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DOMINATE THE STREETS:

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY 101

walking woman umbrella crimson red
  1. How I Became the Greatest Street Photographer Alive
  2. Antifragile Photography
  3. How to Conquer Your Fears in Street Photography
  4. INSANELY AUDACIOUS AND BOLD
  5. 5 Simple Street Photography Techniques
  6. STREET PHOTOGRAPHER.
  7. The Street Photographer Ideal
  8. 50 Street Photography Tips, Techniques and Ideas
  9. Street Photography Values
  10. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY DOESN’T NEED TO HAVE PEOPLE IN IT.
  11. Why Street Photography is So Great
  12. WHY BECOME A STREET PHOTOGRAPHER?
  13. Society Photography, Not “Street” Photography
  14. How to Street Photography
  15. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY OPTIONALITY.
  16. 10 Street Photography Tips
  17. The Street Photographer as the Apex Photographer
  18. Street Photography & Adrenaline
  19. STREETTOGS STARTING GUIDE
  20. 50 Street Photography Tips by ERIC KIM
  21. What I Wish I Knew If I Started Street Photography All Over Again
  22. Photograph like it’s not a big deal
  23. Suburb Street Photography
  24. What is Our Personal Motivation Behind Street Photography?
  25. WHY I’M SO PASSIONATE ABOUT STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
  26. Personal Street Photography
  27. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY AS A PRACTICE.
  28. Pandemic Street Photography
  29. AIRPORT STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
  30. How to Shoot Street Photography Right Now
  31. Towards a More Independent Street Photography Approach
  32. How Street Photography Improves Your Life
  33. How to Tell Stories in Your Street Photos
  34. Face Street Photography
  35. How to Start Shooting Street Photography
  36. How to Shoot Street Photography During a Pandemic
  37. 7 Street Photography Assignment Ideas

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY STARTER KIT

street photography starter kit by ERIC KIM

Master street photography with STREET PHOTOGRAPHY STARTER KIT.


STREET PHOTOGRAPHY 101

Hearts. Hollywood, 2011 #flash

If you’re new to street photography, start here:


Brave New Street Photography

Street Photographs

ERIC KIM layers hong kong
  1. How to Shoot Street Photography with Dads and Kids
  2. HOW I BECAME SUCH A GREAT STREET PHOTOGRAPHER
  3. Use Quarantine as an Opportunity to Pick up Film Photography
  4. Hong Kong Street Photography by ERIC KIM

Street Photography Philosophy

Street Photography Articles


Street Photography Techniques

  1. How to Shoot Head-On Street Photography
  2. Street Photography Composition Tips
  3. In Praise of Street Vlogging
  4. How to Shoot Video Street Photography
  5. Street Photography Technique: The Stalker Technique
  6. Photography Technique: Take Photos While Walking!
  7. New Tokyo GoPro Fusion POV Street Photography YouTube Videos
  8. ERIC KIM Street Photography Tips and Technique
  9. The 360 Degree Technique in Street Photography
  10. How to Work the Scene in Street Photography
  11. How to Shoot Layers and the Bookend Technique in Street Photography
  12. Street Photography Technique: GET CLOSE & FILL THE FRAME + GOLDEN DIAGONAL COMPOSITION
  13. Street Photography Techniques: The 3D Scan/360 Degree Technique (Shooting Head-on) and Holding Your Camera High in the Air and Point Downwards (and Use Your LCD Screen to Frame the Scene)
  14. The Walking Alongside Someone and Shooting Until They Notice You Street Photography Technique
  15. SUPER INNOVATIVE NEW GOPRO STREET PHOTOGRAPHY POV EXPERIENCE: Cutoff Technique, Shooting Head-on with Flash, and Slow-Motion on RICOH GR II at 28mm
  16. How to Shoot a Street Portrait: Tips, Technique, and GoPRO POV Tutorial
  17. Street Photography Technique/Composition: Leading Lines and Crouching Down Low
  18. How to Shoot Layers in Street Photography: GoPRO POV Video Composition Tutorial
  19. How to Shoot Street Photography with a 24mm Lens
  20. The Cutoff Technique in Street Photography
  21. THE CUTOFF TECHNIQUE IN STREET PHOTOGRAPHY: GOPRO POV KYOTO ERIC KIM

Street Photography Ideas


Street Photography Composition Techniques


STREET NOTES.

Push yourself out of your comfort zone with STREET NOTES: Mobile Edition.

STREET NOTES PAPER EDITION ON AMAZON >


LEARN FROM THE MASTERS OF STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

Timeless wisdom from the masters of street photography.

Learn more about MASTERS >

Buy MASTERS on Amazon >


FUNDAMENTALS OF STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

Street Photography Inspiration


Beginner Street Photography Articles

Get started in street photography:

Definitions in Street Photography

How to Shoot Street Photography

Street Photography Equipment

See all equipment articles >

How to Conquer Your Fears in Street Photography

See all articles to conquer your fears >


Intermediate Street Photography Articles

Take your street photography to the next level:


Advanced Street Photography Articles

Find deeper meaning in your street photography:


Street Photography Tips & Technique

Learn how to shoot on the streets:

See all street photography tips and techniques >

Street Photography Guides

In-depth guides on street photography:

Street Photography Equipment

The best equipment for street photography:

See all equipment articles >

Street Photography Editing and Workflow

How to Start a Street Photography Project


Learn From the Masters of Street Photography

“He without a past has no future.”

Start here:

  1. Why Study the Masters of Photography?
  2. Great Female Master Photographers
  3. Cheat Sheet of the Masters of Photography
  4. 100 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography
  5. Beginner’s Guide to the Masters of Street Photography
  6. Download All Articles >

The Masters of Photography

Classics never die:


Free Downloads

See all free downloads >

Free Street Photography Books

Distilled information on street photography:

For more resources on photography, Start Here >

COMPOSITION by KIM

In pursuit of making (greater) compositions!

THE ART OF PHOTOGRAPHY COMPOSITION

  1. Self Study Composition
  2. CUT OUT THE WHITES.
  3. How to Compose in Photography
  4. WHAT MAKES A GOOD PHOTO?
  5. Creative Focus in Photography
  6. DISCLARITY
  7. Study Great Compositions
  8. Self Study Composition
  9. The Human Body is Poetry
  10. How to level-up your own photography composition
  11. Composition is Everywhere
  12. Low-Key Photography
  13. 12 Photography Composition Ideas
  14. Chiaroscuro in Photography

VIRTUAL REALITY COMPOSITION

The Game of Composition

Technical compositions

Composition Studies

  1. Helmut Newton Photography Composition Studies
  2. W. Eugene Smith Composition Studies
  3. PDF: ERIC KIM Photography Composition Studies
  4. PDF: Josef Koudelka Photography Composition Studies
  5. PDF: Richard Avedon Photography Composition Studies
  6. PDF: Henri Cartier-Bresson Photography Composition Studies

Philosophy of Composition

Aesthetics

Downtown LA, 2015 (shot on a Ricoh GR with the fixed-focal 28mm lens)

Master composition for yourself:

Photography Composition Concepts

Street Photography Composition Tips

Tokyo, 2017
Tokyo, 2017

Photography Composition Tips

Color Theory

Color wheel theory: Dynamic tension between opposing colors.
Color wheel theory: Dynamic tension between opposing colors. Image from CREATIVE EVERY DAY

Learn From the Masters of Composition

Dynamic Photography Composition 101

Painting Compositions

Vermeer

Dynamic Photography Composition Tips

Composition Theory

Take your composition to the next level:


Street Photography Composition 101

For distilled lessons on composition, read the free ebook: “The Street Photography Composition Manual.”

Further articles to improve your compositions in photography:

Composition Theory

Learn compositional theory:


Compositional lessons from the masters of art


Composition lectures


Golden Diagonal Composition

golden diagonal composition
Golden Diagonal Composition / Kyoto Station, 2018

DESIGN THOUGHTS

hand red black macro ERIC KIM
  1. INSANELY LIGHTWEIGHT
  2. MORE AGGRESSIVE DESIGN
  3. COMPROMISE DESIGN.
  4. ‘WASTEFUL’?
  5. Tight vs Loose
  6. Thick vs Thin
  7. Why Lamborghini is No Longer Interesting to Me
  8. DESIGN PHILOSOPHY IS AN ETHOS.
  9. LESS SURFACE AREA.
  10. ANTI IN-BETWEEN
  11. CLASSIC/TIMELESS IS BORING.
  12. Photographers are Designers
  13. Why Perfect?
  14. Beautiful but Boring
  15. AGGRESSIVE DESIGN.
  16. DESIGN IS KING.
  17. WHY DESIGN?
  18. THE RAGING BULL.
  19. BARE BONES.
  20. The Best Car for Thinking
  21. Zen Aesthetics
  22. Why Minimalism?
  23. SPARTAN DESIGN.
  24. Generic Design
  25. An Elite Aesthetic
  26. Not Hateful Design
  27. New Forward Facing Design vs Retrospective and Nostalgic Design
  28. Depressing Design vs Uplifting Design
  29. The Best Design Towards What Ends?
  30. Exciting or Boring Design?
  31. On Design & Photography
  32. A Designer Desires to Design and Create Things!
  33. Delightful Technology and Design
  34. Dynamic Aesthetics
  35. Design vs Brand Prestige
  36. Classic Proportions, Modern Design
  37. Why Does Design Matter?
  38. The Best Design
  39. MUSCULAR DESIGN.
  40. Camera Design
  41. Watch Design

STOICISM 101

Become invincible:

  1. Stoic Aesthetics?
  2. The Philosophy of Ugliness
  3. Bad Stoicism
  4. Stoicism 2.0
  5. Becoming Stoic
  6. LEMONADE.
  7. Why Arguments and Confrontations Are Good
  8. “I’m Over It”
  9. How to Deal With Miserable People
  10. How to Become a Stoic
  11. How to Ignore
  12. Pretend like you didn’t hear them
  13. Bad Stoic Strategies
  14. The Stoic Way of Dealing With Unpleasant or Miserable People
  15. HOW TO BECOME A STOIC
  16. Stoicism Stunts Our Power?
  17. Stoicism is Mental Resistance Training
  18. STOIC STRATEGIES.
  19. How to Become Fearless
  20. Extreme Stoicism
  21. Ethics are Aesthetic
  22. Indifference to Pain or Suffering
  23. When is Stoicism Good? When is Stoicism Bad?
  24. Why Others Criticize or Insult You
  25. True Difficulty
  26. What if Covid Never Goes Away?
  27. SUPER STOIC
  28. Anti-Hedonism
  29. HOW TO CONQUER FEAR
  30. ANTI FEAR
  31. It is the Duty of the Strong to Help the Weak
  32. The Goal is to Become Stronger
  33. HYPER STOICISM
  34. HYPER HERO
  35. TRANSFORM EVERY DOWNSIDE INTO AN UPSIDE
  36. STOICISM x Child’s Mind
  37. The Art of Manly Virtue
  38. Resistance Makes Us Stronger!
  39. DON’T LIVE IN FEAR
  40. Emotions are Good
  41. Conquer Your Anger
  42. BLACK EAGLE
  43. DIFFICULTY AWAKENS YOUR INNER-GENIUS.
  44. STOICISM IS ARMOR FOR THE MIND
  45. The Spartan-Stoic Lifestyle
  46. How I Conquered Fear
  47. HOW TO CURE FEAR.
  48. LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL.
  49. The Upside of Poverty
  50. How I Became Me
  51. THE WILL TO POWER, OR THE WILL TO FEAR?
  52. ATTACK REALITY
  53. Living *THROUGH* History
  54. How to Fear Less
  55. Fear is the Ultimate Contagious Disease
  56. STOICISM FOR DUMMIES
  57. Don’t Be Scared!
  58. WHAT CAN YOU CONTROL, WHAT CAN YOU NOT CONTROL?
  59. HOW YOU CAN CONQUER FEAR
  60. YOU’RE STRONGER THAN YOU THINK YOU ARE.
  61. EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED
  62. WHY AREN’T THINGS WORSE?
  63. My Philosophy on Masculinity
  64. A Riskier Life is a Better Life #philosophy #stoicism
  65. How to Creatively Flourish in Life
  66. Introduction to Stoicism
  67. How to Become Stronger
  68. How to Conquer Depression With Photography
  69. What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger
  70. How to Respect Yourself
  71. How to Believe in Yourself
  72. How to Steer Fear
  73. How to Conquer Pessimism
  74. How to Conquer Anxiety
  75. How to Overcome Your Fear of People
  76. How to Be Optimistic
  77. Why I Don’t Take My Anger Seriously
  78. HOW TO BECOME MORE POWERFUL
  79. POSITIVITY.
  80. HOW TO BECOME SUPERHUMAN
  81. How to Give a Fuck Less
  82. ALL IN.
  83. Why I Cut My Dad Out of My Life.
  84. Your iPhone Only Has 5% Battery Left.
  85. How not to give a FUCK about your REPUTATION
  86. WHAT IS A HUMAN?
  87. HAPPINESS.
  88. The Regret Minimization Framework in Photography and Life
  89. How to Be a HERO
  90. Conquer Your Fears by Making Fear Your Slave
  91. Rule Circumstances; Don’t Let Your Circumstances Rule You
  92. How to Love Yourself
  93. How to Turn Shit into Gold
  94. Your Parents Fuck You Up
  95. Immortality
  96. What Kills You Makes You Stronger
  97. How to Be Patient
  98. How to Conquer Anger
  99. How to Bounce Back in Life
  100. How to Overcome Resistance
  101. Nothing Unlimited is Good; Nothing Good is Unlimited
  102. You Have No Limits
  103. Can 1’s and 0’s Hurt You?
  104. The Envious Moment is Flying Now
  105. Tomorrow We’ll Sail the Wide Seas Again
  106. How to Forgive Others
  107. Focus on Your Actions, Not the Results
  108. Everything Will Be Alright
  109. How to Be a Stoic Street Photographer
  110. How to Be a Spartan Photographer
  111. How to Overcome Your Fears in Life
  112. How to Stop Worrying in Life
  113. How to Use Photography as Self-Therapy
  114. How to Free Your Soul From Disturbance
  115. 3 Stoic Techniques that Can Help You Gain Tranquility
  116. Can People Weaker than You Hurt You?
  117. Does a Doctor Get Angry at a Crazy Patient?
  118. Own Nothing

The Stoic Masters

Learn from the master stoics:

See all philosophy >

Entrepreneurship by KIM

Become the change which you desire to see manifested in the world!

Become you.

  1. Making Money as a Hobby
  2. The Best Exercises for Entrepreneurs
  3. INCOME VS EXPENSES MONEY LIFESTYLE PHILOSOPHY
  4. Entrepreneurship is the privilege of being able to attempt something new
  5. How to Become More Influential
  6. The Point of Life is Entrepreneurship?
  7. How to Think Like an Entrepreneur
  8. Become the Outlier
  9. Self Reliance
  10. How to Extend Your Reach
  11. NEWS: How to Think Like an Entrepreneur
  12. PVP (Player vs Player)
  13. How I became so influential
  14. WE LOVE THE *SENSATION* OF RISK-TAKING
  15. WHY HIGH PROFIT MARGINS?
  16. INNOVATION THOUGHTS
  17. OVERCONFIDENCE IS GOOD.
  18. GARAGE ENTREPRENEURSHIP
  19. PERHAPS IT IS GOOD TO BE “DELUSIONAL”
  20. USE YOUR WEALTH TO BUY STUFF, OR TO BUILD AND INNOVATE STUFF?
  21. HOW TO THRIVE
  22. Target Demographic
  23. Ambition Over Happiness
  24. Anti Collaboration
  25. The Will to Economy
  26. Why New?
  27. CHOOSE ADRENALINE.
  28. No Looking Back.
  29. 1000x Different
  30. BECOME SPENDTHRIFT
  31. THE BENEFIT OF JUST ONE.
  32. EXTREME INNOVATION.
  33. Practicality is Boring
  34. BECOME YOUR OWN STANDARD.
  35. NEVER STOP ITERATING.
  36. CONDENSE.
  37. Take Lots of Small Financial Risks
  38. Control Over Convenience
  39. Why Are Chinese Companies So Innovative?
  40. INSANELY DIFFERENT.
  41. Why Doesn’t Anything Ever Satisfy Me?
  42. THE GREAT PASSION.
  43. Perhaps Dissatisfaction is Good
  44. ONE REP MAX.
  45. WHAT DO YOU *REALLY* WANT IN LIFE?
  46. LIFE IS ABOUT STRIVING FOR MORE.
  47. NEVER STOP LINKING.
  48. THE GREATEST.
  49. WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE!
  50. THE BEST IS YET TO COME.
  51. ERIC KIM CRITIQUE OF ROMANTICISM
  52. COMPLACENCY.
  53. JUST BUY IT.
  54. ALL ABOUT YOU.
  55. MOVE THE WORLD
  56. Boring or Not Boring?
  57. What if Your Past Self were Inferior to Your Present Self?
  58. THE PHILOSOPHY OF PROGRESS
  59. CULTURE IS YOUR ENEMY.
  60. Difficulty & Interest
  61. The Will to Expansion
  62. What is Work?
  63. SOUL IN THE GAME.
  64. JUST START IT.
  65. Not Boring
  66. PRIDE IN YOUR OWN NAME / BRAND
  67. AS MUCH AS YOU CAN TOLERATE.
  68. Speed is Paramount
  69. TAKE IT BACK TO THE BEGINNING.
  70. A Life With No Risk Taking is *NOT* a Life Worth Living
  71. Dissatisfaction is Good
  72. GREATER STRENGTH, GREATER CHALLENGES.
  73. In Praise of the New
  74. Uncorrupted Desires
  75. You Cannot Fake Passion
  76. SELF-OVERGOING
  77. FORM YOURSELF.
  78. Personal Entrepreneurship
  79. RELENTLESS.
  80. PUT YOUR NAME ON IT.
  81. A Life of Expansion
  82. SELF-ENTREPRENEURSHIP
  83. YOU ARE THE EXCEPTION.
  84. Use Your Life as an Experiment to Self-Develop Yourself to Heights Never Seen Before
  85. Invest in New Developments
  86. Investing Towards What End?
  87. The 90%/10% Principle in Entrepreneurship
  88. Speed Wins
  89. The Philosophy of Happiness
  90. When to Over-Estimate, When to Under-Estimate?
  91. Never Stop Iterating
  92. Money as a Tool for Life and Artistic Experimentation
  93. Less But More Premium
  94. Mainstream vs Low-Key Success
  95. Why Dissatisfaction is Good
  96. SEEK YOUR OWN PERSONAL MAXIMAL BENEFIT INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING
  97. Manifest Your Destiny
  98. Is it Best to *Not* Communicate Your Inner Thoughts or Ideas With Others?
  99. CREATE THINGS YOU WISH TO SEE MANIFESTED IN THE WORLD
  100. How to Do More Work
  101. CONTROL.
  102. Competition is for Losers
  103. Change.
  104. Your Competitive Advantage with Insanely Fast Wifi and High Speed Internet
  105. Pseudo Individualism
  106. Natural Internal Promoting vs External Promptings

Think for Yourself.

  1. Survival vs Thrivival
  2. Become Rich
  3. SECRETS.
  4. Why it is Better to Beg for Forgiveness than Ask for Permission
  5. Thinking About the Past Prevents You From Thinking About the Future
  6. How to Predict the Future
  7. Tools of Mass Distraction
  8. So What?

FREEDOM


Never stop innovating.


Entrepreneurship Mindset


Put a Dent in the Universe.


BECOMING HAPPY

Everyone wants to be happy, even our best friend Aristotle said it is the one thing that men seek for the sake of itself.

What what is happiness? I think I got the answer; walking is happiness. Any sort of life, lifestyle, lifestyle approach which allows you to maximize your walking is happiness.

Strategies

I cannot speak for most people, because I don’t have a “real job“. That is, I don’t have a workplace, an office, or a place I must typically commute to.

However Cindy does.

A simple thought that I had is if you have the option, spend extra money which affords you the privilege to walk. For example, I wonder if in fact, shelling out the extra thousand, 2000, 3000, 4000, $5000, maybe even $10,000 a month would be positively beneficial to give you the privilege of walking.

It seems that the modern-day strategy that people partake in is that they sacrifice time in foolish ways. They decide to live further out, further away from work, in the suburbs, which means that they must spend more time driving in order to get to their workplace, in order to have the privilege of having a bigger house, a cheaper house, a smaller mortgage, cheaper rent etc.

Enemies to happiness?

Being forced to be indoors against your own will, this is cruel.

Also, being forced to be stuck in a car, in a bus, in an Uber, even if you had your own private driver, this is cruel.

For example, I once read an interview with Jony Ive, this is when he was still at Apple, in which he would commute for almost 2 hours a day (one way, so 4 hours every day in total), going from a desirable area of San Francisco to the Apple office in Cupertino, having a private driver chauffeur him in his Bentley,and I suppose Jony would just be in the backseat, doing work on his iPhone, iPad, MacBook laptop, etc. If I was Joni and truly committed, I would not make this foolish decision. I would literally just rent a hotel or an apartment or a house literally right next to Apple campus, or who knows, be like Elon Musk and just sleep in a sleeping bag in the office.

However, if you were forced to be sedentary or sitting, for four hours a day, or five hours a day, even if you were the backseat of a Rolls-Royce, a Bentley, Lamborghini, a McLaren, whatever; would it be worth it? No. Even as a thought experiment, if you had a totally maxed out Tesla model S plaid, or a Tesla model X plaid, with 100% auto pilot, assuming the technology was flawless, and you could do other stuff while being autonomously driven around, would you still want to be forced to be sedentary, for 4-5 hours a day? No.

Can happiness be purchased?

You cannot buy happiness. You can buy insanely great coffee, ERIC KIM OMAKASE COFFEE, 100% fine robusta which physiologically speaking, will give you a marvelous happiness bump and boost, but ultimately, beyond coffee, happiness cannot be bought.

Things that money can do which can assist you and aid you in happiness include,

  1. Using your money to buy a gym membership, or a yoga, CorePower membership
  2. Using your money to buy beef and meat, either at Costco or the Costco Business Center. I recommend the beef ribs, or the beef tri-tip!
  3. Using your money to pay for rent closer to your workplace, which allows you to have a 100% walking pedestrian lifestyle.
  4. Having a situation which allows you to work outside, outdoors, without having to be stuck indoors or inside an office.
  5. Buy an iPad Pro, the 11 inch smaller one, no accessories. The ultimate photo viewing device, and productivity device, it has brought me 1000 times more joy than any iPhone.

Physiology for the sake of what?

There’s a strange bias in today’s world that we have to somehow maximize our productivity, in order for the sake to work more, contribute more to society, “make a difference“.
For example, the modern-day notion of going to the gym and working out and exercising, the only thought is this:

It is critical for you to exercise daily, because it will make you healthy and healthier, in order for you to keep working more.

The reason why this line of thinking is so twisted is that it is for the sake of maximizing your work capacity, not your own personal happiness. Man is not permitted to be happy for the sake of being happy.

Happiness is also a flawed end goal

The other day, I was so insanely happy, maybe a 50 out of 10. But at the end of the day, happiness is a bit inconsequential. For me what is more critical is having the opportunity, physiological energy to pursue my creative tasks. Whether it be reviewing my photos, writing and blogging, thinking, producing knowledge, sending out email newsletters, etc.

Philosophy paths

Peter Limberg— shout out to him for his great “Minimum Viable Philosophy” essay. I like his tagline, “Less Foolish”.

A cool trend I see is the trend towards philosophy. Why? This is what I think:

“Self development” is just philosophy in (modern day capitalistic) disguise.

And what do I mean by this? Ultimately any sort of business, self development book is centered around a certain philosophy. And the book typically preaches some sort of strategy and technique in order to achieve that philosophical end.

Don’t be a dummy.

In life, there is no such thing as virtue, or sin, vice. To me, it is all about wisdom, knowledge, becoming less foolish, and “not being a dummy.”

I like the word dummy, because it is not so serious. For example, we joke around with kids to not be a dummy. Maybe this is a better path for us.

You should start your own philosophy blog

Oh and today’s world of ChatGPT, AI assisted writing, the question,

How do you know if something was written by ChatGPT, or a real human being?

For the most part you can’t. However, anything written by ERIC KIM passes the Turing test. Why? The way I talk is non-standard, the way I write is genuine, and ultimately I think the future of writing and thinking is predicated around philosophy. That is, there is already enough information and wisdom on the Internet on how to do anything. But not much information on why do XYZ. Or, should we do XYZ.

For example, I firmly believe that if your goal is to become superhuman, eating beef and meat is critical. But I philosophical question is should we eat beef and meat? Even if it is bad for the planet?

For example, if someone tells me, “Eric, you shouldn’t eat meat because it is bad for the planet“. But what if I say, “I know that eating meat is bad for the planet, but eating beef is best for me. So I don’t care.” Is one permitted to talk like this? This is the task and role of philosophy and ethics.


Hygiene?

The etymology of hygiene, in ancient Greek is the art of health.

In modern day times, hygiene as a concept has fallen out of vogue. Why? In the states, a lot of the modernized westernized world, we take it for granted. There is regular trash pick ups, we have clean albeit not too tasty running tapwater, and mostly clean air. And also, most foods we buy or eat, whether it be at the grocery store or a restaurant will not cause us food poisoning.

Food hygiene is very underrated as a concept. We moderns prefer tasty or good tasting food, we don’t really care much for hygiene anymore.

Hygiene as a metaphorical or philosophical concept

Here is where I find hygiene critical; some people, mentally, physically or unwell, their mental hygiene is poor, and their physical physiological bodily hygiene is also probably poor. Used as a metaphor.

If you see weird homeless people on the street, cracked out, smelling bad, do you distain the way they act? No. You just keep your distance, and run away.

In the zone?

Another thing that I’ve discovered is when I’m in the zone, I get so focused on the task at hand that when other people say random maybe possibly demeaning stuff to you, I don’t even have to forcibly ignore them, I just literally can’t hear them, I hear them literally, but because I’m so focused at the task at hand, what they said or intended doesn’t upset me.

What does it even mean to be happy?

I was doing some research on the etymology of happy, and no one is really quite certain where that word comes from. There are certain theories, like “happen”— fortunate, happen chance, hap— chance, luck, fortune, hampa— good luck, chance, from Proto indo European *kob— which means good fortune, prophecy, to bend, bow, fit in, work, succeed.

So why does this matter?

It seems that nowadays, English is the dominant world language. And if we operate in a certain linguistic manner, perhaps the common day words we use should be used with more precision and clarity.

For example, John Stuart Mill, a lot of the early American developers preach notions of the “pursuit of happiness“. But the issue is, if you can’t even define happiness, or if the notion of happiness is a modern day one, then perhaps this is not a good goal or path.

I say instead of seeking to be “happy“, maybe it is better to seek to be strong, well, powerful, and in a great mood. It seems that also, one of my passions being thinking, having the opportunity and clarity of thought is supreme to me.

Now what?

I still think certainly at the end of the day, it is fine to use every day words colloquially. So for example, what contributes a great life to me?

First, artistic and creative productivity. To me this pertains to photography, both shooting and making photos, reviewing photos, enjoying my photos, sharing my photos, thinking about photos, and the aesthetic joy that I get from looking at my own photos.

Second, philosophical and thinking power; this means, I have a passion for thinking, and thinking interesting thoughts. A life without thoughts is not a life worth having.

Third, the health, strength, growth, and muscles of my family. This pertains to my son, and also my wife. And of course certainly myself. Other day I took Seneca to the jungle gym, and at two years seven months old, the pure undiluted joy that he gets from running across the suspension bridge and the jungle gym is pure bliss to me.

Also, witnessing his muscular development, and how much pride and joy that I get watching him eat 100% grass fed ground beef, in super mini burger patties for him, and also him eating while you thinly sliced meat that we buy from H Mart. Seeing Seneca consume beef, and building his muscles brings me great joy.

As a tangent, I think a lot of this modern-day notions of child development are skewed. Rather than trying to educate your kids, make them brain smart, I think a better goal and path is instead, to develop their muscles.


Seeking happiness towards what ends?

First and foremost, as biological beings, I think perhaps it is critical for us to first seek to be physically, physiologically strong and well. An optimization towards physiological well-being is a good one.

Why? It is the necessary path. Without physiological strength and well-being, you can’t do anything. For example, it doesn’t matter if you have $100 billion in the bank, if you are physically or physiologically unwell, if you only sleep two hours a night, if you have no muscles or hotspots in your body, Nothing can be done.

Willpower is not real. Muscle power is real.

Society living is the best living

What is the point of money? Having the privilege of being around other human beings. This, paying rent, and buying beef as well. But beyond this, the additional utility of money is slim; once you have your digital camera, your Internet Wi-Fi connection, your iPad Pro etc., what else do you need? Not much.


Think more with KIM

If you’re hungry to think more, deeper and further, think with me at one of my upcoming workshops:

  1. CONQUER STREET PHOTOGRAPHY IN PHILLY OCTOBER 14th
  2. Discover your creative mission in life — DOWNTOWN LA, NOVEMBER 4th

Also incoming SUPER STOIC DOWNTOWN LA WORKSHOP— stay posted.


EK PHOTO SUPPLY

  1. EK NECK STRAP MARK II: Conquer the unknown
  2. HENRI NECK STRAP MARK IV: LEGENDS NEVER DIE.
  3. HENRI WRIST STRAP PRO: The mark of pros.

Obtain all >


Happy thoughts

How about for now, let us just make our own personal happiness our priority?

The philosophy of happiness >


Experiments

If you’re having a hard time sleeping, my simple suggestion; start going to the gym at least once every single day, and use a hot sauna at least once a day, or really severe cases, go to the hot sauna twice a day.

One thing I found really interesting being in Japan, being at those random Japanese businessman hotels, or the wonderful Ryokans in Kyoto Uji, is at least in Japanese culture, the hot baths, are an integral part of their life and culture. That is, before they sleep, doing a really really hot bath is critical.

The same thing is in Korean culture, the jjim jjil bbang. Apparently in northern Scandinavian and Swedish countries, the really really hot sauna, whether it be dry or humid and steamy is also a critical part of their health.

According to the biological phenomenon hormesis, port duration of extreme heat and humidity is positively good for our physiological health and well-being.


All I need?

All I need is insanely fast Wi-Fi, muscle in my legs (985 pound atlas lift), iPad Pro and EK COFFEE and I’m happy!

House hunting thoughts

I never really knew, but I suppose I have very strong opinions on homes and living quarters and situations. That means for the most part I hate ugly. I hate old and ugly danky dark, dim, and ghetto apartments, especially here in LA.

I have a theory:

Perhaps ugly aesthetics actually causes our physiological happiness and well being to go down.

What is ugliness? Anything which causes our physiological well being to go downwards.

For example, I think the reason why old and danky and ghetto apartments have such an adverse reaction to us is because they scream “hygenically dangerous”. Hygiene as “the art of health”.

For example, the dark and danky typically means moldy. Mold is a poison.

Thus, the simplest thing with homes, houses, condos, duplexes, town houses, flats, hotels, airbnbs, motels sleeping or living quarters etc:

  1. Ensure there is no mold
  2. No poor air circulation (good air circulation is nett we for our health)
  3. Not dark and dim and danky (sunlight, the sun as the best disinfectant, and mold killer)
  4. Not loud
  5. Not dirty
  6. Not old

Now what?

After my Ricoh GR IIIX died, I’ve just been using my LUMIX G9 and Leica LUMIX 12mm f1.4 Lens and it produces insanely beautiful photos! Downsides — insanely big and heavy, which is bad.

I want something insanely different

At this point, money is no concern for us.

In terms of innovative cameras, I’m trending towards the point and shoot, integrated flash department. For example,

  1. Panasonic Lumix DCZS80
  2. Olympus Tough Camera TG6

The only concern:

Are the integrated in camera JPEG settings good for us?

Also,

  1. Canon Cinema Camera
  2. Hasselblad Primer Kit
  3. LUMIX S5 IIX

Share your best

Arsbeta.com — upload and share your best photos now!


What’s on my mind?

  1. Still house apartment hunting in LA — checking out Culver City (downtown Culver City is insanely cool and walkable). Also going to check out Westwood and Sawtelle
  2. Still backlogged around 7,000 photos on my LUMIX g9– on iPad Pro. Working on reviewing them!

Future photo innovations?

  1. An AI-assisted Tool to help us cull down and curate our favorite photos.
  2. Or an AI app thing that helps us automatically pick our best photos?

Forward the turbo!

ERIC KIM NEWS >

Hungry to learn more?

BOOKS


PHILOSOPHY BY KIM

Essays by KIM

  1. BECOMING MORE IMMORAL?
  2. ‘LUCK’ VS COURAGE
  3. ‘SKILL’ VS MERIT?
  4. Becoming Antifragile
  5. How to “Improve” Men
  6. The Art of Virtue
  7. How to Dominate
  8. JUST SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES AND WISDOM WITH OTHERS.
  9. How to Get More Done in a Single Day – MEMENTO MORI PHILOSOPHY
  10. THINK FOR YOURSELF
  11. Cruel?
  12. GO DEMIGOD.
  13. How to Be Happy: Challenge and Danger Philosophy
  14. To Become Greater, You Must Become *LESS* Productive!
  15. Imperfect Beauty
  16. The Philosophy of Pleasure
  17. What Interests You?
  18. Anti Theory of Everything
  19. Become?
  20. STRONGER OR NOT?
  21. Carte Blanche Ideals
  22. CHOOSE JOY
  23. Don’t Judge Your Impulses
  24. On Becoming Less Human
  25. COWARDICE.
  26. The Philosophy of Futurism
  27. PHILOSOPHY IS VALUE-SETTING
  28. PHILOSOPHY IS NOT LIFESTYLE
  29. WHY STANDARDIZATION IS BAD.
  30. YOUR OWN TABLE OF VALUES.
  31. RETRO IS BAD.
  32. INSANELY LOFTY THOUGHTS.
  33. Strive to *Lose* Weight, Not *Gain* Weight
  34. DIABLO II ANALOGIES FOR REAL LIFE.
  35. If You Know Your *WHY* You Can Discover Any *HOW*
  36. Life is Too Short to Be Miserable
  37. What Consumption Takes Skill?
  38. OFF THE GRID.
  39. REALITY IS CRUEL.
  40. Pain is Information
  41. WHY REMOVE VULGARITY AND DISORDER FROM OUR EYES?
  42. AUTOTELIC.
  43. UNPLUG.
  44. How to Become a Philosopher
  45. SUBOPTIMAL IS OPTIMAL
  46. THE LUST FOR MORE.
  47. TO DO IS TO BECOME.
  48. IN PRAISE OF AGGRESSIVE.
  49. THE PHILOSOPHY OF OPTIMISM
  50. OUR PHILOSOPHICAL WILL TO EXISTENCE
  51. Is Hope a Vice?
  52. MOVE MEAN
  53. Carte Blanche Ideals
  54. One Interesting Thought
  55. What Lasts? What Doesn’t Last?
  56. A WOUND STIMULATES THE RECUPERATIVE POWERS
  57. Children & Purpose
  58. Thoughts on Becoming a Parent
  59. Where Does Our Desire to Upgrade Come From?
  60. WE ALWAYS NEED SOMETHING FURTHER TO ASPIRE TO.
  61. Self-Task Yourself an Awesome Mission in Life
  62. Differentiation vs Equalization
  63. My Passion to *Become* Something More
  64. No Aesthetic or Ethos is Forever
  65. What is Your Higher Purpose in Life?
  66. IT WILL NEVER SATISFY YOU.
  67. How to Decide
  68. Things You *Want* to Do vs Things You *MUST* Do
  69. Towards a More Beautiful Mode of Existence and Future
  70. EXTREME GRATITUDE.
  71. AMAP (As Much as Possible) or None.
  72. Why or How Does it Matter?
  73. The Philosophy of Time and Events
  74. How *Not* to Resent
  75. FORWARD LOOKING
  76. DOMAIN FLEXIBILITY.
  77. The Miracle of Human Growth
  78. EXTREME ADAPTATION.
  79. Why Plan?
  80. You Don’t Need to Justify Yourself
  81. The Philosophy of Ego
  82. True vs False Passions
  83. How to Achieve Tranquility
  84. On Making Your Own Philosophy
  85. The Purpose of Life is to Create New Life
  86. Think On!
  87. The Wisdom of Doing Nothing
  88. Congruency
  89. My Thoughts on Meditation
  90. The Philosophy of Purpose
  91. Emulate Yourself
  92. Good Fear, Bad Fear
  93. For the Betterment of Humanity or Just Yourself?
  94. What you *really* believe in and care for is manifested through your actions (or non-actions)
  95. Why Culture is Your Enemy
  96. YOUR EXPERIENCES ARE KING.
  97. LIFE IS INHERENTLY GOOD.
  98. Artistic, Physical, and Philosophical Muscles
  99. All New Experiences are Good Experiences
  100. What is the Purpose of X?
  101. UTILITY.
  102. Philosophy is a Luxury
  103. The Attempt is More Interesting than the Result
  104. Joyfulness vs “Happiness”
  105. Effectiveness Over Happiness
  106. Self Actualization
  107. MAXIMAL ENGAGEMENT
  108. Life & Pain
  109. On Living Every Day with No Regret
  110. Learn as if you’re going to live forever, live as if you’re going to die tomorrow
  111. Live Every Day Like it Were the Last Day of Your Life
  112. Self-Determination
  113. FALSE GRATITUDE vs REAL GRATITUDE
  114. HOW TO LIVE MORE
  115. THE UPSIDE OF TRAGEDY
  116. Satisfaction is a Sucker’s Game
  117. Supreme Repose
  118. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE? According to ERIC KIM
  119. STUBBORN, FLEXIBLE
  120. EVERYTHING HAPPENS AS IT *SHOULD* HAVE HAD HAPPENED
  121. Good Addiction, Bad Addiction?
  122. What is the Best Life?
  123. The Philosophy of Thinking
  124. The Philosophy of Conspiracies
  125. Conspiracies
  126. Growth
  127. Skepticism.
  128. What Do You Really Want Out of Life?
  129. Seem or Be?
  130. Learn Through Pain
  131. Respect Yourself
  132. In Praise of Elitism
  133. Why Independent Thinking?
  134. I Will Never Die
  135. Bitter is Better
  136. The Genesis of Nihilism and Existential Dread
  137. The Ethics of Personal Enrichment
  138. Good vs Not Good
  139. Punished by Privilege
  140. Abstinence Over Moderation
  141. Just Leave Others Alone
  142. You Can Only Critique that Which You Truly Understand and Love
  143. ERIC KIM Critique of Metaphysics
  144. Only Trust Philosophers Who Deadlift
  145. Heuristic: If Someone Talks Shit About Others Behind Their Back, Most Likely They’re Also Talking Shit About You Behind Your Back
  146. Virtue is a Privilege
  147. What Are Your Life Goals?
  148. Honesty
  149. Why I’m Anti Moderation
  150. No Spite, No Malice.
  151. Ascending Life or Descending Life?
  152. Double Edged Sword
  153. Ignorance.
  154. Why I Don’t Trust “Nice Guys”
  155. Why You Must Share Your Opinion
  156. Selfish Isn’t Evil
  157. Wisdom is the Goal
  158. YOU ARE KING.
  159. MASTER YOURSELF
  160. What is “Good” for You is Often what is Bad for You
  161. Care.
  162. BITTERSWEET
  163. ONE REP MAX
  164. Morality and Ethics is the Snare
  165. BY HELPING YOURSELF, YOU BEST HELP OTHERS
  166. Insanity is Good.
  167. Think Deep.
  168. PHILOSOPHY IS THE FUTURE.
  169. Open Mind vs Closed Mind
  170. ENTHUSIASM IS GENIUS
  171. Towards a More Critical and Rigorous Line of Thinking
  172. How to Encourage and a Foster Independent and Free Thinking
  173. What is the Purpose of Life?
  174. WHY PHILOSOPHY IS SUPREME.
  175. Elitism.
  176. I Cannot Form an Opinion About Somebody Until I’ve Met Them in the Flesh
  177. ALL GENETICS ARE GOOD GENETICS.
  178. Happiness vs Freedom
  179. The Birth of a Hater
  180. My Way Isn’t the Right Way
  181. Walking as an Existential Thing
  182. Why I’m So Tolerant
  183. Mortal Gods
  184. THE HUMAN SPECIES
  185. Why I’m So Skeptical
  186. Just Follow the Money
  187. Why Selfish?
  188. WHY WE CANNOT BLAME OTHERS
  189. Why Are We So Anti Elitism?
  190. What Actually Interests You?
  191. How to Become Yourself
  192. SELF HATE
  193. Optimistic Fatalism
  194. Death is the Ultimate Creative Constraint
  195. FLUX.
  196. How to Think for Yourself
  197. FLESH
  198. How to Live the Best Life
  199. Why Live a Life Without Regrets?
  200. Why Plato Ruined Art and Aesthetics for Us
  201. Self Respect
  202. Hypocrite vs Contradict
  203. Ideals vs Reality
  204. Spaceship Philosophy
  205. What is Your Ideal Life?
  206. MY EXTREME GRATITUDE TOWARDS LIFE AND BEING ALIVE!
  207. Critique of Utilitarianism
  208. Don’t Treat Others the Way You Want to Be Treated
  209. The Eternal Recurrence of Tragedy and Joy in Life
  210. Elite Asceticism
  211. Why I Don’t Like Numbers
  212. Action and Reaction, Cause and Effect
  213. The Antidote to Nihilism: The Philosophy of Nothingness
  214. ERIC KIM Notes on Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
  215. EXPLOIT CHAOS.
  216. WHY I DON’T BELIEVE IN GENETICS
  217. Self-Wisdom
  218. The Future Belongs to the Fearless
  219. INDIVIDUALISM
  220. Why Live Forever?
  221. THIS TOO WILL PASS.
  222. Why Education?
  223. How to Become Yourself
  224. Things Shouldn’t Go Back to the Way They Used to Be
  225. Why Am I So Cruel?
  226. The Great Joy of Existence
  227. Virtue for the Sake of Virtue
  228. NO DISDAIN.
  229. INTELLIGENT IGNORANCE
  230. A LIFE WITHOUT PAIN, DIFFICULTY OR TRAGEDY ISN’T A LIFE WORTH LIVING
  231. BITTER IS BETTER.
  232. EXPLOIT THE BEST FROM TRAGEDY AND LIFE 
  233. DISREGARD FOR SELF-PRESERVATION
  234. PAIN.
  235. WHAT IF EVERYTHING IS NOT GONNA BE ALRIGHT?
  236. Tomorrow is Never
  237. Life is the Ultimate Creative Constraint
  238. EMBODIED REALITY
  239. BLACK SWAN
  240. THINGS WILL NEVER GO BACK TO THE WAY THEY USED TO BE
  241. What are you *really* afraid of?
  242. HAPPINESS ISN’T THE GOAL
  243. Philosophy is King
  244. Why is Selfish Evil?
  245. YOU’RE CONSTANTLY IN A STATE OF BECOMING
  246. ENTITLEMENT A SIN?
  247. NARCISSISM
  248. BE BRUTALLY HONEST WITH YOURSELF
  249. WHY FREE WILL?
  250. OBEY YOUR OPINION
  251. EGO IS GOOD.
  252. WHY IT IS GOOD TO BE INTO YOURSELF
  253. Seek the Good Pain
  254. Anti-Perfection in Photography, Art, and Life
  255. Can You Become an End into Yourself?
  256. WHY I LIVE
  257. Why I Hate Decline
  258. Why I Eat
  259. Why am I So Positive and Optimistic?
  260. EFFORT IS ENJOYMENT
  261. Never Stop Gaining
  262. TRUST YOURSELF
  263. A Life of Maximal Personal Independence
  264. What Do You Desire to Become?
  265. What Do I Want from Technology?
  266. Stratified Society
  267. Do You Love or Hate Reality?
  268. On the Brian, Body and Mind
  269. I’m Maximally Happy, Now What?
  270. Care over Fame
  271. ACTIVE NIHILISM
  272. Never Stop Subtracting
  273. How to Live a Happier and More Epic Life
  274. A Risker Life is a Better Life
  275. Only Work on Things You Can Imagine Doing for Eternity
  276. How to Maximize Your Happiness
  277. Influence
  278. The Gladiator Makes His Plans once He Enters the Ring
  279. Meditations on Meaning in Life
  280. There is Nothing More Interesting than Human Beings
  281. Is Hope a Vice?
  282. EGO
  283. Why Be Unique?
  284. Happiness is Metabolism Health and Strength
  285. You’re the Hero
  286. Is Productivity a Virtue or Vice?
  287. Why Do We Prize the Rare?
  288. The Joy of Uncertainty
  289. How Should I Best Use My Time and Life?
  290. A Life Without Pain or Suffering Isn’t a Life Worth Living
  291. Free or Unfree?
  292. What Do You Really Care For in Life?
  293. Anti-Satisfaction in Life
  294. Why Think?
  295. The Eternal Return
  296. Only Do What is Best for You!
  297. Truthiness
  298. Why Be Happy?
  299. Permissionless Living
  300. In Praise of Unconventional Wisdom
  301. Become the Change Which You Wish to See in the World
  302. Happiness
  303. Beyond Freedom
  304. Idolize People, Not Stuff
  305. What Makes You Stronger? What Makes You Weaker?
  306. Why Hate?
  307. The Secret of Happiness
  308. You’re Constantly in a State of Becoming
  309. Life is about Choices, Not Obligations
  310. Anti-Nihilism
  311. First, Do What is Best for You.
  312. Live Dynamic
  313. How to Prosper
  314. Is the Point of Life to Be Satisfied?
  315. SUPREME EFFORT OF WILL.
  316. How to Become more Idealistic
  317. Thrivival 101
  318. Create Yourself
  319. Non-Small
  320. Inspiration
  321. How to Live a Heroic Life: Dare the Heights!
  322. Human Augmentation
  323. Prune
  324. Happiness: Do What You Want to Do (And Don’t Do What You Don’t Want to Do)
  325. Avoid Vain (Empty) Pursuits in Life
  326. Modern Slavery
  327. Kill the Leeches
  328. Wisdom Augmentation
  329. Why We Need Friction in Life
  330. Straight Line Philosophy
  331. What’s Your End-Game in Life?
  332. Create Your Own Happiness Today
  333. Desire Both Pain and Pleasure in Life
  334. Try the Impossible
  335. SELF-RESPECT
  336. Anti-Social Extrovert
  337. Never Blame Anybody But Yourself
  338. Human Flourishing
  339. Simpler, Not Better.
  340. How to be Free
  341. Embrace the Extremes
  342. Cultivate Your Own Culture
  343. COURAGE.
  344. Thrivival
  345. Inner Power
  346. How to Live a Purposeful Life
  347. My Definition of Happiness
  348. Why Change is Good
  349. Why Work?
  350. How to Live the Happiest Possible Life
  351. The Two-Pronged Approach to Maximize Joy in Your Life
  352. You Always Have Another Option!
  353. INFINITISM
  354. Never Stop!
  355. What is Your Self-Directed Purpose in Life?
  356. Live Today Like it Were Your Last
  357. Do You Photograph to Live, or Live to Photograph?
  358. ARTIST-PHILOSOPHER
  359. Live Life to the Fullest!
  360. In Praise of Selfishness
  361. Why You Must Be a YAY-SAYER to Succeed in Entrepreneurship and Life
  362. Why I Love Walking
  363. Live Life Like a Video Game!
  364. Simple Luxuries in Life
  365. Treat Your Life Like a Fun Experiment!
  366. Only Prove it to Yourself
  367. You Don’t Always Need to Feel Joyful to Live a Fulfilling and Meaningful Life
  368. Life is Too Short to Be Bored!
  369. Money Cannot Destroy Boredom
  370. How to Find Inspiration in Life
  371. Why You Must Ignore Haters to Succeed and Win in Life
  372. An Active Life is a Happy Life
  373. My Simple Joys in Life
  374. Never Stop Striving
  375. How to Motivate Yourself in Life
  376. How to Be Optimistic in Life
  377. How to Dictate Your Purpose in Life
  378. In Praise of a Dynamic Life
  379. PURPOSE.
  380. How to Enjoy Life
  381. Photography Therapy
  382. How to Conquer Regret
  383. Take Your Play Very Seriously.
  384. How to Prosper
  385. Memento Vivere
  386. Destroy in Order to CREATE
  387. Trust Your Body More Than Your Mind
  388. Make Photos to Make Meaning in Your Life
  389. Seek Knowledge, Not Information
  390. The Purpose of Human Life
  391. How to Overcome Impedence
  392. Why I Love Death
  393. How to Be Centered in the Eternal Now
  394. How to Be Happy
  395. Why Do You Care What Others Think of You?
  396. Why I’m Happy
  397. Why?
  398. Why I’m So Prolific
  399. How to Reduce LAG in Life

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