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(You can also read this as a Google Doc<\/a>, or PDF<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n Dear friend,<\/p>\n I just finished reading a book by Roman philosopher Epictetus, titled \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Of Human Freedom<\/a>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It got me thinking a lot about my own freedom in life, how to be happy in all situations, and how to treat some of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153diseases of my mind.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n One of the things that I found the most interesting was how one can be happy despite his\/her circumstances.<\/p>\n For example, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say that we wish that we had more time to shoot, we wish we had more money (to travel, buy gear, books), that we wished we lived in a different city, that we were younger or picked up photography earlier, that we were more famous, had more Instagram followers, got more \u00e2\u20ac\u0153likes\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and meaningful comments on our photos, if we were more inspired, or if we knew more interesting photographers in our own home city.<\/p>\n What is the problem with all of these things I just mentioned? They are all thing that are out of our control. Sure we do have some control of these things, but complete control? Not at all.<\/p>\n How do we be happy, undisturbed, and grateful in all circumstances in life regardless of our situation in life?<\/p>\n One of the secrets is to find the hidden benefit of every \u00e2\u20ac\u0153negative\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in our life.<\/p>\n For example, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say that you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have that much free time to shoot. Rather than complaining or feeling frustrated that your day job doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t allow you more time and flexibility for your photography, you can see this as a benefit. By having limited time, you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t waste your time when you actually do have time to shoot. You are more grateful for your time, and you end up shooting with more focus, intensity, and drive.<\/p>\n In-fact, the common mistake I see photographers make is hoping that they had unlimited time to shoot. In reality, too much free time makes us lethargic, lazy, unmotivated, and uninspired. Sometimes the constraints of a day job in terms of time helps us to be more inspired.<\/p>\n Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say you wish you picked up photography at a younger age. You might have traveled a lot in your life, and regretted not having taken photos at that time.<\/p>\n But picking up photography at a later time in your life can be a benefit. Why? When you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re older, you have more wisdom, life experiences, time, and money to pursue your passion.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153But what if I am really old and don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have many years of my life to live, I will probably pass away in 10 years, if I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m lucky!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n Well, remember; it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter how long you photograph, but how well you photograph. Life is like a play, if we are an actor, it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter how long we perform on stage. What matters is the quality of our acting. I would rather be a photographer who shot for only 5-10 years and created 1 great body of work, rather than a photographer who shot mediocre landscape and HDR photos for 50 years.<\/p>\n Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say that you own a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153shitty\u00e2\u20ac\u009d camera, and that you wish that you had the newest and flashiest camera. You might be frustrated by the poor image quality, the low-ISO performance, or how soft your lens is.<\/p>\n But remember, this can be a benefit.<\/p>\n How so?<\/p>\n Well, if your camera doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have good image quality, then you really have to find good light to shoot in. Any camera, regardless of how poor, will perform well if you have good light. So now you will begin to pursue to shoot only in conditions and situations where the light is actually good. This ends up being a benefit.<\/p>\n Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say that your lens isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sharp. Well, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it Henri Cartier-Bresson<\/a> who said: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sharpness is a bourgeois concept\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? In-fact, I dislike photos that are too sharp. Sometimes I prefer softer lenses, which evoke more of a dreamy look and feel.<\/p>\n For example, Junku Nishimura<\/a>, a talented Japanese street photographer, shoots with a Leica M5 (commonly called the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153ugliest\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Leica camera ever made) and an old 50mm Summaron lens (known to be very soft and unsharp). But this helps him create a unique look in his work, that evokes the past. If he shot with a high-end digital camera with super sharp lenses, his images wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the same emotion and feel.<\/p>\n Another common complaint a lot of photographers have: that they wish they lived somewhere else; that their own hometown is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153boring.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n But know that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153boring\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is just an opinion. You can live in New York City or Tokyo and still call it \u00e2\u20ac\u0153boring.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It is all a state of mind, and how you see things.<\/p>\n If you were an alien that just landed on earth, imagine how interested you would be in your own neighborhood. Consider all the interesting people, buildings, and sights.<\/p>\n Another benefit of living in a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153boring\u00e2\u20ac\u009d city; it hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been photographed as much, which means you have a greater opportunity to make a unique body of work. Mark Cohen<\/a> photographed in a very \u00e2\u20ac\u0153boring\u00e2\u20ac\u009d town for his entire life, and still was able to make a strong body of work.<\/p>\n Also the benefit of photographing your own city is this: you know your own town better than any tourist. You know what shots are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153cliche\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and not, and you also know the paths off the beaten path.<\/p>\n Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say that you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have any followers on social media, and that you are a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153nobody.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d That can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t possibly be a benefit, can it?<\/p>\n Well, sometimes it is a blessing to be unknown. Saul Leiter<\/a> shot his entire life in obscurity, and only enjoyed fame later in his life in his 70\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and onwards. But he found this to be a true blessing, because he wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t bothered by anybody. He could simply shoot how he wanted, without feeling constrained by the expectations of anybody else. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure even if Saul Leiter wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t \u00e2\u20ac\u0153discovered\u00e2\u20ac\u009d before he died, he would still be supremely happy.<\/p>\n Let me bring in a personal example; I recently got my 11 Macbook Air laptop stolen in Paris. Instead, I bought a cheap Lenovo Windows 8 tablet\/laptop device for 300 euros, which isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the fastest or most capable machine. I missed all of my Apple software (Pages, iBooks author) which I was using to produce my new free e-books on street photography<\/a>.<\/p>\n But the benefit of getting my laptop stolen and using a weaker machine is this: I discovered the joy of working on the Google cloud, and have enjoyed using Google Slides (see my free presentation: \u00e2\u20ac\u01537 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d), and Google Docs (which I am currently using this to write). Not only that, but I know that even if I fell into poverty and could only afford a cheap laptop, I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be encumbered or held back by lack of technology. Whenever I think that my computer, smartphone, or camera isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t capable enough, that is just me making excuses. My mind is always the ultimate limit.<\/p>\n When I am traveling, I am limited by the stuff I am able to carry. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have access to my photography books, to my scanner, or other digital equipment. All I literally have with me at the moment is my laptop, smartphone, film Leica camera, film, ThinkTank Perception 15<\/a> backpack (brilliant, bought it after my backpack got stolen), Kindle, Moleskine notebook, extra Uniqlo Airism shirt and Exofficio boxers<\/a>, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s it.<\/p>\n But having limited space while traveling ends up being a benefit, I learn how to cut the extraneous things from my life, and only focus on the essentials.<\/p>\n Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say that you wish you had more photography books in your library. I had a phase in which I bought 1-2 photo books a week, but the problem was that I only looked at them once or twice, never to be seen again.<\/p>\n The benefit of only owning a few photobooks is that you get to know them really well. In-fact, I think it is better to just own 3 photography books you really really like than have a library of hundreds of books that you barely look at. For those of you who are curious what 3 books I would keep it would be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Exiles<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Gypsies<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d by Josef Koudelka<\/a>, and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chromes<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d by William Eggleston<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ultimately I think the goal in our photography shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be to become rich, famous, influential, to publish a lot of books, have a lot of exhibitions, own a lot of Leica\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, or to be written in the history books. Our goal should be to seek happiness, self-contentment, and peace of mind in our photography.<\/p>\n Taken a step further, photography isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the most important thing in our lives. It is to live a happy life. Photography is just a hobby which supplements our life.<\/p>\n