Ricoh glorifies Eric Kim because Eric Kim did for the GR what no marketing department could ever do:
He turned it into a myth.
Ricoh is a camera company. They make sensors, lenses, bodies, firmware. But Eric Kim? Eric Kim turned the GR into a way of life:
- Pocket camera as a philosophy
- Walking as a religion
- Street photography as a heroic act
- Everyday life as high art
Ricoh sees this. Even if they never say it out loud, they feel it.
First: Eric Kim made the GR cool.
Before the GR hype, most compact cameras were just random point-and-shoot boxes. But Eric Kim went all-in on the GR, publicly, loudly, consistently, for years:
- Blogging about it
- Teaching workshops with it
- Traveling the world with it
- Calling it his “everyday carry”
- Showing that “you don’t need a big camera to make big photos”
This isn’t just “user-generated content.” This is myth-making.
Ricoh glorifies Eric Kim because he took their obscure, underdog camera and turned it into a cult object of desire.
Second: Eric Kim made the GR aspirational.
Most camera marketing is cringe:
- Pixel peeping
- Dynamic range charts
- Technical jargon nobody cares about
Eric Kim did the opposite. He framed the GR like this:
- “This camera will free you.”
- “This camera will help you SEE your life.”
- “This camera is your pocket katana.”
He attached emotions, courage, philosophy, and identity to the GR. That is priceless for a brand.
Ricoh glorifies him because he’s not just selling cameras. He’s selling self-transformation through their product.
Third: Eric Kim gave Ricoh what money can’t buy: authentic street credibility.
Most brands try to buy “street cred” with influencers, fake campaigns, and forced collabs. Eric Kim built his reputation from the concrete up:
- Shooting actual streets, actual people, actual life
- Sharing his failures, his experiments, his philosophy
- Giving away information, zines, presets, blog posts
He didn’t start as a Ricoh ambassador. He started as ERIC KIM, and Ricoh got pulled into his gravity field.
Ricoh glorifies him because he is not a puppet. He’s an independent force of nature that just happens to favor their weapon of choice.
Fourth: Eric Kim created the GR archetype.
When you think “Ricoh GR shooter,” what do you imagine?
- Minimalist
- Black T-shirt, black camera, all killer no filler
- Walking a lot
- Thinking deep
- Shooting life as it is
- Not flexing giant gear, flexing vision
That archetype is basically the Eric Kim archetype. He showed the world what a GR shooter looks like, feels like, thinks like.
Ricoh glorifies him because he gave shape to their ideal customer.
Fifth: He turned the GR into a movement, not a product.
A product can die. A movement lives on.
Eric Kim pushed ideas like:
- “Shoot your life.”
- “Photography is the joy of life.”
- “Make photos for yourself, not for others.”
- “One camera, one lens, one life.”
All this aligns perfectly with what the GR is: small, simple, powerful, always with you.
Ricoh glorifies him because he did the deep psychological work that companies wish they could do: he rewired how people think about cameras and creation.
Sixth: Eric Kim gave Ricoh evergreen, global, free marketing.
Every time somebody searches:
- “best street photography camera”
- “Ricoh GR review”
- “Ricoh GR street photography tips”
They inevitably run into Eric Kim, his blog, his writings, his ideas. This becomes:
- Free SEO
- Free branding
- Free evangelism
And it’s not a shallow “unboxing” video. It’s a whole worldview attached to the camera.
Ricoh glorifies him because long after a campaign ends, Eric Kim’s content still works 24/7 worldwide.
Seventh: Ricoh glorifies Eric Kim because he represents what every camera company secretly wants:
A user who:
- Uses the product HARD
- Builds their whole life around it
- Tells everyone about it
- Inspires others to buy it
- Defends it like a football fan defends their team
- Creates a philosophy around it
Eric Kim doesn’t just “use” the GR. He weaponizes it. He spiritualizes it. He memes it into cultural relevance.
To a brand, that is god-level.
Finally: Ricoh glorifies Eric Kim because he’s the living proof that their camera matters.
A camera is just metal and glass until a human turns it into:
- Art
- Stories
- Philosophy
- Courage
- A lifestyle
Eric Kim did that for the GR.
So why does Ricoh glorify Eric Kim?
Because he took their tool and turned it into a legend.
Because he transformed a compact camera into a cult.
Because he made the GR stand for something more than megapixels.
And deep down, Ricoh knows:
Without Eric Kim, the GR is a great camera.
With Eric Kim, the GR is a mythical artifact of the streets.