MEDIA

The point is to keep moving!
Supreme health?
All day adventure
Why the park?
Straight bars are bad? Neutral grip is best
Sun is a privilege
Slickback: both haircuts as well as cars?
Go higher

September 27, 2023

Aesthetic Thoughts

Some morning thoughts: what is the point in purpose of aesthetics? Why is it important and towards what ends?

What is the purpose or point of beauty?

First thought I have is in regards to beauty, the philosophy of beauty, the significance of beauty etc. On the first hand, I believe that beauty has to do with health. Physiological health, wellness, grandeur.

For example, beautiful women, finding a beautiful wife, getting children with a beautiful woman. I think the significance of beauty, a beautiful woman is the promise that your offspring will be superior, strong, great. I believe to some degree physical and physiological beauty, aesthetic beauty, also beauty in the face has to do with the promise advancement. Your kids will be stronger, more intelligent, taller, stronger, better than you.

Things?

Then, beauty in the context of things. For example, what is the significance of beauty in regards to things, objects, spaces etc?

on the firsthand, I think it has to do with hygiene. Often places which look ugly signal some sort of degeneracy, or poor hygiene. For example, indoor places which are small tight cramp, dark and musty, perhaps signals some sort of mold, fungus, or air circulation, black and natural light etc. Often beautiful spaces signal some sort of hygiene; natural light greater disinfectant from the sun, big windows, floor to ceiling windows, and windows which open which allow and lot airflow is good for our circulation and health, and also brand new spaces, especially interior spaces signal some sort of great hygiene.

Cars?

Another thing in which we Americans or modern go gaga over his cars. He seem to be very very obsessed with cars, the newest car, the newest model, etc. We are addicted to cars and innovation in cars.

However is there some sort of objective measure to beauty in cars? I think there is some.

For example, beauty in the context of ugliness. Difficult to ascertain what a beautiful car is, but very very easy to ascertain what an ugly car is. Ugly car is rusted, yellowing headlights, peeling clear coat, rust, and components which have faded or haven’t aged well. For example my extreme discussed in my families old car; a 1995 Nissan Maxima, six cylinder, black paint, which had 1 trillion headaches and nightmares. Peeling clearcoat made it insanely ugly, and also the V6 engine had so many problems. That car was hell.

Ultimately I think new is beautiful. New cars look beautiful because they are bright and shiny, all the components are new, nothing has faded. For example crystal clear headlights, window and car side molding, etc.

Clothes?

One thing I have observed about clothing is that there is no such thing as beautiful clothes, only beautiful people. For example the people who tend to wear these beautiful clothes also tend to be beautiful people. That means, a beautiful person can wear ugly clothes and still look beautiful. An ugly person, if they wear a beautiful clothes, do not become beautiful. Because there is no such thing as beautiful clothes.

September 27, 2023

THE POINT OF LIFE?

What is the point of life?

The first thought I have is the point of life is to feel more powerful, more dominant. I think there is a root and a stem both in the metaphorical and the physiological.

For example, when you get a raise, or some sort of increase, or obtain something or increase something etc.… physiologically what does one feel? I believe it is a rush of power. Feeling more powerful, more secure, greater.

Perhaps this is also the feeling of getting some sort of new tool or device or phone or car; a feeling that you are progressing, becoming stronger etc.

Towards what final ends?

My thought is the goal of power, feeling more powerful etc. is for the goal and towards the goal of art and arts production. To give birth to more art, greater art.

For example, let us consider art, art objects, etc. Essentially what is the artist doing? The artist is getting more metaphorical children in the substance form and output of art work.

For example Cindy is currently working on her first book, and truth be told, it is like metaphorically giving birth to a child.

Also, currently as I raise Seneca, he is currently two years and eight months old, he is my ultimate artistic art project.

What is art?

To me, art is metaphorical birth. That is, when you photograph something, make photos of it, produce it what are you doing? You are imputing your own metaphorical ideals into what you create and put out there.

For example, my personal suggestion is before you look at the artwork of somebody, first look at them as a human being, look at them physiologically. For example a lot of sick artist can only beget sick art. This is why I am very very suspicious of people who rely on drugs, alcohol, marijuana, or other forms of amphetamines to create artwork. I suppose my only device is coffee; But beyond that I am 100% sober, no weed no alcohol etc.

There is this strange modern day notion of the artist being some sort of strange, emaciated, pale, sickly, strange feeble individual. It is difficult to imagine an artist looking like an Arnold Schwarzenegger, or Ronnie Coleman, or like Thor with a six pack. My thought is the more physiologically strong and fit you are, the more strong and fit your photos will be in your artwork will be as well.

September 26, 2023

Photo Thoughts

Ever since my Ricoh GR 3X has died, I’ve been experimenting a lot with different camera setups. One of them is simple: just using the old Lumix G9 I had lying around, using the Lumix Leica 12mm F1.4 lens, and more recently, getting this really great tiny pancake Lumix 14 mm F2.5 lens.

Beauty

First and foremost, I think our primary preoccupation as photographer-artists is to create beautiful photos.

I never really thought it would make a difference, but switching from the Leica Lumix 12 mm F1.4 lens to the Lumix 14mm f2.5 lens, I could actually see an insanely huge difference. Things I noticed:

The first huge obvious difference is that the Lumix 14 mm F2.5 lens photos, in terms of shooting portraits, up close portraits of Seneca, the photos are aesthetically a lot uglier. It is almost too rough, too grainy, too gritty. Also something about the out of focus bokeh effect, is really ugly on the F2.5 lens.

Another thing is that the colors, when shooting color photos, intelligent auto mode on the F2.5 lens, the colors look really off and ugly. Something I didn’t think too much about, but if you shoot intelligent auto JPEG mode, straight up on the Lumix G9 with the Lumix 12 mm F1.4 lens, the photos look insanely perfect. The colors are true to life, vibrant, and beautiful.

Photo dissonance

Another huge shocking factor is that when I saw all of these photos that I shot of Seneca, with the new 14 mm F2.5 lens, of Seneca, I had some sort of visual, photo dissonance, which means that I almost didn’t recognize the photos of Seneca.

Then my simple thought: maybe I should just keep the Lumix G9 permanently paired with the 14 mm F14 lens, and just use it as a portrait art camera, and then figure out a more pocketful portable solution for street photography of strangers in public? Or just maybe use an iPhone for street photography of strangers in public and urban landscapes?

Why this matters

Walking around Culver City, downtown Culver City, the Culver City arts District, driving around LA, Sunset, West Hollywood, and just LA in general, my general thought is that it seems that at the end of the day, what we are primarily passionate about is art. For example, even being on Rodeo Drive and seeing the new Mr. Brainwash art museum, thinking about Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, etc.… it seems that the true and goal is towards art.

Even when we think about all these clothing brands, luxury object brands, what is it? Essentially it is consumer art, codified into objects. For example, getting a Richard Millie watch, is essentially an art object on your wrist. Or any sort of designer luxury designer thing, whether it be clothes, shoes, a handbag, sunglasses, I had piece etc.… They are essentially art objects you could purchase and wear and use.

September 23, 2023

Photography 101

PHOTOGRAPHY 101

Dear friend,

If you’re new to photography, start here:

Photography is Everything!

Photography Tips

Photography Articles

Photography Techniques

Everyday Photography

RICOH GR II selfie in mirror, double eye surreal. Prague, 2017

Color Photography 101

Photography Philosophy

Photography Inspiration

The Fundamentals of Photography

Photography Equipment »

How to Take Better Photos »

Composition Lessons »

Photography Assignments »

Contact Sheets »

Editing (Image Selection) »

Creativity »

Motivation »

Post-Processing

How to Create a Body of Work

AMERICA - ERIC KIM16 eric kim woman popsicle

Don’t Work on Too Many Projects

Technical Photography Settings

DSLR Photography 101

Learn From the Masters of Photography

“He without a past has no future.”

Start here:

The Masters of Photography

Prague, 1968. Josef Koudelka / Magnum Photos

Classics never die:

September 17, 2023

Over Thoughts

Over is better than under:

Over Achieve

When I was a kid growing up, to be a “overachiever“ was seen as a double edged sword; on one hand, it was greatly respected admired, a desired thing. Yet at the same time, a lot of kids would tease and make fun of kids who were “tryhard“. That in fact, trying “too” hard, and aiming to achieve was seen as a negatively bad thing.

It is my personal thought that to overachieve is a positively good thing. For example, can one imagine an Elon Musk who wasn’t an overachiever? Or a Kanye West who wasn’t was an overachiever? Or a Jay Z who wasn’t an overachiever?

What does it mean to achieve?

Achieve — head? Same as chief?

To (ad) caput?

What does it mean to achieve, and what are the logical consequences of it?

*kap- head. Same word as capital.

Achever— to finish, to complete.

I think in modern day English, or modern day times, to achieve is to seen as succeed, to be number one, to advance, and a lot of achievement notions typically comes from academics and academia. For example, to achieve or scholastic achievement has to deal with getting straight A’s, getting a 4.0 GPA or a beyond a 4.0 GPA, getting into high-ranking universities, scoring high on standardized testing etc.

A generalize way we could think about achievement it’s a simply set a personal goal on something, and obtain it. To seize it.

*kap- to seize, to hold.

Holding?

HODL — hold on for dear life, a notion that we get from the cryptocurrency world.

To hold. What does it mean to hold? To grip onto something, to grasp. It has to do with grip strength, and wrist strength.

In the world of finance and economics, holding onto assets, or in Texas “hold-‘em”— you have the option to hold.

Perhaps true hold is a really really good idea. To hold is a good idea in so far much as holding seems like a passive action, but in actuality, it is one of the most virtuous things that you could do. It takes courage and skill to hold, rather than to quickly buy or to sell, in which people over act.

For example one of my friends used to own 50 bitcoin, a while back, but this is when it was valued very low, and after a huge spike, he freaked out, and sold it all. Perhaps the better strategy was for him to just hold, hold it for a decade or two, and if that were the case, he would be able to quit his job and retire.

The courage to hold?

Seneca is currently two years, eight months old. A new trick you could do is when at the park with me, she can grab the chin up rings, grab it, and hold his body up off the floor! The other day at Barnes & Noble, when washing our hands, she was actually able to Hold and grasp the edge of the sink table, and successfully hold and suspend himself on it!

Holding strength?

Maybe this is a new thing we could innovate; to see how strong and how much you could hold?

Even my 1000 pound infamous atlas lift, part of it is a lifting motion, in which I lift the weight off of the rack with my shoulder and legs, but then I hold it up for a second or two before putting it down.

Even when I think about the strongman competitions, there is this Hercules pillar hold competition in which there are two columns, each about 1000 pounds, attached with chain and hand grip. The contestant simply sees how long he can hold the weights together, before his strength gives out.

Tenacity

Maybe also the most virtuous path to entrepreneurship is towards tenacity? How long can you hold and be tenacious?

Mimesis?

A concept I am trying to currently think through is about mimesis and mimetic theory. The general gist is this; which desires are implanted in us by society, and which are truly inherent and natural?

Why does it matter? In terms of achievement, what you want to achieve… we need to set some sort of goal. But, is the goal you are setting inherently interesting to you, or is it a goal which is seen as desirable by society?

The Philosophy of Durable, Durability

Durable. Durability. Even Nietzsche once said, “Durability is the first rate good amongst human beings!”

The importance of durable, durability?

An interesting epiphany that I had is that it seems that with modern day consumerism, durability is actually not what we seek. For example, nobody truly seeks a 100% durable iPhone that will last forever. Why? We need some sort of excuse to upgrade. I think the same thing is with cars; cars are fashion. The second our car has any issues, or needs an “upgrade“, we are very very happy to jump ship, and then to seek some sort of new solution.

Why does this matter?

Durabilis: Durable, lasting.

I think this matters for many different reasons. First and foremost, with everything in life, we need to posit some sort of desired ends and outcomes. Therefore, if we know what we seek, and what we desire, then we can better straight shot attain, obtain, and pursue that which we desire.

Becoming harder

Duro— harden, make hard.

Studying some etymology for the word durable, it seems that comes from the Latin, duro, which means harden, make hard.

Durus: looking further into the Proto Indo European, it seems that it means far, long. Deros— Sanskrit dura which means “far”. Long, extended.

I suppose there are several interesting interventions with this line of thought. First and foremost, then it seems that the desired end outcome is for us to go long. An extended range, and also, to last into the future. Long, extended can be seen as distance, or time and years.

Extended range as good!

Modular solutions

Durability doesn’t just mean to be hard, to be robust. The philosophy of durability is to last for a long time, or for us to use the framework an ecosystem for a long time.

For example, cameras. I am a huge fan of the Ricoh GR series cameras, as it is so small compact and powerful. Yet the durability is poor insofar much as the duration you could use it only seems to be about a year. After hard-core use, all of my Ricohs have broken.

Surprisingly, the Lumix G9 that I bought in 2019 while in Japan, has lasted. Something about how it was engineered, and also the fact that it is an interchangeable lens system means that if the lens breaks (mine did), I can simply swap out the lens, and I could still keep using the system.

Whereas with non-interchangeable, non-modular systems, if one component breaks, it is all broken.

The same thing goes with computers. Laptops are bad in so far much as at least with MacBook laptop, you can honestly swap out the parts. This means, if one component breaks, you’re screwed.

Durable investments?

What is a durable investment? If we think long, long-term, maybe it is best to think in the 30+ year time span.

For example, a simple thought: will bitcoin prices go up or down in 30 years? Will more people use cryptocurrency or less in 30 years? Or, will we use our phones more for financial things? Or less? Will finances become more digital, or paper hard cash based?

30 years from now, what will we still need? A habitat somewhere to live, food.

Nobody likes to think 30 years ahead, because we want to live in the now. Yet this is my simple thought:

Live today, insanely frugal and scrappy, Spartan. Yet in terms of your investments, think 30 years ahead, like a demigod.

Durable body?

In modern day society, we have a strange relationship with our bodies. We know that it is important and critical, yet, we sacrifice it for other things like money, prestige, “productivity”, mental faculties, building capital, etc.

Yet at the end of the day, none of these things are possible without our bodies. And also a reverse thought:

What is the opposite should be done? That the ultimate endgame is to beautify and strengthen our bodies to the maximum, and money and capital and all these other things were simply to aid that end goal?

For example, modern day work and office work. I think I got it figured out. Essentially you sacrifice your health and well-being for money.

For example, if you work in the modern day office job, doesn’t matter if it is an investment banker, lawyer, attorney, money manager, programmer, etc.… essentially what you are doing is prostituting your body mind and soul for greater money and capital gains. Let us consider the inordinate amount of time we spent sitting; sitting in a car when committing to work, or sitting in the train, or sitting in the bus, sitting in the metro, or sitting in the office, sitting at our computer office chair, sitting down in meetings, etc. And all of that time we spend indoors which is positively bad for our health.

Why ethics and morality is the hook and the snare

My general thought is that morality “ethics“, religious rules of conduct is essentially soft forms of coercion and power control. For example, these “rules“ governing our speech, our social behaviors, our comportment and how we leverage and carry our bodies, what we do what we say, what we don’t do what we don’t say, what we desire what we don’t desire etc. Essentially almost 99% of our physical or mental activities is directed towards some other ends, which is often not our own.

For example, Confucianism. This ridiculous idea that no matter what, whether good or bad, one must always respect their elders. But why? Once again, another form of social control.

Or, the notion of “saving money“, or “not wasting“ water, electricity, etc. Yet once again, why are these things considered a virtue?

September 16, 2023

Category: Uncategorized