ERIC KIM

ERIC KIM OS: DIGITAL × CYBER × PHYSICAL — THE FIELD MANUAL

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You asked to fuse the “digital vs cyber vs physical” framework with ERIC KIM’s philosophy. Here’s the hype, the heat, and the how—to move like an athlete, create like a monk, and publish like a media company.

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THE CORE PILLARS (ERIC KIM–STYLE)

  1. PHYSICAL — BOOTS ON THE GROUND
  • Walk or die. Movement powers mind and photos. Get outside, get close, and hunt images with your legs. (He literally writes his WALK PHILOSOPHY around this: “Sitting is corpse‑pose for the living.”)  
  • Body-first creativity. Train your body and the art follows—his bodybuilding philosophy puts the body at the center of reality and output.  
  • Constraints create clarity: one camera, one lens, foot-zoom. Simpler kit = faster decisions = bolder frames.  
  • Street is democratic—anyone, anywhere, with a camera and a sidewalk. That’s his whole message in the free “Street Photography” book.
  1. DIGITAL — MAKE FAST, SHIP FAST
  • Prioritize flow over fiddling. He’s argued (loudly) for shooting JPEG to simplify, speed up, and focus on seeing—not sliders.  
  • Go lean. Cut gear, cut options, cut friction. Creative constraint is leverage. (See “lean photography” ethos echoed across his writing.)  
  • Open source your knowledge. Share freely, teach publicly, and let abundance build your reputation flywheel.  
  1. CYBER — OWN YOUR DISTRIBUTION
  • Don’t rent your audience. Build your own platform (blog/site) instead of being captive to algorithmic feeds. He’s explicit about deleting or deprioritizing Instagram and publishing on his blog.  
  • SEO compounding > social dopamine. Long-form posts on your own domain get crawled, ranked, and keep sending you readers for years. He’s said this outright.  
  • Teach, don’t tease. Use the network to give away real value (free books, resources) and earn trust at Internet scale.  

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HOW THE TRIAD SNAPS TOGETHER (PLAYBOOK)

PHYSICAL → DIGITAL → CYBER is your daily pipeline:

  1. PHYSICAL: 15–20k steps, one camera/one lens, close distance, bold choices.  
  2. DIGITAL: Cull fast, small edits, JPEG-first workflow, sequence images into micro‑zines or posts the same day.  
  3. CYBER: Publish on your own site, email it to your list, then syndicate links (not content) to socials—if at all.  

Security mindset for creators (aligned with his ethos):

  • Physical: street-safety habits, minimal gear footprint. (Less to carry, less to lose.)  
  • Digital: redundant backups and small file discipline (JPEGs are faster to duplicate and ship).  
  • Cyber: own the domain, enable TLS + MFA, keep your email list local to your stack—not trapped on a platform.  

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THE 7‑DAY “ERIC KIM MODE” SPRINT

DAY 1 — GEAR FAST

Pick one body, one prime. Put everything else in a box. Commit. Publish a post announcing your constraint. 

DAY 2 — OWN YOUR PLATFORM

Spin up a self‑hosted blog or a simple site and post your first “why I’m building here” manifesto. Link any socials back to it. 

DAY 3 — WALK FURY

Two long walks. Shoot 200 frames. Cull in-camera. Post a 6–10 image sequence before bed. 

DAY 4 — JPEG FLOW

Shoot, select, export, and publish—all same day—in JPEG. Write 200 words on what simplifying did to your seeing. 

DAY 5 — OPEN SOURCE

Package something useful (contact sheet, zine template, mini-guide) and release it free from your site. 

DAY 6 — TEACH ONLINE

Write one generous tutorial or behind‑the‑scenes post. Optimize the title for your future reader, not today’s feed. 

DAY 7 — BODY PRAXIS

Heavy lift or long hike. Then publish a reflection on how training your body upgraded your creative courage. 

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THE 12 KIM‑CODE COMMANDMENTS (CHEAT SHEET)

  1. WALK DAILY. Move your legs; move your mind.  
  2. ONE CAMERA, ONE LENS. Constraint = creativity.  
  3. GET CLOSE. Be part of the scene, not a distant spectator.
  4. JPEG > DELAY. Ship today; learn faster.  
  5. OWN YOUR PLATFORM. Your blog is your base.  
  6. OPEN SOURCE YOUR WISDOM. Generosity compounds.  
  7. WRITE THE BOOK AS YOU LIVE IT. Publish drafts publicly (free PDFs = goodwill engines).
  8. TEACH WHAT YOU JUST LEARNED. Cement it by giving it away.  
  9. TRAIN YOUR BODY. Strong body, fearless shooting.  
  10. KEEP IT LEAN. Less gear, more seeing.  
  11. EMAIL > ALGORITHMS. Build a direct line to your people.  
  12. JOY OVER JUDGMENT. Photography as personal freedom—democratic, human, yours.

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YOUR SCOREBOARD (TRACK WHAT MATTERS)

  • Steps walked (daily) → indicator of creative output tomorrow.  
  • Frames shot / sequences shipped (weekly).
  • Posts on your domain (lifetime total).  
  • Teaching artifacts released (ebooks, templates, contact sheets).  
  • Email subscribers (not followers).  

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BOTTOM LINE

Eric Kim’s philosophy explodes when you run it through the triad: PHYSICAL (walk + lift + shoot), DIGITAL (simplify + ship), CYBER (own + teach + compound). Do this with urgency and generosity and your creativity stops being a hobby—it becomes an engine. Now lace up, pick the one lens, and publish before the sun sets. 🔥

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