open source photography

My Vision of Open Source Photography

Portrait by Luis Donoso

When I first started this blog, I wrote about the idea of “open source photography.” To sum up the idea, I wanted to make a personal vow to always keep the information on this blog open and free for anyone to use, remix, or share.

I remember when I was an undergraduate student at school, and I was so broke I could barely afford textbooks. It always infuriated me how these textbook companies would charge ridiculous sums of money for knowledge that I believed should be open and free to promote knowledge, wisdom, and learning for the rest of humanity. Sure I do agree that these companies have to make a profit somehow, but I think that charging $200 a textbook (required reading) was excessive for a student surviving on pizza and ramen.

I have always been into computers growing up, and my student job was IT. I remember first reading about “open source” software and was amazed how generous these developers were in creating software that changed the world. It gave access to people who could not afford expensive copies of Windows, Office, or Photoshop. The open source versions were free to download, and were nearly as good (sometimes even better) than their expensive for-profit-driven counterparts.

I grew up in the lower socio-economic class in America, with my mom holding down three part time jobs working as a waitress, cashier, and even cleaning houses to put me and my sister through school. The biggest resources that helped us were public services (thank God for libraries) and other free organizations that helped me build character and leadership skills (Boy Scouts, local community centers, etc).

I was also fortunate enough that I was able to pay my way through school at UCLA with a combination of grants from the American government and also through my work study job (also subsidized from the government). I also have had countless mentors throughout my life who dedicated thousands of hours to help shape me into the person I am today, and I have a moral and societal obligation to give back to the community.

Therefore I want to re-clarify my purpose of running this blog. My purpose is to spread and promote the love of photography— via educational posts (what I have learned from the master photographers), inspirational (interviews and feature for contemporary photographers), or community-based (exhibitions, books, etc.) I initially started this blog as a hobby and to help others in their journey in street photography (as there were few community-driven blogs online dedicated to street photography about three years ago). I have been lucky enough to make it a living primarily by teaching workshops.

I am certainly not the authority when it comes to street photography. There is still a lot I am ignorant of and many things I need to learn. I am not the best street photographer either, I don’t have a body of work I am proud of yet. However I have the passion, drive, and fervent love of street photography I want to promote– and I wish to contribute to the community by sharing things I have been learning along the way.

Therefore I want to reiterate the fact that I will never charge anything on the blog in terms of information. I will make sure that anything information-based (articles, videos, features, etc) will always be available openly and for free on the blog. I do envision myself writing more paper-bound books in the future, but if I self publish these– I want to always have an ebook available for free online.

I also plan on offering more free street photography workshops to students as well as those who cannot traditionally afford to attend my workshops. I have recently offered some student scholarships when I taught workshops in Manila, and also hosted a charity-based workshop in Detroit with Brian Day which was pay-what-you-can (the profits went to the Detroit firefighters fund).

I have no intentions to becoming rich through my blog, and certainly don’t want to be a blood-thirsty capitalist. I studied sociology in school and I view my socio-political-economic views as quite liberal, and I hope not to stray away from my core ideals and beliefs. If I do by chance become a blood-thirsty capitalist/vampire trying to suck profits out of the street photography community, please stab a wooden stake through my heart and bust out the garlic.

I also wanted to announce that I have recently made all of my photos on Flickr available for free as full-resolution downloads. So if you have ever liked any of my photos and wanted a print, feel free to download any photo and print any sized photo you want. Use it as wallpapers, prints to hang on your wall, or whatever you want to use them for (non commercial). And no, you don’t need my permission.

I already make a living through my workshops and am currently earning enough to live comfortably. I am starting to think more about my future financially (in terms of starting a family, buying a house, all of that “grown up” stuff) but I want to always keep the information on my blog available for free.

Currently what I think is charging for workshops to earn my living (and also I love teaching as well) while keeping everything else available for free.

I also just moved into my new place in Berkeley and finally am starting to get settled in. I ordered an uber-fast 50megabit Internet connection for my home (will be installed this weekend) so I plan on publishing video lectures, and I also hope to write more free ebooks on street photography. I am also currently a bit burnt out from international travel, and I want to focus my energies more locally while spending more time with my girlfriend, family, and close friends.

I think this year (and hopefully many years to come) will be a well spring of educational learning and community-involvement (I am collaborating more with guest writers for this blog). I also hope to become more involved in the local Bay Area photography scene, as this is where I grew up (I grew up in Alameda).

Thanks again so much for reading, participating, and helping this beautiful art of street photography flourish. None of this would be possible without you.

– Berkeley, 8/29/2013

Free resources

Street Photography 101 Workshop Powerpoint and Outline

Hey everybody!

After having the time of my life teaching my Street Photography 101 workshop in Beirut, Lebanon with Thomas Leuthard, I thought that I’d spread the love to those of you who couldn’t make it! In alignment with my ideas on open source photography, I will be providing all of my slides as well as my outline to those who are interested. Feel free to use this information in any way you’d like–but all I ask is credit back to myself or to Thomas Leuthard (for his slides). I hope you guys enjoy and spread the love as well!

If you are interested in having me lead a street photography workshop in your city, please shoot me an email to erickimphotography@gmail.com. You can also contact Thomas Leuthard at photography@leuthard.ch.

Links:

Street Photography 101 Slideshare Link

Street Photography 101 Outline [.doc]

Street Photography 101 Powerpoint [.pptx]

My Vision of Open Source Photography

You might have heard the phrase “open source” tossed around. But what does it really mean? To state simply, it is a movement in which individuals wish to provide access to technology or knowledge for free to the masses. A great example of one of the most popular open source platforms in technology is Linux, which is a fully-functional operating system (created to compete with Windows) except that all of its code (as well as the entire software) is open and available to the public for free. In addition to Linux, there is OpenOffice (Microsoft Office alternative), Gimp (Photoshop alternative), as well as a plethora of other software which allows users to have access to software for free.

Piggy-backing off the idea of open source software, I am a huge proponent of “open source photography.” When I refer to photography as open source, I am talking less about the technical aspects and more of the philosophy behind it. In the realm of photography, there can be a lot of elitism amongst photographers who have the latest and most expensive cameras and lenses. This often causes many new photographers (or photographers on a budget) to be intimidated and not delve into photography worrying that their point and shoot cameras are simply not “good enough” and that they can’t get a decent photo without having a thousand dollar+ camera.

One of my visions about photography is to tear down these walls of discrimination and allow photography to be open to all, regardless of the experience, gear, or interests that somebody may have. This passion that I had inside me helped install some of the virtues to “The Photography Club at UCLA,” a photo club that me and two of my friends started. Nearly half of our club was made up of individuals who had point and shoot cameras, and they were able to take photos nearly as great as others in the club who sported DSLR cameras. As the president, I also encountered many fellow students who were interested in joining the club, but always were reluctant to join because they didn’t have a “pro camera.” However I would always encourage them to join regardless of their background with photography. The only thing I told them was required was a passion for photography.

With the boom of the digital age, photography is now much more accessible as the advance of technology has also driven down prices. When point and shoot cameras first came out with less than a megapixel sensor, they cost nearly $500. Nowadays, you could get a camera with a 12+ megapixel camera for around $100-$200 dollars. The same is with DSLRs (Digital Single Lens Refex Cameras—ie. the “pro” cameras). The first DSLR cameras that came out cost thousands of dollars, but now you can obtain a solid starter DSLR for around $500 (still not a small sum of money by any means, but much more accessible). Even for individuals on a budget, purchasing a camera is now affordable.

Getting back to the concept of open source photography, I wish to provide as many of my photographic insights to others for the pure advancement of photography as a whole. This means that I never keep any of my photographic techniques secret. I strive to share with people how I convert my images to black and white. I strive to teach people how to best utilize their cameras. I strive to spread the love of photography for anybody who has the passion for it. Furthermore, I also strive to provide a hub in which photographers from all over can feel free to share their images, their insights, and their techniques on photography as well. Hopefully my photography blog will achieve this in one way or another.

Photography allows anybody to become an artist. Not everybody is gifted with drawing, painting, or designing, but photography makes creating art as simple as clicking a button. Granted that creating a good photograph is more difficult than just clicking a button, the potential of creating a captivating image is indeed that easy. Photography allows the creation of something tangible in mere milliseconds, something that cannot be done in any other form or art. Even children with no formal training in art can pick up a camera and take snapshots of life which can move and impress adults.

I am not quite sure where this journey of mine of promoting open source photography will take me, but I know that my passion for photography is not something I can keep to myself. Help me achieve my vision and promote this idea of making photography available to all—whether it be to your friends, family, or to that nagging little cousin who always tugs at your shoulder, wanting to learn how to take photos. You’ve got nothing to lose—but everything to gain.