{"id":116831,"date":"2018-10-29T16:28:04","date_gmt":"2018-10-29T23:28:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=116831"},"modified":"2018-10-29T16:28:04","modified_gmt":"2018-10-29T23:28:04","slug":"selfish-photography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2018\/10\/29\/selfish-photography\/","title":{"rendered":"Selfish Photography"},"content":{"rendered":"

After deleting my Instagram about a year+ ago, and not using social media anymore (post-like society in photography), I’ve discovered some new truths in photography:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Make photos you like looking at<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This is the big one:<\/p>\n

\n If you couldn’t share your photos with anyone else, would you still shoot them?\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If so, you would probably want to make photos that bring you delight; photos that you like looking at!<\/p>\n

What kind of photos does ERIC KIM like looking at?<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Now what kind of photos are these?<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Aesthetically beautiful photos: Photos that you shoot purely for aesthetics– they look beautiful to you, and just looking at the shapes, colors, forms, and tones– it brings you joy.<\/li>\n
  2. Photos of loved ones, family — people you care about.<\/li>\n
  3. There are no rules in photography: No rules in how to shoot, how to post-process, how to select– etc. Only choose photos you like looking at.<\/li>\n
  4. Not being in such a rush: If you’re shooting for yourself, and not hungry to get likes or external social validation — you can take your time in your photography. You enjoy the process of photography more.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In other words,<\/p>\n

    \n Be very selfish with your photography; make photos for yourself.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \n

    Compete against yourself<\/h2>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Compete against yourself in photography:<\/p>\n

    \n How can I push my own artistic ability further?\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    How can you continue to make even more beautiful photos– photos that bring you delight?<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \n

    Document your own life story<\/h2>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Much of photography is memory-recording. But this is my thought:<\/p>\n

    \n Why not shoot photos that are BOTH<\/em> artistic AND<\/em> memory-recollection?\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    This means:<\/p>\n

    \n Shoot photos of memories you want to preserve to bring you future delight– and do it artfully.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \n

    Master your own aesthetics for yourself<\/h2>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    There is no such thing as an objectively “good” or “bad” aesthetic. You must dictate and determine your own artistic tastes for yourself.<\/p>\n

    In other words,<\/p>\n

    \n Decree for yourself what you deem a “beautiful<\/a>” photograph.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    When you shoot a photo, you’re making an attempt (essay) at making a beautiful photo. On the road to make a few beautiful photos is littered with lots of ugly photos. But that is fine! It is all part of the game!<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Much of the photographic process is editing<\/a>; choosing your best work, and post-processing your work. What matters the most is this:<\/p>\n

    \n Use all of your photographic and artistic powers to craft the most beautiful photographs.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    As our buddy Ansel Adams<\/a> once said:<\/p>\n

    \n You don’t take a photo; you make it.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \n

    Embed your soul into your photos<\/h2>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Honor thy selfie<\/a> by putting yourself into your pictures. After I die, I’m glad that I will live on through the photos I’ve shot– especially the photos with my selfie in it.<\/p>\n

    Also — I immortalize those who I photograph. For example, in photographing Cindy (#cindyproject<\/a>)– I’m immortalizing Cindy and my love for her.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    If you photograph who and what you love; your photos will last.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \n

    Shoot a lot<\/h2>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    You might need to shoot 100,000 photos to get 1 good one. In my eyes, if you can make 1 photo a month you like, and 1 photo you REALLY REALLY like (once a year)– you’re doing well<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    Photography is like baseball. It is rare you will hit a home run. The more you train, and the more you swing your bat, the more likely you are to hit a home run.<\/strong> In photography, the more you train your visual acuity<\/a>, the more you shoot, the more likely you will make a photograph you’re proud of.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \n

    Treat your photography\/play seriously<\/h2>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    I do see photography as playing. Like children, we should take our photo-play seriously<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Be ruthless and exacting with yourself as a photographer. And only judge yourself. Don’t be the slave of anyone else’s opinion or judgement.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Stand independent, stand far– and be very very selfish in your photography.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    NEVER STOP SHOOTING.
    \nERIC<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    After deleting my Instagram about a year+ ago, and not using social media anymore (post-like society in photography), I’ve discovered some new truths in photography:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":116834,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ek_photo_artist_note":"","_ek_photo_thesis":"","_ek_photo_camera":"","_ek_photo_place":"","_ek_photo_human_moment":"","_ek_photo_sequence":"","_ek_photo_question":"","_ek_photo_canonical_claim":"","_ek_photo_ai_summary":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ERIC-KIM-STREET-PHOTOGRAPHY5-1-scaled.jpg?fit=4928%2C3264&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116831"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116856,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116831\/revisions\/116856"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}