what other questions you have about using Lightroom 5 (or editing/post-processing in general) in the comments section!
Hotkeys
Workflow
“F†: Make full screen
Turn on the “Caps lock†key
“P†or “X†:
Go through all of the photos
“Filters off†-> “Flaggedâ€
All photos copyrighted by Sebastião Salgado.
I recently saw Sebastião Salgado’s “Genesis†exhibition in Toronto about a year ago, and was blown away by the body of work. It was the most ambitious project I had ever seen– essentially Salgado aimed to photograph the entire world. He photographed people, landscapes, and nature– and did so over 8 years and all around the globe.
When I was in Mumbai (about 3–4 years ago) with my buddy Kaushal Parikh, I stumbled upon his book: “Workers†and was absolutely blown away by the power of the images, the socio-economic/political undertones, as well as the stark black and whites.
I think Sebastião Salgado is one of the most fascinating photographers out there. He started off as an economist, and then turned to photography when he realized that photography had more power than papers to inform people about the world, its issues, and to inspire people to make a difference.
In this article I want to share a little bit of the background and work of Salgado, and share some points of inspiration he has given me (and can also offer you).
(A.g.’s note: Photography Quick Links is a new initiative I want to do here on the blog. These are links I have personally read and sifted through. This is by no means a definitive guide but for those news stories or news articles regarding photography [but will try to concentrate it to street of course] that you may have missed or I think you should definitely see to help you in your shooting and understanding of the medium. I am still thinking of a permanent title for this one [will double check with Eric] Cheers and happy reading!)
Portfolio Finds:
For those that love evocative black and white, you might like his work. There is quite a passion and energy as he constantly updates with new work via his tumblr. Worth to check out and get lost in
Tumblr Follow
Follow Alani Cruz’s life as he documents his life in and out of the hospital as he battles his sickness.
Patrick Tsai – Barnacle Island
The follow up to Patrick Tsai’s photo diary, Talking Barnacles. Tsai continues the exploration of the non-fiction ongoing photo essay complete with vignettes from his day to day life being spent on an island somewhere in Japan. I’m working on an extensive write-up on his two works. I hope I get the chance to give it the justice it deserves.
 (more…)
Here we go with another assignment over at streettogs academy. Cheers to Harry Fodor for bagging the editor’s choice for Assignment no. 8.
In his email to me, he gave a pretty nice explanation/rationale on why he chose his theme. He made a good observation of what the group is doing and I think it is a great way to continuously challenge ourselves.
In Harry’s words:
Well, what’s my idea for the next assignment?
Hmm, last assignments themes were all about interactions, interactions between people (7th “Opposites”, 3rd “Foreigners” ) or interactions between people and the environment (last one, 6th “Directions”, 4th “Strong Light”) or themes about emotions (5th “Fear”, 2nd “Friendship”). Only the first one (“Square”) was about “technical” aspects – so, why not doing something like a “rhetorical loop“ and going back to the beginning?
I think in photography it is good to have some self-criticism. If you want to be the best photographer you possibly can, you want to be more discerning about your images. You want to produce better work. You want to see the extent of your limits.
But every once in a while we get a lot of these voices in our head that tells you that you’re stupid, you’re dumb, you’re untalented, nobody loves you, and that you will die and nobody will care.
My mom recently came back from an epic backpacking trip through Nepal for about 28 days. She is an incredible woman. At the age of 59, she was able to withstand the freezing cold, the difficulty of breathing in high altitude, and the challenge of keeping her motivation up for nearly a month in which she hiked 8+ hours a day.
In 2011 I did a video interview with Blake Andrews, and a lot has changed since then. I recently did an interview on Blake’s blog (Q&A with Eric Kim) and wanted to see what he has been up to since the last time we chatted.
In this hour-long interview, we talk about his trip to LA, how it is to shoot in Eugene and Portland, the philosophy and psychology behind blogging, shooting in color vs black and white, as well as his advice for street photographers.
Also as a note, there are some parts of the video where the audio is scratchy, and the video isn’t the highest quality. But I hope you enjoy this feature as much as I did! You can follow Blake below:
Follow Blake on Social Media:
Photography:
I want to write this article on a photographer, blogger, and overall cool guy — Blake Andrews.
I first saw Blake’s work on the In-Public website, and was amazed by his surrealistic street photography— and his sharp eyes for shapes, forms, and visual elements.
I am excited to announce that I finally put together my free ebook: “Letters from a Street Photographer“. This book is much more philosophical in nature– and combines the philosophy of stoicism and street photography. If you seek more purpose, happiness, and meaning in your photography, this book is for you.
Here is a breakdown of the chapters:
Free Download:
This book is “open source” — meaning it is free to download, share, and remix. I hope you enjoy this fruit of my love:
Other free e-books:
Read more to see the entire text.
“A bible for photographers†– Clement Cheroux
Wow— where do I even begin? I would say that “The Decisive Moment†by Cartier-Bresson is one of the most beautiful photo books I have ever handled— and it is a book that brings me extreme joy and happiness (you can see all the photos from the book for free on the MagnumPhotos website here).
Sure I have seen many of these photos by Cartier-Bresson before, but to see them in a physical manifestation is a different experience. Not only that, but the original version of “The Decisive Moment†was nearly impossible to get (second-hand copies before the reprint were around $1000+). However now with this re-print by Steidl, “The Decisive Moment†is now open to everybody.
All systems go as our Space assignment wraps up! Thank you again to Kirk Lothian for the interesting idea and letting me play with Space and Star Trek Puns like nothing else! Let’s lift off and head on to the actual entries everyone in the streettogs academy group sent in.
I’ve just put together this list of street photography aphorisms, heuristics, and sayings. This is a distillation of all of my current thoughts and philosophies on street photography. Many of these sayings and ideas are heavily borrowed from others, and none of these ideas are original.
Don’t take everything in this list as “truth”. Rather, take everything with a grain of salt. Take the sayings which resonate with you, and discard the rest.
Free download
Update: I re-edited this book with new images and design / April, 2016
Hey streettogs, I am excited to announce that I’ve finally published my free e-book: “Street Photography 101“. If you’re new to street photography, want to learn the fundamentals, or refresh your existing knowledge– check it out. As always, this book is “open source” — meaning you can freely edit, remix, and distribute this information as you would like.
Below is an overview of some of the chapters I will cover:
PDF (Normal/91MB)
PDF (Small/15.9MB)
iBooks Author (353.MB)
If you want to edit, translate, or remix the book, below is the original “iBooks Author” file (free to download for anyone with a Mac):
Also check out the Portuguese translation.
You can also “read more” to see the full text of the book below.
There is no doubt that we are in an age where information on the web is fast and oftentimes free but despite that, we can’t discount the value of books. This tangible medium has helped teach men and women for centuries as it was and is one of the best way to pass information and/or stories. We are in a great era since we are seeing a great number of photo books come out year after year after for the past decade from self published ones, to reprints, and experimental approaches. Having a photo book from a photographer you look up to or a photographer whose work you admire is a treasured material. Based on my experiences, here are some ways you can build your photo book collection:
My friend Todd Hatakeyama recently gave me a superbly refreshing book titled: “The 5 Elements of Effective Thinkingâ€. It is a basic primer on how to think more effectively when solving problems– and can help students, teachers, and anyone trying to learn or improve their skills.
Like always, I took away a lot from the book– and thought about the principles and how we could apply them to street photography. Here are some of the ideas I learned from the book:
(A.g.’s note/Disclaimer:
The following are the notes I have jotted down during the Angkor Photo Festival last Nov. 28-Dec. 6, 2014. I have organized my thoughts and the lessons so that it would be easy to comprehend for others.
The notes I have is most likely different from the other participants since we had different experiences based on the mentors we had, the skills we wanted to develop, and things we encountered while photographing. These notes are not a substitute for the entire experience during the workshop. I’m sharing it here since you may be in the same situation that I am in or perhaps see something different with regard to the work you are doing. I also share in Eric’s philosophy that information should be open.
With that said, I will say that the time, effort, and everything I put in working through the workshop/festival, meeting other photographers, and just overall looking and doing work made me mature and more confident about what I do. All thanks to the festival organizers, my mentors Kosuke Okahara and Ian Teh, the photographers I met who gave me tips and a few pints of beer, and my batch mates who as I type are already making great leaps in their photography.
Other notes: All in brackets [ ] are my personal opinions and notes on the things that were said or what I think is related to the lesson.)
For more info on the Angkor Photo Festival and workshops, click here.
Dear streettogs, I am really excited to share that I have (another) free e-book for you guys (because I love you) titled: “The Street Photography Project Manual”
The concept behind the e-book was this: I wanted to put together all the information I knew regarding coming up with ideas with street photography projects, how to shoot it, how to edit and sequence it, and how to publish it. Here is a quick overview of the chapters in this e-book:
This book is “open source” meaning you are free to distribute, edit, change, remix, or share this with your friends (freely and openly). Enjoy:
If you want to read the full e-book on this blog, “read more”:
Here are some other free e-books I published: