{"id":28620,"date":"2016-04-17T09:00:30","date_gmt":"2016-04-17T16:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=28620"},"modified":"2016-04-15T15:39:53","modified_gmt":"2016-04-15T22:39:53","slug":"less-but-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2016\/04\/17\/less-but-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Less, But Better"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Berkeley,
Berkeley, 2016 #cindyproject<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dear friend,<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been on a bit of a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153minimalist\u00e2\u20ac\u009d binge. Part of me is that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m frustrated with all this crap I have in my life\u00e2\u20ac\u201d material crap, emotional crap, and negativity I have built up inside my head over all the years.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The problem I have personally been facing in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153minimalism\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is trying to get rid of everything<\/em> in my life, and stripping down to the bare-bones. I think I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve gone too extreme at times\u00e2\u20ac\u201d trying to be too<\/em> minimalist is actually adding<\/em> stress to my life.<\/p>\n

Confusion about minimalism<\/h2>\n

The more I think about minimalism, it isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t about having no<\/em> possessions\u00e2\u20ac\u201d but having fewer<\/em> possessions, and better<\/em> possessions.<\/p>\n

For example, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t own 10 pairs of so-so shoes that fall apart after a month. Perhaps own 1-2 pairs of really-good shoes that will last over a year.<\/p>\n

Instead of owning 5 cameras, perhaps stick to one camera and one lens (which is of high-quality, fits your lifestyle, and is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153affordable\u00e2\u20ac\u009d according to your budget).<\/p>\n

When it comes to photography, share and publish your work\u00e2\u20ac\u201d but only share your best work. Publish less photos, but better<\/em> photos.<\/p>\n

Edit down<\/h2>\n

When it comes to purchasing photography books, you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need a library of 100 books. Just have 10 books that you really really like, and books that you will read over and over again. Fewer photo books, but better<\/em> photo books.<\/p>\n

Same thing goes with friends and personal relationships\u00e2\u20ac\u201d edit down your circle of friends and close family. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seek to be the guy who has 5,000 friends on Facebook\u00e2\u20ac\u201d just have a tight, intimate group of close friends and family who truly love and care about you. Fewer people in your life, but better<\/em> people in your life.<\/p>\n

Fewer hours in the office, but a better quality of life.<\/p>\n

Less, but better in photography<\/h2>\n

Have fewer subjects in your frame, but make sure that your images have more<\/em> emotional content.<\/p>\n

Show fewer projects on your website or portfolio; just make sure they are your best projects.<\/p>\n

A Bauhaus aesthetic to life<\/h2>\n

You can apply this \u00e2\u20ac\u0153less, but better\u00e2\u20ac\u009d philosophy in so many different ways in your photography and life.<\/p>\n

Strip yourself down to the essentials, but make sure it adds<\/em> happiness and joy to your life.<\/p>\n

To learn more about \u00e2\u20ac\u0153less, but better\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, I recommend studying the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bauhaus<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d aesthetic (which inspired Steve Jobs, and countless designers). Dieter Rams<\/a> and Paul Rand<\/a> are also two designers to check out.<\/p>\n

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

Dear friend, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been on a bit of a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153minimalist\u00e2\u20ac\u009d binge. Part of me is that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m frustrated with all this crap I have in my life\u00e2\u20ac\u201d material crap, emotional crap, and negativity I have built up inside my head over all the years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28620","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=28620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28620\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}