{"id":66020,"date":"2017-09-20T07:59:33","date_gmt":"2017-09-20T14:59:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=66020"},"modified":"2017-09-20T08:00:27","modified_gmt":"2017-09-20T15:00:27","slug":"embrace-the-extremes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/09\/20\/embrace-the-extremes\/","title":{"rendered":"Embrace the Extremes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

A theory of living a more interesting and creative life: embrace extremes and avoid the (boring) middle.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

For example, embrace super cray cray, Dionysian, drunk, insane ideas…then balancing it out with rational, Apollonian thinking.<\/p>\n

For example, for our creativity, better to be part Zen-monk (disconnected from all internet, social media, email, superfluous material goods) and to be part Rock-star (loving extreme bombast, self-ego, and borderline-insane Ideas).<\/p>\n

In photography, perhaps we can try this\u00ef\u00bc\u0161<\/p>\n

\n Either go all-out with your photography, or don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take pictures at all.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That means, NOT taking periods for certain periods of time, to let our creative soil re-nourish might be good for us. For example, my friend Dimitris M (ngravity on Flickr)<\/a> lives mostly in Stockholm (works as a doctor and doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take any pictures), and when he travels for a few weeks in India, he shoots 12 hours a day, nonstop.<\/p>\n

So an idea: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153full ass\u00e2\u20ac\u009d your photography or don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do it at all. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t \u00e2\u20ac\u0153half-ass\u00e2\u20ac\u009d your art.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This idea is derived from Nassim Taleb on his \u00e2\u20ac\u0153barbell\u00e2\u20ac\u009d theory\u00e2\u20ac\u201d embracing extremes. Similar to Nietzsche\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s APOLLONIAN vs DIONYSIAN philosophy.<\/p>\n

What I do<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I know for myself, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve found the best health in eating food from either fasting during the day (not eating breakfast and lunch) then eating a MASSIVE dinner (meats and veggies) instead of eating \u00e2\u20ac\u0153three square meals a day\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve found myself more creatively productive cutting out the internet, social media, email 100% … instead of trying to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153moderate\u00e2\u20ac\u009d my consumption. I also don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t own a phone.<\/p>\n

In business, I give away all my information and pictures for free… or charge a LOT of money for it. I see more profitability in business by embracing the extremes. Free information and $3,000 workshops, instead of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153medium priced\u00e2\u20ac\u009d stuff.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u201d<\/p>\n

In photography, another tip\u00ef\u00bc\u0161<\/p>\n

\n Either take photos VERY CLOSE or VERY FAR AWAY. Avoid the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153middle distance\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For example, shoot street pictures at 1 meter away or 5 meters away. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t shoot pictures at 2.5 meters away.. the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153medium distance\u00e2\u20ac\u009d lacks interest, intensity, and intentionality.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u201d<\/p>\n

If you are going to drink or do drugs… apparently it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s better to either abstain 100% or go all-out 100%. For myself, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t drink alcohol or do drugs. But if I will, I will have to go \u00e2\u20ac\u0153all out\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and get \u00e2\u20ac\u0153fucked up\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (like drinking unlimited shots of tequila and blunts on my bachelor party). Otherwise, totally sober.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u201d<\/p>\n

Another idea\u00ef\u00bc\u0161<\/p>\n

\n Either shoot with your phone, or a very high-end digital camera.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To me it makes more sense on a daily basis either to take everyday pictures on your phone, or use a digital medium-format camera for your \u00e2\u20ac\u0153serious\u00e2\u20ac\u009d photography, rather than a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153one size fits all\u00e2\u20ac\u009d mirrorless camera.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u201d<\/p>\n

For working out, either \u00e2\u20ac\u0153one repetition maximum\u00e2\u20ac\u009d style of powerlifting or relaxing walks. Avoiding \u00e2\u20ac\u0153medium workouts\u00e2\u20ac\u009d like (boring) jogging or stupid workout machines.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u201d<\/p>\n

With finding artistic inspiration, either don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t look at anyone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pictures… or just look at the work of the masters from the past.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u201d<\/p>\n

With film, either watch trashy movies or mindless action films and then super artsy avant-grade classic film. Avoid films in the middle.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u201d<\/p>\n

For reading, either trashy celebrity gossip magazines and then French literature. Avoid mainstream business books\/New York Times nonfiction. Read Buzzfeed and Ancient Greek\/Roman philosophy, avoid the New Yorker.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u201d<\/p>\n

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

A theory of living a more interesting and creative life: embrace extremes and avoid the (boring) middle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":66015,"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-66020","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\/2017\/09\/1688EDA4-BB92-43AD-A2A4-D0D591D59FDD.jpeg?fit=4096%2C2713&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66020","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=66020"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66022,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66020\/revisions\/66022"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}