{"id":125136,"date":"2019-01-12T16:04:52","date_gmt":"2019-01-13T00:04:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=125136"},"modified":"2019-01-12T16:04:54","modified_gmt":"2019-01-13T00:04:54","slug":"power-photography-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2019\/01\/12\/power-photography-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Power Photography"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I have this new notion of photography:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What if we saw photography as a tool of empowerment, instead of just making photos?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I call this notion ‘power photography’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Power is good<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I don’t know anyone who thinks power is a bad thing (either that, or they’re lying to themselves).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People will often dislike “abuse of power” — but all of us want more power in our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We want more power over how to live our lives, we want more (physical) power to be active in our everyday lives, and we want more feelings of self-confidence to do what we truly desire to do in our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is photography making you feel more powerful?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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For myself, photography is empowering. I feel more powerful with the camera! I feel more bold and confident with the camera when I am interacting with other people (shooting street portraits<\/a> or street photography<\/a>), I feel more adventurous with a camera (travel photography<\/a>), and photography empowers my eyes to notice more beauty in the ordinary and mundane<\/a> (photography trains our eyes; trains our ‘visual acuity<\/a>‘).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Does looking at your own photos give you more vigor, energy, life, and power?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A simple question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you look at your own photos, how do they make you feel?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Does looking at your photos give you more power, hope, and joy in life? Or does your photos make you feel more depressed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I hope looking at your own photos empowers you. If not, I don’t think photography is worth it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why do we like art?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I generally think that the best artwork is the artwork which gives us more feelings of power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think the best art gives us strength, confidence, and inspires us to move and create our own artwork!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, when I look at the work of Piet Mondrian<\/a>; I love his bold, simple, and powerful compositions. Looking at his artwork inspires me to create more of my own artwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look at other photographers who inspire you to shoot more!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I generally think when you’re looking for inspiration in photography, this is my tip:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look at the photos of other masters of photography<\/a> whose work inspires you to shoot more!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Looking at the work of another photographer should never discourage or depress you. Sometimes we might look at the work of another photographer and think:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Wow, their photos are 100x better than mine. No matter how hard I try, I will never be able to make photos as good as them.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, we should seek to become BETTER than the past masters of photography! Also, we should never be slaves to the past masters of photographers — we must ‘kill our masters<\/a>‘ in order for us to create our own new ideals in photography. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How to make more powerful photos<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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My definition of a powerful photo:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I look at the photo, does it make me feel<\/em> more powerful and more optimistic in life?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Of course, only you should define what you consider a ‘strong’ or ‘powerful’ photo. You should make photos to stimulate and empower yourself; don’t worry what others might think of your photos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Powerful aesthetics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I am a big fan of ‘extreme post-processing<\/a>‘ (ERIC KIM PRESETS<\/a>). The basic idea is this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Process<\/a> your photos in an aesthetic that feels powerful, impactful, and strong to you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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For example with black and white photography, I like bold post-processing (crush the blacks<\/a>, extreme high contrast).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For color, I also like to do extreme post-processing. I play around with my post-processing in a style which looks good to my eyes: insanely high saturated colors which stimulate me!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n