{"id":72866,"date":"2017-12-12T06:18:10","date_gmt":"2017-12-12T14:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=72866"},"modified":"2017-12-12T06:19:00","modified_gmt":"2017-12-12T14:19:00","slug":"how-do-you-define-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/12\/12\/how-do-you-define-success\/","title":{"rendered":"How Do You Define Success?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vincent van Gogh didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sell a single painting in his life \u00e2\u20ac\u201d does that make him \u00e2\u20ac\u0153unsuccessful\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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Download PDF: How do you define success<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

The traditional view of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153success\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/h2>\n
\"The<\/a>
The traditional path to success.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We have all been spoon fed a common notion of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153success\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d big house, BMW car, white picket fence, millions of dollars, and smiling housewives.<\/p>\n

In photography and art, the common notion of success is having big exhibitions, millions of followers, selling prints and our works for thousands of dollars, traveling the world, and being written about in history books.<\/p>\n

But friend \u00e2\u20ac\u201d how do you<\/em> define success for yourself?<\/p>\n

My personal definition of success<\/h2>\n
\"Modern<\/a>
Modern photographer path to success as a photographer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For me, I define success as:<\/p>\n

\n Making stuff I like.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ultimately for me, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m the ultimate judge of myself. Even if I have a billion people liking my stuff, but if I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like my own stuff, I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel successful.<\/p>\n

Often, I make stuff that people don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like. Does that make any less successful? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think so.<\/p>\n

When Picasso<\/a> was innovating with cubism, a lot of people didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like his work. A lot of early innovation is resented and hated, because people just don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand it.<\/p>\n

\"No!
No! Kyoto, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a trailblazer, or an innovator\/visionary, a lot of people won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand you. But the most important thing \u00e2\u20ac\u201d do you understand you?<\/p>\n

The Greeks didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care about success<\/h2>\n

\"Greek<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been reading a lot of ancient geek literature \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Illiad and Odyssey from Homer, and The Histories from Herodotus. They never mention this concept of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153success\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. They talk about glory \u00e2\u20ac\u201d which is usually only happened by dying a valiant death in the heat of war for your own country.<\/p>\n

\"Hercules
Hercules statue sketch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Even the ancient artists and artisans of the past (according to Herodotus in ancient Egyptian times)\u00e2\u20ac\u201d the artisans and artists were seen very favorable by the king. They were given 5 pounds of bread everyday, 2 pounds of meat, 2 pints of wine, a small plot of land (the same allotments given to the private guards of the king). Which means to me \u00e2\u20ac\u201d all you \u00e2\u20ac\u0153need\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as an artist or artisan is just to have enough food, somewhere to live, and in today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s day \u00e2\u20ac\u201d good coffee and WiFi.<\/p>\n

\"Ideal
Ideal Ancient Greek physique.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What is the biggest blessing?<\/h2>\n
\"Photographer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s
Photographer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hand by ANNETTE KIM<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The biggest blessing we can have isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t material possessions, money, or admiration from others.<\/p>\n

The biggest blessing we have as artists is having the opportunity to make more of our own art.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"ART
ART abstract by ERIC KIM<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Even a lot of these famous rappers making millions of dollars are just slaves to their record labels. They can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t rap about what they want to rap about. They have no control over their schedule, they just constantly do interviews, photo shoots, and tour and do concerts. They have no freedom.<\/p>\n

Freedom is happiness<\/h2>\n
\"Leica
Suit with French fry. London, 2012. SUITS<\/a> PROJECT<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For us, as modern visual artists and photographers \u00e2\u20ac\u201d what we desire is freedom. Freedom and control over our art above all.<\/p>\n

\"Natural
Man with newspaper. Beverly Hills, 2012<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Realize friend\u00e2\u20ac\u201d you already have the best situation in life. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fantasize about the future. Appreciate the blessings you have in your life RIGHT NOW \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hesitate, make more of your art.<\/p>\n

\"BART,
BART, 2016. Man with suit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Make art which causes your heart to sing. Create your own reality in your pictures. Use whatever medium. Use your camera, iPad, iPhone, Film, digital, whatever.<\/p>\n

\"Coffee
Coffee cup with suit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The most important \u00e2\u20ac\u201d for you to keep your passion of photography and visual art alive.<\/p>\n

BE BOLD,
\nERIC<\/p>\n

\n

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\"CREATIVE<\/a>
CREATIVE EVERY DAY: Mobile Edition<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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    \"Eric<\/a><\/p>\n

    For more awesome free resources, join ERIC KIM NEWSLETTER<\/strong><\/a> and be the first to get exclusive content, access to books, presets, and new upcoming workshops.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

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    \n<\/p>\n

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

    Vincent van Gogh didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sell a single painting in his life \u00e2\u20ac\u201d does that make him \u00e2\u20ac\u0153unsuccessful\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72868,"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-72866","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\/12\/A36314F0-D8F0-4BEC-84EC-91526813B114.jpeg?fit=3087%2C2048&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72866","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=72866"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72877,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72866\/revisions\/72877"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}