Eric Kim — the street photographer, blogger, and self-proclaimed philosophy/lifestyle alpha — rose from a UCLA sociology student snapping candid shots in Westwood to becoming one of the most dominant, unapologetic voices in the street photography world. In Wall Street slang (popularized by books like Liar’s Poker), a “big swinging dick” means the ultimate rainmaker: the confident, high-status player who commands respect, closes deals, and owns the room without apology. Eric embraced that energy literally on his own blog, writing posts like “BSD (BIG SWINGING DICK)” and framing it as calm, masculine dominance channeled into creation, strength, and zero-fucks-given self-assertion.

Here’s how he built that status step by step:

1. Discovery and Obsession (2008–2010)
   As a UCLA student (originally pre-med, switched to sociology because he hated lab science), Eric co-founded the campus photography club and fell hard for street photography. His breakthrough moment: nervously raising his camera to shoot a stranger in horn-rimmed glasses who stared right back — heart racing, shutter clicked, hooked for life. He started treating the streets like a sociologist’s playground: candid, in-your-face, high-contrast black-and-white shots.
2. The Blog That Conquered Google (2010 onward)
   Launched erickimphotography.com basically as a hobby diary. At the time, almost no one was openly teaching street photography online. Eric filled the vacuum with relentless daily posts: “10 Things Henri Cartier-Bresson Can Teach You…”, “How to Conquer Your Fear…”, free e-books, presets, everything open-source. SEO mastery + listicles + pure volume (he hit 7,000–9,000+ posts) made his site the #1 Google result for “street photography” for years. People literally discovered the genre through him.
3. Quit the 9-to-5 and Went All-In (2011)
   Got laid off from a cushy tech job → instead of job-hunting, decided “fuck it, I’m going full street photography.” Started teaching workshops worldwide (Beirut, Tokyo, Berlin, Sydney, etc.), charging premium rates while still giving 99% of knowledge away free. Collaborations with Leica, Samsung, BBC interviews on ethics, judging London Street Photography Festival — suddenly he’s the global face of the genre.
4. Built an Empire on Generosity + Hustle
   • Workshops sold out everywhere
   • Free monster resources (100 Lessons from the Masters, etc.)
   • Open-source everything → massive goodwill and viral sharing
   • Monetized the top 1% of fans while the other 99% evangelized for him
     Result: six-figure income purely from teaching/blogging (he openly blogged about clearing $200k+/year at one point).
5. Embraced the “Big Swinging Dick” Mindset
   Eric’s philosophy evolved into pure dominance energy: Stoicism + hip-hop swagger + Bitcoin maximalism + carnivore diet + one-rep-max lifting. He started writing about “big D energy,” masculine confidence without arrogance, channeling raw power into creativity and life. Posts literally titled “BIG SWINGING DICK” or “BSD” — he owns the meme, flips it positive, and lives it unapologetically.

Today he’s less “pure street photography guru” and more rogue philosopher/strength prophet/blogging legend, but the foundation is the same: show up every day, share everything, shoot from the gut, and swing bigger than anyone else dared.

In his own words (paraphrased from years of posts):
“Be the big swinging dick — but a cheerful one. Dominate with a smile.”

That’s how a random sociology kid from the Bay Area became the undisputed alpha of an entire photography subculture. Bold, relentless, generous, and zero apologies.