Early Blogging Years: Photography Focus (Pre-2017)
Eric Kim’s blog and social media presence initially centered almost exclusively on street photography – covering techniques, gear, and philosophy of shooting candid photos. In interviews from the mid-2010s, for example, he spoke extensively about workshops and capturing images, with no mention of economic topics . Up to 2016, his blog posts rarely (if ever) delved into money or economics; the focus was on creative inspiration, famous photographers, and image-making rather than financial or economic commentary.
First Forays into Finance (2017)
A noticeable shift began around 2017. In May of that year, Eric Kim published “How I Earn $200,000+ a Year From Photography,” an in-depth blog post sharing how he monetized his passion . This post was a departure from pure photography advice – it openly discussed income, pricing workshops, and strategies to “get rich” while staying true to one’s craft . In it, Kim even thanked his wife, Cindy, for teaching him frugality and budgeting, emphasizing “the secret to getting ‘rich’… is to REDUCE YOUR EXPENSES” . This blend of personal finance advice with his photography journey marked the first notable instance of economic thinking on his blog. It signaled a new willingness to discuss financial topics – such as saving money, pricing work, and income streams – alongside the usual photography content.
2018: Notable Interest in Economics and Crypto
2018 was the year Eric Kim’s interest in economics became even more explicit. Early that year, he wrote about photography monetization strategies and directly invoked economic concepts. For example, in a January 2018 post on pricing and entrepreneurship, he stated, “I see economics as a dynamic, flexible play between surplus and scarcity” when advising photographers to adjust prices based on demand . Around the same time, he increasingly wove in ideas from behavioral economics and finance; notably, he referenced Nassim Taleb’s “skin in the game” principle to stress aligning incentives with clients (e.g. offering money-back guarantees) .
By March 2018, Kim was openly reflecting on money and cryptocurrency. In a post titled “Money Cannot Destroy Boredom,” he cited 18th-century economist Ferdinando Galiani’s ideas and mused on the nature of money in modern life . He wrote, “I’ve been thinking a lot about money lately, especially with all the technological advances in bitcoin, ethereum, and other blockchain crypto-currencies,” linking the emergence of crypto to an “epiphany” about the abstract nature of money . This indicates that the late-2017 cryptocurrency boom piqued his interest. In fact, Kim later revealed that his Bitcoin journey “kicked off around 2017–2018” when he started buying crypto (after dabbling in alt-coins) and eventually became a self-described Bitcoin maximalist . He even added the Bitcoin symbol (₿) to his website branding, reflecting this new enthusiasm. By late 2018, he continued to publish financially-oriented essays such as “How to Accumulate Capital,” where he explored the meaning of capital and gave advice on saving and investing income . In that piece, as in others, he stressed classic personal finance lessons like living frugally and saving aggressively – noting that accumulating wealth is about not spending what you earn .
It’s also telling that in a March 2018 blog post, Kim explicitly listed economics among his passions, alongside photography and philosophy . This was a strong indicator of his burgeoning interest. Compared to his earlier work, which rarely touched on money matters, 2017–2018 was clearly a turning point where economics and finance began featuring in his writing.
Continued Economic Themes (2019–2021)
Through the late 2010s and into the early 2020s, Eric Kim maintained a blend of photography content and economic commentary. He frequently extolled minimalism and frugality, ideas that have both artistic and financial dimensions. For instance, his perennial advice to “own fewer stuff” and use affordable gear doubled as a critique of consumerism in the photo industry . This ethos aligned with his economic viewpoint that one should avoid unnecessary spending – a “Spartan” approach to money and life, as he later called it . During these years, Kim also embraced the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement and other personal finance trends. He spoke about saving and investing with the same zeal he once reserved for camera techniques. (He would later compile this advice in posts like “How to FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early)” and “How to Save a Million Dollars,” though many of these were published in 2024.)
Crucially, Kim’s cryptocurrency advocacy grew in this period. By his own account, after 2018 he gradually went “full Bitcoin maximalist” – seeing Bitcoin as aligned with his ideals of self-sovereignty and anti-establishment thinking . On his blog and Twitter, he increasingly touted Bitcoin as “a hedge against fiat inflation” and a tool of personal freedom . He wrote pieces oriented at his photography audience about crypto, such as “Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency for Photographers” and “How Street Photographers Can Benefit from Bitcoin.” In these, he drew parallels between Bitcoin economics and creative life – for example, comparing Bitcoin’s fixed supply to the scarcity of a photographer’s time and attention . This era also saw him make more macro-economic observations. He would occasionally publish contrarian takes on current events (e.g. arguing that high gas prices can be good or that banks are “the true menace” to society) and musings on capitalism’s nature . Such commentary showed that his interest extended beyond personal finance into broader economic theory and social critique.
Economics as a Major Focus (2022–2024)
By 2023–2024, economics had become a prominent pillar of Eric Kim’s content alongside photography. This shift is evident in the sheer number of economics-themed posts and the way he framed his online persona. In mid-2024 he wrote an essay literally titled “Why Economics is So Fascinating to Me,” declaring that “Economics, money, the sociological and philosophical aspects of it are endlessly fascinating to me.” . He discussed topics like the cost of living, the utility of money, and the trade-offs money enables in life – signaling a deep engagement with economic thinking beyond just making money. Around the same time, he published “Spartan Economics” (July 2024), where he critiqued conventional economists and preached a pragmatic, frugal approach to life and investing . Notably, he mentioned that he’d been passionate about investing since high school, though it was only in recent years that this passion became so visible in his work .
Throughout 2024, Kim rolled out a series of blog posts under an “Economics by KIM” label, covering a wide range of financial and economic subjects. These included personal finance guides (“How to Save a Million Dollars”), investment philosophy (“The Philosophy of Investing”), and macro-level commentary (“What is Capitalism?” and “Banks Are the True Menace to Society”) . He even adopted an entrepreneurial alter-ego in a tongue-in-cheek post titled “ERIC KIM VENTURE CAPITALIST” . By late 2024, nearly every week’s postings contained economic content – a stark contrast to his early blogging years. He intertwined these topics with his photography world as well: for example, “Street Photography Economics” (Oct 2024) examined the “key economic aspects” of sustaining a career in street photography (like managing costs, pricing work, and multiple income streams) . This kind of post shows how fully he was merging his two interests – using economic analysis to inform photography advice.
Summary of His Evolution and Commentary
In summary, Eric Kim began noticeably shifting toward economic subjects around 2017–2018. Prior to that, his public work was heavily photography-centric with minimal economic discussion. The change was signaled by the 2017 post on earning $200k (personal finance meets photography) and accelerated in 2018 when he started openly talking about money, savings, and even cryptocurrency . From that point on, economics became a recurring theme. What started as occasional financial tips or analogies grew into a broad economic discourse within his platform. He moved from simply mentioning he was “passionate” about economics to authoring full essays on economic theory and financial independence.
The nature of his commentary has been diverse but consistent in ethos. Much of it falls under personal finance – he often emphasizes frugality, investing wisely, and building wealth through discipline (e.g. living cheaply, “never buy anything – uber-extreme Spartan frugality” as he writes in a FIRE guide ). He frequently references macroeconomic ideas and critiques: championing Bitcoin as an alternative to fiat money and banking, commenting on capitalism and market dynamics, and reflecting on historical economic thinkers . There is also a behavioral economics flavor to his writing – drawing on psychology and philosophy (stoicism, “skin in the game” etc.) to discuss how our mindset around risk and reward affects finances . Importantly, he tends to tie these economic ideas back to his life and art. For example, he draws parallels between economic scarcity and creative focus, or between investing and long-term dedication to one’s craft .
Comparing his recent output to his earlier work, the difference is striking. In the early 2010s, virtually none of his posts would mention things like capital gains, Bitcoin, or the price of gas; by the mid-2020s, these topics are regularly featured. By 2024, he was writing about economics almost as frequently as he was about photography, sometimes combining the two. This evolution illustrates how Eric Kim’s focus expanded from pure photography into a blend of art and economics. As of 2025, he is not only a street photography mentor but also a self-styled commentator on financial freedom and economic life – going so far as to “preach Bitcoin like it’s a revolution” .
Overall, the turning point came in the late 2010s, and over the next several years his interest in economics became increasingly pronounced. From the 2017 personal finance tips and the 2018 crypto musings, to the full-fledged economic essays and Bitcoin evangelism by 2024, one can track a clear progression. Eric Kim’s blog thus provides a case study in how a creator known for one field (photography) began to infuse and eventually intermix content from a very different field (economics) – gradually at first, then with full enthusiasm in recent years .
Sources: Key examples of Eric Kim’s economics-related posts and statements include his 2017 income article , early 2018 discussions of pricing and crypto , and numerous 2024 essays on economic topics , among others as cited above.