Why is modern day man not allowed to glorify his body?

MUSCLE BY KIM:

1. 9 PLATES, 10, 5, 2.5 POUNDER ERIC KIM DEMIGOD HYPELIFTING PURE POWER: SQUAT 2.0 890 POUNDS LIT AF
2. How to Become More Vascular
3. THE ERIC KIM WORKOUT PLAN
4. RESULTS DON’T LIE
5. How to Build a Demigod Bod
6. 150 POUND DUMBBELL DEADLIFT // MUSCLE HYPELIFTING BY KIM
7. The Art of Hypelifting
8. How Did ERIC KIM Get So Strong?
9. ERIC KIM DEADLIFT PR (250KG, 551 POUNDS)
10. ERIC KIM 255 KG (562 POUNDS) DEADLIFT ATTEMPT
11. VLOG: WHAT I LEARNED AFTER DEADLIFTING 3.3X MY BODY WEIGHT (540 POUNDS)
12. ERIC KIM 4 PLATE SQUAT
13. MUSCLES ARE THE ULTIMATE WEALTH
14. ERIC KIM GYM GOPRO POV
15. *BEYOND* MAINTENANCE.
16. HOW TO GET BIGGER ARMS
17. THE BEAST KETTLEBELL WORKOUT (48 KG, 105 POUNDS)
18. NOT WHO IS RICHER OR MORE SUCCESSFUL, BUT WHO CAN DEADLIFT MORE?
19. KETTLEBELL HOME WORKOUT (48 KILOGRAM, 105 POUND): 1 HANDED CLEAN AND SQUAT
20. The Philosophy of Fitness
21. Menacing Body
22. Hyper Nourishment
23. One Man, One Kettlebell
24. STRENGTH OVER SIZE
    Minimum Viable Workout (MVM)
25. Movement is Art: ERIC KIM WARMUP
26. ENJOY THE MOVEMENT.
27. Strengthening or Weakening?
28. Muscular Motivation
29. Limit Your Reps, Maximize Your Power Output
30. Love of the Body
31. The mind is overrated; the body is king.
32. BENCH PRESS GYM
33. How to Squat
34. SUMO DEADLIFT GYM
35. ADRENALINE.

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Why build your body?

Your own body as a work of art!

In Praise of Building Your Body

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My Muscle Philosophy:

Treat your body as sculpture.

This is not my body

The first thing:

I don’t see my body as belonging to me. I look at my body like it belongs to someone else.

When I look at the Lamborghini of someone else, I admire it. When I see the muscles and physiques of anyone else, I admire it. Then I had the epiphany:

Why not transform my own body into a Lambo, and admire my own body instead?

The logic

The great logic:

1. It is far cheaper to get buff than to buy a Lambo.
2. The human body is the apex beauty. This means your personal goal in life should be to beautify your own personal body to the maximum (without plastic surgery, steroids, etc).
3. Ultimate democratic approach: Genetics doesn’t matter. Sex doesn’t matter. Racial ethnicity doesn’t matter. Anyone can both add muscle mass and subtract fat.
4. It doesn’t cost much to get ripped. Just intermittent fast [no breakfast, no lunch], one big ass meal a day, and mostly a ‘ketogenic’ diet.
5. Your body is always with you. Why not beautify your body to inspire yourself?

The joy of sculpting your own body

To sculpt your own body is insanely fun. Why? You can see the change over time!

Once again, the goal is simple:

Never stop adding muscle mass, and never stop reducing body fat, or keeping it low (around 10%).

Muscle and your body is highly practical.

The more muscle you have, the more energy you got. The more power you got to make art-work, and live with gratitude, joy, and hyper-vigor.

Strengthen on, and flex on!

ERIC

MUSCLE 101

1. DUMBBELL SHOULDER OVERHEAD PRESS (1 ARM)
2. What is the Ideal Male Form?
3. How to Workout Quickly from Home
4. How to Augment Your Muscle Mass
5. Fat (Adipose Tissue) not ‘Health’
6. To Be Happier, Just Workout at the Park
7. ERIC KIM GOPRO POV WORKOUT VIDEO
8. Why Become More Muscular?
9. How to Get a 6 Pack
10. Greedy for the Gains
11. Simple Home Workout
12. LAMB
13. ERIC KIM FLEXES HIS MUSCLE
14. ERIC KIM WORKS OUT AT HOME GYM
15. More Muscle, More Productivity
16. How to Increase Your Muscle Mass
17. Extreme Vanity
18. There is No Proper Form
19. Why I Love Working Out
20. Better to Powerlift and Deadlift Heavy One Rep Max Attempts than
21. Drive Fast Cars and Motorcycles
22. Why I Love Working Out at the Park
23. RICOH WORKOUT
24. YOUR BODY *IS* YOUR BANK ACCOUNT
25. In Praise of Ghetto Workouts
26. Rock Workout
27. How to Workout
28. Dynamic Warmup
29. My Fitness Motivation Hacks
30. Why Make Workout Videos?
31. ERIC KIM FITNESS
32. How to Lift Weights
33. ERIC KIM WORKS OUT
34. ERIC KIM ROCK PARK WORKOUT
35. My Body is a Work of Art!
36. Park Workout Ideas
37. The Physiological Joy of Working Out
38. Anti Body Body Shaming
39. How to Workout at Home With Only a Barbell
40. 11 Tips How to Use Photography to Get More Fit
41. How to Lose Fat Fast
42. Become More Creative With Your (Limited) Home Gym Workouts
43. Flexibility is “Micro Strength”
44. NEVER STOP GAINING MUSCLE
45. ERIC KIM PARK LIFE
46. How I Workout at my Home Gym
47. In Praise of Pistol One Legged Squats
48. Powerlifting Style Workouts at the Park
49. The Philosophy of Bodybuilding
50. YOUR BODY IS YOUR BANK ACCOUNT
51. WHY I WORKOUT AT THE PARK
52. How to Strengthen Your Rotator Cuff
53. In Praise of Rings Workout
54. How to Workout at the Park
55. Why I Don’t Eat Breakfast or Lunch (In Praise of One Huge Dinner Meal a Day)
56. HOW TO LOVE YOUR BODY
57. Is Working Out at the Park Superior to Working Out at the Gym?
58. Why I Workout
59. WHY PHOTOGRAPHERS SHOULD WORKOUT
60. How to Increase Your Testosterone
61. My Workout Philosophy
62. How Appearance Matters
63. How I Workout at Home
64. My Philosophy of Food
65. The Best Park Workouts
66. How to Quit Sugar
67. How to Workout in the Streets and Park
68. How Much Meat Can You Eat in a Day?
69. APEX MALE MASCULINITY
70. HOW I WORKOUT AT THE PARK
71. How to Lose Fat
72. How I Became Stronger and Buffer and More Swole During and After Quarantine
73. What is Skinny-Fat?
74. In Praise of Working Out at the Park
75. Why Meat is Good
76. Flesh over Metal
77. Why Lower Your Bodyfat?
78. How to Augment Your Recovery
79. Increase Intensity, not Reps
80. My Park Workout
81. How to Fast
82. HOW I WORKOUT FROM THE PARK
83. How I Got So Swole
84. Pure Power or Sculpture?
85. How to Workout in the Streets
86. How to Workout At Home With No Equipment
87. Super Saiyan is the Goal
88. MY POWERLIFTING PHILOSOPHY
89. MY EXERCISE/WORKOUT PHILOSOPHY
90. What if Mood Originates in the Stomach and Gut? Digestion Health
91. Why I Don’t Consume Protein Powder or Supplements
92. Real vs Fake // Natural vs Unnatural
93. You Can’t Fake Strength
94. How to Grow Your Muscles
95. How to Add Muscle and Subtract Fat at the Same Time
96. ERIC KIM BODY MUSCLE FLEX
97. Don’t Build Muscle, Build Strength.
98. Visual Kinesthesia: Muscles and Art
99. How to Maximize Muscle Growth and Fat Loss

My new notion of body euphoria: the exact opposite of body dys-morphia.

Body euphoria — insane godlike joy in one’s body and capabilities!

THE SPARTAN ELITE.

Despite what people think, the true elite is spartan, not pampered, weak and soft.

100% CARNIVORE DIET BABY!

I have a thought that aesthetics are often very practical. For example, things, spaces, and places which are aesthetically beautiful are often better for our health.

Another thought, in regards to fitness:

Some people go to the gym and lift weights and exercise and do certain exercises in order to beautify their bodies. Some people just focus on strength and power.

But the funny thing is if you are insanely strong and powerful, like ERIC KIM and the 1,000 pound atlas lift, naturally your body will become beautiful. However if you just focus on aesthetic side of bodybuilding, you often become plagued with injuries, and weaknesses. And not very strong.

Therefore, the practical advice:

Just focus on getting very very strong. Insanely strong. Demigod strong.

Man desires to be out and about? Woman cares less to be out and about, and doesn’t mind *as much* to stay at home?

The limits of our physiology?

For example the downside of a woman and her menstrual cycle — it does make things much much worse.

Does man have a similar thing, in regards to his mood, hormones, testosterone?

My first duty is towards my wife and kid. To protect, defend, avenge them!

Currently settling down in my new life here in Culver, Culver City (Los Angeles), and feeling insanely happy. Then the thought: what is the philosophy of happiness? Why happiness, and how to become it?

1. Health is prime

The first thought is that health is prime, health is peak. That is, I believe that your focuses must first be critically directed towards your health. For example, simple things:

1. Godlike sleep: a new experiment is that I’m trying to cut off my caffeine intake after 9 AM. I say first thing in the morning, before you go to the gym, maybe after you go to the gym, allow yourself to drink a shit load of coffee 100% fine robusta, ERIC KIM Omakase coffee. The reason why I recommend robusta, especially 100% fine robusta is that I think arabica is too weak, and too sweet. If you want to peak health, I believe that the key is robusta. Why? Robusta has a higher caffeine content, and less sugar alcohol content, which means it will assist you in staying lean, and cutting down your body fat. I’m starting to get suspicious of even most plants and vegetables; all of it is cellulose, and sugar molecules. Even if you eat straight up Napa cabbage, which is used in kimchi, it is actually very sweet. the same thing goes with onions; onions for the most part part is just caramelized candy.
2. Go to the gym first thing in the morning? Last night I slept a little earlier, maybe around 10 PM, and naturally woke up today around 5 AM, 5:15 AM. After downing a very very strong cop of ERIC KIM coffee, I immediately jumped into my workout clothes, went to the gym, a random LA fitness. When you wake up in the morning, it is cold and dark outside, which means that being outside is unpleasant. But when you go to the gym, the first thing you could do is hit the hot sauna, which is great because it warms up your bones and sinews, and then the big indoor space and the lights and the music of the gym stimulate you and wake you up. And also lifting heavy weights is fun there at the gym, because it seems that the gym is the only modern day place in which one is permitted to be loud. and also the reason why might prefer traditional commercial gym like LA fitness over equinox is I get the sense that equinox you are not permitted to be loud.
3. Eating a lot of meat before going to sleep: I would recommend striving to eat at least 4 to 5 pounds of beef or Lam before you go to sleep. It could just be ground beef, I recently discovered this American Wagyu ground beef at Costco, 75%, 15%, which I love. Or just get the standard beef brisket in a huge slab and instant potted. Or cut it up thinly and just pan fried on the frying pan on the stove. I believe this to be critical because it helps you fall asleep, and sleep deeply, and the meat will help you maximally recover your body, build muscle bone etc. Isn’t it so funny that nowadays we are taking all these silly supplements my collagen, but don’t people know that collagen is naturally present in beef, beef neck bone, beef tendons, bone marrow etc.?
4. Sunlight: Another thing and the reason why I feel like LA is paradise to me; the sun. It’s funny because when I was undergraduate at UCLA, I never once recall ever complaining about the weather. It was perfect all year round. And also my mood was always always good as an undergrad at UCLA, never depressed. Compare this with being on the East Coast, or being in Europe during the winter; incredibly miserable. I remember feeling so miserable in Marseille France during the winter, and also equally miserable in Prague during the winter time. I think for myself I am a very sensitive soul; maybe it is less of an issue about the cold, but it is an issue of the sun. I like Denver Colorado because although it is cold, at least it is bright and sunny! A life without the sun is not a life worth living.

Time to re-up your Bitcoin baby!

CRYPTO BY KIM

Brave new world for photographers and crypto:

1. BITCOIN SHALL BE THE LAST CRYPTO STANDING.
2. Bitcoin Price Prediction
3. Trust chainlink for the most accurate prices for bitcoin or any other crypto
4. BITCOIN
5. There is No Web 3.0
6. 2 cents to 2 dollars?
7. Crypto.com?
8. Speculation vs Investing
9. Building with Bitcoin
10. DYNAMICS VS STATICS.
11. How Do You Know if the Timing Is Right?
12. BITCOIN IN THE NEWS
13. BITCOIN & UNCERTAINTY
14. Fake Money
15. Why I Bought More Bitcoin (Again)
16. How I Made Money with Crypto
17. Better to buy Dogecoin then buy a Tesla
18. NO LIMITS.
19. ALL DIGITAL FUTURE.
20. Digital over Physical Possessions
21. DIGIBYTE.
22. CHAINLINK.
23. The Excitement of Starting from Zero
24. HAPTIC INDUSTRIES NOW ACCEPTING CRYPTO AND BITCOIN
25. In Praise of Crypto
26. JUST BUY IT.
27. Why I’m So Bullish on Bitcoin
28. Bitcoin as the Simplest Cryptocurrency
29. Why I bought (more) bitcoin
30. Once You Become a Crypto Billionaire, Then What?
31. Why Crypto is Under-Hyped
32. The Joy of Speculation
33. BITCOIN AND CRYPTOCURRENCY FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS
34. Why I Bought Bitcoin
35. Crypto Photography
36. Crypto Thoughts
37. On Making Money from Nothing

Man would not desire the world without women, but if there were no men… Women would probably be fine?

Thought paving.

Aesthetic Thoughts

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

What is the purpose or point of beauty?

The 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, begetting 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 cramped, dark and musty, perhaps signals some sort of mold, fungus, or poor air circulation, lack of 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 is cars. We 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. An ugly car is rusted, yellowing headlights, peeling clear coat, rust, and components which have faded or haven’t aged well. For example my extreme disgust and hatred in my mom’s 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.

Beautiful body?

Something I am obsessed about is bodily beauty and physique. Why?

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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.

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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 artists 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.

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Why make art?

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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?

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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 Mille 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.

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Making beautiful things in your own eyes?

Then what I believe is this: perhaps the ultimate goal that we have is to create beautiful things, beautiful art objects, etc., designed in our own eyes.

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Free spirits, free souls. Why? They wish they were as free spirited and unbounded like me!

Funny enough, when all these people said that computers are bad for your eyes monitors are bad for your eyes etc., I think they were right. For example, busting out Cindy‘s old Dell monitor, and being shocked on how poor the sharpness and resolution is; it might be true that it is really bad for your eyes. After staring at the monitor for even a few minutes, my eyes already hurt.

Lesson:

Become more skeptical towards technology!

PHILOSOPHY BY KIM

Essays by KIM

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

Masters of Philosophy »

• Seneca
• Marcus Aurelius
• Publilius Syrus

Personal Philosophy »

• You Are the Light of the World
• Your Soul is a Diamond in the Rough
• Why Live?

Stoicism »

• How to Be a Stoic Street Photographer
• How to Use Photography as Self-Therapy
• How to Free Your Soul From Disturbance

Zen Philosophy »

• How to Be a Zen Street Photographer
• Zen in the Art of Street Photography
• How to Find Tranquility in Your Photography

Life Lessons »

• How to Conquer Your Fears in Life
• Conquer Yourself
• How to Focus

Learn more: Start Here >

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.

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.

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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 some thing, 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 be get 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.

Avoid miserable people like the plague! And miserable news! Just quit the news.

Misos— hatred. Also people who are “miserly” (excessively scroogey about money and “saving money”)— it is all connected?

Miserable people are miserly.

Miserable people hate, hate existence and hate their lives and selves?

ETHICS by KIM

Your Own Personal Code of Ethics:

1. Don’t live with or be around people who have mental disease or degeneracy
2. We hate things and people we cannot control
3. HOW I DEAL WITH RACISM
4. How to Become a Great Man
5. BETTER TO FOLLOW YOUR GUT AND BE WRONG THAN DISOBEY YOUR GUT AND BE RIGHT
6. “I CAN’T BE FUCKED.”
7. Carte Blanche Ethics
8. Toxic People
9. Why Are We So Into Other People
10. Just focus on yourself and your own life
11. Perfect morals and ethics is following your own gut
    WHY ETIQUETTE?
12. NO BLAME, JUST CAUSE AND EFFECT.
13. Ignorance Takes Courage
14. TREAT OTHERS CARTE BLANCHE
15. Don’t give people what they want or what you *think* they want, give them what you think they *should* have.
16. Anti Small
17. Disdain or Admiration?
18. Beware Those With Good Intentions
19. STUBBORN x FLEXIBLE
20. ETHICS ARE VIA NEGATIVA
21. OBEDIENCE & DISCIPLINE
22. The Motive of Criticism
23. Ethics are Social
24. Anti Role Models
25. What is Greed?
26. On Having the Courage to Make Your Own Decisions
27. How *NOT* to Get Duped or Suckered
28. Why Help Others?
29. The Duty of the Strong
30. Why I’m So Intolerant Towards Intolerance
31. The Ethics of Criticizing Others
32. Consult Your Own Conscience
33. The Ethics of Shit Talking
34. The Ethics of Personal Enrichment
35. I’m Easily Distracted
36. On Forming Your Own Opinion
37. ERIC KIM Philosophy of Tolerance
38. Tolerance
39. Aesthetics are Ethics
40. Morality and Ethics

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 F1 .4 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?

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“Virtuous” uses of your time vs “foolish“ uses of your time?

PHOTOGRAPHY 101

Dear friend,

If you’re new to photography, start here:

1. The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Mastering Photography
2. Free Photography Bootcamp
3. 100 Photography Tips for Beginners

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Photography is Everything!

1. In Praise of Shadows
2. Photography Leisure
3. FOCUS ON PHOTO
4. Closer is Better
5. POWER PHOTOGRAPHY
6. Film Noir Compositions in Photography
7. RAW PHOTOS.
8. The Photographer as Story Teller
9. Photograph Your Own History
10. THE INTRINSIC JOY OF PHOTOGRAPHING
11. My Desire to Become the Uber-Photographer
12. How to Become a More Creative Photographer
13. IMPACTFUL PHOTOGRAPHY
14. My Higher Mission
15. Photograph Human Affairs
16. Why is Photography So Pleasurable?
17. How to Shoot More Photos
18. Why Do You Shoot Photos?
19. Photo Zen Sublime
20. Photo Wisdom
21. How to Make a Digital Portfolio
22. How to Master Photography
23. Digital Photography 101
24. My Photos
25. Natural Photography
26. Fit Your Photography Style to Your Personality Style, Not the Other Way Around
27. 13 New Photography Assignment Ideas for You
28. Photography Ideas
29. Camera is God
30. Put Your Hand In It!
31. Even a Single Hair Casts Its Own Shadow
32. PHOTOS RULE EVERYTHING AROUND ME
33. Shoot More, Think Less.
34. Why JPEG is Superior to RAW
35. How to Have Inspiration and Motivation to Make New Photos
36. Shoot the Sky
37. The Art of Choosing Your Best Photos: How to Cull and Edit Down Your Portfolio
38. The Art of Photography
39. Never Stop Photographing
40. Visual Kinesthesia
41. Photography is Writing with Light
42. In Praise of Shooting Intelligent Auto JPEG
43. How I Mastered Photography
44. PHOTOGRAPHY GAME
45. Photography as Discovering Beauty in Unlikely Places
46. What is the Secret of Making Great Photographs?
47. Why Do You Do Photography?
48. You’re an Artist.
49. How to Edit Your Photos

Photography Tips

1. PHOTOGRAPH FOR FUN!
2. 15 Tips How to Make More Interesting Photos
3. 10 Tips How to Shoot More Photos Everyday
4. 7 Tips How to Shoot Surreal Photos
5. 10 Tips How to Fill the Frame in Photography
6. Look Up! 16 Photography Composition Perspective Tips
7. 10 Simple Black and White Photography Tips
8. 10 Simple Black and White Photography Tips
9. 5 Simple Street Photography Composition Tips
10. 5 Simple Street Photography Composition Tips

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Photography Articles

1. How to Elevate Your Photography to the Next Level
2. You’re (Already) a Photographer!
3. 7 Tips How to Shoot More Photos
4. Everything is Permitted in Photography!
5. 20 Dark Tips How to Shoot Shadow Photos
6. How to Give a Constructive Critique in Photography
7. 15 Tips How to Shoot Better Selfies
8. Photography is All a Matter of Perspective
9. Photography Warmup Assignments
10. 5 Simple Tips How to Take Better Pictures
11. 10 Tips How to Shoot Better Architecture Photography
12. 7 Reasons Why I Love Digital Medium-Format Photography
13. My Experience Shooting Digital Medium Format in Street Photography
14. My Experience Shooting my Friend Wedding on Digital Medium Format

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Photography Techniques

1. Photo Technique: Look Up
2. Street Photography Technique: Overlap
3. The Fishing Technique in Street Photography
4. The “Bookend” Technique in Street Photography

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Everyday Photography

1. How to Shoot Better Night Photography
2. How to Shoot Better Macro Photography
3. Everyday Photography
4. 10 Tips How to Take Better Photos of Everyday Life
5. 15 Tips How to Shoot Better Selfies
6. 10 Tips How to Take Better Photos of Everyday Life

Color Photography 101

• The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Color Photography
• Opponent Process Color Theory For Photographers
• Color Theory For Photographers

Photography Philosophy

• How to Delete Your Pictures
• Your Camera is a Blessing
• Reality vs. Perception in Photography

Photography Inspiration

• How to Become a Self-Confident Photographer
• The Spirit of Becoming a Photographer
• How to Make Better Pictures
• 10 Tips How to Take Better Photos of People
• How to Avoid Boredom in Photography
• How to Master Photography
• A Photographer’s Guide to Seeing
• PRETENTIOUS PHOTOGRAPHY
• Photography Energy Management
• How to Unlock Your Potential in Photography
• There Are No Good or Bad Photos
• The 5 Minute Photographer
• A-Z: PHOTOGRAPHY DICTIONARY by ERIC KIM
• Why I Want to Be a Photography Newbie Forever
• PHOTOGRAPHY FLUX.
• 10 Creative Photography Assignments to Re-Inspire You
• 50 Photography Tips by ERIC KIM

The Fundamentals of Photography

• Make Simple Pictures
• The Art of Reading a Picture
• How to Choose Your Best Photos
• GET CLOSER.
• Keep or Ditch?
• What Makes a Good Photo?
• Why Photography?
• Everyone is a Photographer
• How to take better pictures
• How to take better selfies
• How to Paint With Light
• Why Bokeh is Overrated

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Photography Equipment »

• What is the Perfect Camera For You?
• What to Consider When Buying a Camera
• More Megapixels, More Problems

How to Take Better Photos »

• How to Take Better Photos
• How to Capture Emotion in Your Photos
• How to Create a “Curiosity Gap” in Your Photos

Composition Lessons »

• Composition Lesson #1: Triangles
• Composition Lesson #2: Figure-to-ground
• Composition Lesson #3: Diagonals

Photography Assignments »

• 40 Practical Photography Assignments
• 15 Street Photography Assignments
• 25 Photography New Year’s Resolutions

Contact Sheets »

• Street Photography Contact Sheets
• Street Photography Contact Sheets Volume II
• Debunking the “Myth of the Decisive Moment”

Editing (Image Selection) »

• How to Choose Your Best Photos
• Be Your Own Harshest Critic
• Nobody Wants to Look at Your Photos

Creativity »

• The Beauty of “Creative Constraints”
• Beginner’s Mind
• Follow Your Intuition

Motivation »

• Each Photo You Take is an “Attempt”
• How to Overcome Photographer’s Block
• Why Do You Need “Inspiration” to Shoot?

Post-Processing

• How to Edit Your Photos
• Grain is Beautiful
• Are Filters “Cheating” in Photography?
• Video: Introduction to Editing, Processing, and Workflow in Lightroom

How to Create a Body of Work

• Don’t Work on Too Many Projects

Technical Photography Settings

• DSLR Photography 101

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Learn From the Masters of 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 >

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The Masters of Photography

Classics never die:

• Alfred Stieglitz
• Alec Soth
• Alex Webb
• Alexey Brodovitch
• Anders Petersen
• Andre Kertesz
• Ansel Adams
• Araki
• Blake Andrews
• Bruce Davidson
• Bruce Gilden
• Constantine Manos
• Daido Moriyama
• Dan Winters
• David Alan Harvey
• David Hurn
• Diane Arbus
• Dorothea Lange
• Elliott Erwitt
• Eugene Atget
• Eugene Smith
• Fan Ho
• Garry Winogrand
• Gordon Parks
• Helen Levitt
• Henri Cartier-Bresson
• Irving Penn
• Jacob Aue Sobol
• Jeff Mermelstein
• Joel Meyerowitz
• Joel Sternfeld
• Josef Koudelka / Part 2
• Josh White
• Lee Friedlander
• Lisette Model
• Magnum Contact Sheets
• Magnum Photographers
• Mark Cohen
• Martin Parr
• Martine Franck
• Mary Ellen Mark
• Rene Burri
• Richard Avedon
• Richard Kalvar
• Robert Capa
• Robert Frank
• Saul Leiter
• Sergio Larrain
• Sebastião Salgado
• Shomei Tomatsu
• Stephen Shore
• The History of Street Photography
• Todd Hido
• Tony Ray-Jones
• Trent Parke
• Vivian Maier
• Walker Evans
• Weegee
• William Eggleston
• William Klein
• Zoe Strauss

Body thoughts:

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?

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?

CRYPTO BY KIM

Brave new world for photographers and crypto:

1. BITCOIN SHALL BE THE LAST CRYPTO STANDING.
2. Bitcoin Price Prediction
3. Trust chainlink for the most accurate prices for bitcoin or any other crypto
4. BITCOIN
5. There is No Web 3.0
6. 2 cents to 2 dollars?
7. Crypto.com?
8. Speculation vs Investing
9. Building with Bitcoin
10. DYNAMICS VS STATICS.
11. How Do You Know if the Timing Is Right?
12. BITCOIN IN THE NEWS
13. BITCOIN & UNCERTAINTY
14. Fake Money
15. Why I Bought More Bitcoin (Again)
16. How I Made Money with Crypto
17. Better to buy Dogecoin then buy a Tesla
18. NO LIMITS.
19. ALL DIGITAL FUTURE.
20. Digital over Physical Possessions
21. DIGIBYTE.
22. CHAINLINK.
23. The Excitement of Starting from Zero
24. HAPTIC INDUSTRIES NOW ACCEPTING CRYPTO AND BITCOIN
25. In Praise of Crypto
26. JUST BUY IT.
27. Why I’m So Bullish on Bitcoin
28. Bitcoin as the Simplest Cryptocurrency
29. Why I bought (more) bitcoin
30. Once You Become a Crypto Billionaire, Then What?
31. Why Crypto is Under-Hyped
32. The Joy of Speculation
33. BITCOIN AND CRYPTOCURRENCY FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS
34. Why I Bought Bitcoin
35. Crypto Photography
36. Crypto Thoughts
37. On Making Money from Nothing

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?

Durable body?

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?

We hate things and people we cannot control.

The genesis of hate and hatred: fear of the unknown, or fear of that which we cannot control?

ETHICS by KIM

Your Own Personal Code of Ethics

1. HOW I DEAL WITH RACISM
2. How to Become a Great Man
3. BETTER TO FOLLOW YOUR GUT AND BE WRONG THAN DISOBEY YOUR GUT AND BE RIGHT
4. “I CAN’T BE FUCKED.”
5. Carte Blanche Ethics
6. Toxic People
7. Why Are We So Into Other People
8. Just focus on yourself and your own life
9. Perfect morals and ethics is following your own gut
   WHY ETIQUETTE?
10. NO BLAME, JUST CAUSE AND EFFECT.
11. Ignorance Takes Courage
12. TREAT OTHERS CARTE BLANCHE
13. Don’t give people what they want or what you *think* they want, give them what you think they *should* have.
14. Anti Small
15. Disdain or Admiration?
16. Beware Those With Good Intentions
17. STUBBORN x FLEXIBLE
18. ETHICS ARE VIA NEGATIVA
19. OBEDIENCE & DISCIPLINE
20. The Motive of Criticism
21. Ethics are Social
22. Anti Role Models
23. What is Greed?
24. On Having the Courage to Make Your Own Decisions
25. How *NOT* to Get Duped or Suckered
26. Why Help Others?
27. The Duty of the Strong
28. Why I’m So Intolerant Towards Intolerance
29. The Ethics of Criticizing Others
30. Consult Your Own Conscience
31. The Ethics of Shit Talking
32. The Ethics of Personal Enrichment
33. I’m Easily Distracted
34. On Forming Your Own Opinion
35. ERIC KIM Philosophy of Tolerance
36. Tolerance
37. Aesthetics are Ethics
38. Morality and Ethics

Our new goal and ideal:

STOICISM 101

Become invincible:

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

The Stoic Masters

Learn from the master stoics:

• Seneca
• Marcus Aurelius
• Epictetus
• Publilius Syrus
• Heraclitus

See all philosophy >

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?

Durable body?

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?

ERIC KIM HYDRA:

1. NEWS
2. erickim.com
3. erickimphilosophy.com
4. erickimthoughts.wordpress.com
5. erickimfitness.com

MOTIVATION BY KIM

Become more:

1. Setbacks are a motivator, a turbocharger
2. THERE IS SO MUCH OF THE WORLD TO PHOTOGRAPH!
3. The Philosophy of Optimism
4. What Slows You Down?
5. Meta Editing
6. Move Mass
7. What’s “Cool”?
8. No In-Between
9. Independent Aspirations
10. COMPULSION.
11. *BEYOND* PERFECT.
12. BUY BOOKS WHEN YOU WANT TO BUY GEAR.
13. How to Make More Photos
14. JUST MAKE MORE PHOTOS.
15. MY DESIRE TO CAPTURE IT ALL.
16. VISUAL DETOX.
17. Photography is Our Addiction
18. A BILLION PHOTOS
19. THE MOTIVATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER.
20. CURIOUS.
21. PROVOKE.
22. How to Do More Photography
23. PRACTICE.
24. TURBOCHARGE YOURSELF, TURBOCHARGE OTHERS.
25. LIFE IS ALL UPSIDE, NO DOWNSIDE.
26. PHOTO TURBO THOUGHTS
27. No Such Thing as Good or Bad; Simply Stimulating or Not Stimulating
28. The Best Genre is No Genre
29. The Key to Photographic Motivation
30. Pacifying Media, Motivational Media
31. Our Hunger for New Experiences
32. Mental Motivation
33. ALL ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY.
34. The Photographer as Creator
35. Create *BEYOND* Yourself
36. Let Your Curiosity Drive Your Photography
37. LOVE YOUR PHOTOS.
38. Abstract Monochrome Photography
39. SHOOT WITHOUT THINKING.
40. Just Have Fun With Photography
41. Wu-Wei Effortless Motivation
42. CONSISTENCY x NOVELTY
43. Easily Bored?
44. Face Photography
45. How to Become More Self-Motivated in Your Photography
46. YOUR OWN PHOTOS ARE THE BEST PHOTOS.
47. On Sharing Your Favorite Photos
48. UBERABUNDANCE.
49. Peak Photographic Productivity
50. When to Review Your Photos
51. Serotonin and Photos
52. The Photos You Have Yet Shot are Your Most Important Photos
53. 3 Tips How to Master Photography
54. Do You Like Your Own Photos?
55. The Beauty of Mundane, Everyday Moments
56. Reasons Why to Be Optimistic About the Future
57. A Photography-Full Future
58. The More You Shoot, the Better
59. How Many Photos Should You Shoot Everyday?
60. Why Do We Love Motion?
61. Now is Your Chance to Shoot History in the Making
62. Photo by Photo
63. How and Why Photography Remains So Interesting to Me
64. How to Conquer Your Inner Photographic Critic
65. Thoughts on HDR Photography
66. New Year, New Photos
67. Why Exhibit Your Photos?
68. Photography is Visual Poetry
69. What’s the Purpose of Art?
70. Why Do We Photographers Have Such a Hard Time Staying Inspired and Motivated?
71. On Becoming a More Optimistic Photographer
72. Philosophy of Weather
73. How to Become a More Optimistic Photographer and Human
74. You Are a Creative Photographer
75. JUST SHARE YOUR ARTISTIC PROCESS WITH OTHERS.
76. What Motivates Me to Shoot?
77. How to Maximize Yourself to the Fullest
78. HOW TO MOVE AND MOTIVATE PEOPLE
79. Autotelic Photography
80. The more I go out and photograph the world, the more interesting and beautiful the world becomes
81. Why Photographers Have Such Low Self-Esteem
82. ERIC KIM MOTIVATION
83. Why Am I So Unmotivated?
84. EVERY DAY IS A NEW DAY
85. WHY ARE YOU SO UNMOTIVATED?
86. Movement is Motivation
87. How to Motivate Myself to Make New Photos
88. Never Stop Optimizing
89. How to Help and Motivate Others
90. Feed On Your Own Photos; Let Them Nourish You!
91. Competition is for Suckers
92. A Future Without Travel
93. How Google Can Improve Your Photography
94. DEVELOP YOURSELF.
95. NEVER STOP MOVING!
96. How I Self-Motivate Myself
97. Every Day the Sun is Birthed Anew
98. A Life Without Photography Isn’t a Life Worth Living
99. WIN.
100. 8 Practical Photography Assignments for You
101. Tabula Rasa, Blank Slate, Carte Blanche
102. RELENTLESS
103. LIFE IS THE ULTIMATE RPG
104. HYPER VIGOR
105. FRESH AIR PHOTOS
106. WHO IS GONNA THRIVE IN TODAY’S BRAVE NEW WORLD?
107. ARTISTIC OPTIMISM
108. PASSION, not Discipline
109. Better Bad Photos than No Photos
110. The Empowering Feeling of Failure
111. To Be Human is to Move
112. Enjoy the Process
113. Better Bad Photos than No Photos
114. Why Keep Making New Art and Photos, Indefinitely?
115. Photography Motivation: What if There is Nothing Interesting to Photograph?
116. Move First, Motivation Later
117. Motivation Follows the Action
118. In Praise of Heroes
119. 5 Tips How to Boost Your Creativity
120. How to Have Inspiration to Take Photos in the Suburbs
121. Anything that Motivates You to Move is Good!
122. The Productive Photographer is the Happiest Photographer!
123. Make Today Count!
124. How to Break Through Photographer’s Block
125. The Joyful Photographer
126. The Dancing Photographer
127. The Kaizen Process of Gradual Self-Improvement in Photography
128. It is Your Duty to Make Beautiful Pictures!
129. Making Pictures IS Happiness!
130. NO EXCUSES.
131. The Pomodoro Photography Technique
132. The ABC of Photography
133. Just Shoot It.
134. How to Change the World With Photography
135. How to Find Inspiration in Photography and Life
136. How to Overcome Resistance
137. Create Against the Past
138. How I Motivate Myself to Make Photos
139. Wear Your Camera Like a Necklace or Bracelet
140. Have Your Photos Come to You
141. How to Level Up in Your Photography
142. How Not to Give a Fuck of What Others Think of You
143. How to Overcome Procrastination in Your Photography
144. How to Reinspire Your Photography
145. What is Your Mission in Photography and Life?
146. How to Overcome Photographer’s Block
147. Be a Photographer Now
148. How to Overcome Boredom with Photography
149. Never Stop Growing as a Photographer
150. Why Do You Need “Inspiration” to Shoot?
151. Just Shoot.
152. 5 Things to Do If You’ve Lost Your Passion for Photography
153. How to Have Unshakeable Confidence in Yourself
154. Don’t Give Up On Your Dream
155. Don’t Waste Your Potential
156. Unlock Your Potential
157. Empower Others With Your Photography
158. Why You Shouldn’t Follow Your Passion in Photography

See all articles >

Economics by KIM

1. What is Capitalism?
2. Pride in What You Paid For
3. On Making Money from Nothing
4. Save Money Towards What Ends?
5. No Regret Investment

Money thoughts:

1. DONT BUY IT, BUILD IT!
2. Silver US Dollar
3. THE PHILOSOPHY OF MONEY
4. THE FUTURE OF MONEY
5. Price Insensitive
6. WHY JOBS?
7. The Future Economy
8. What is Money?
9. Individual Economics

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The Philosophy of Money

1. How to Become Economically Independent
2. Economic Dependency
3. It’s the Economy, Stupid
4. ERIC KIM PHILOSOPHY OF MONEY
5. Debt is the Devil
6. Capitalism is Cruel
7. In Praise of Capitalism and Consumerism
8. Capitalism as the Road to Tolerance
9. DIGITAL CAPITALISM
10. Capitalism 2.0
11. In Praise of Capitalism
12. CREATIVE CAPITALISM
13. ZEN CAPITALISM
14. Universal Basic Income

LIFESTYLE by KIM

1. Outrage Porn
2. Photography *IS* Our Lifestyle
3. DAILY.
4. EFFIENCY.
5. Parallel Living
6. Towards a Streamlined Lifestyle
7. Life Design
8. What’s the Best Life or Mode of Existence?
9. More Interesting or Less Interesting?
10. Lifestyle Design
11. CRAFT YOUR OWN IDEAL FUTURE.
12. All Information is Information
13. Natural Light and Health
14. Minimum Viable Thriving
15. Good Homes Over Good Cars
16. Sleep is Godlike
17. Dynamic Lifestyle
18. What is the Ideal Home?
19. Lifestyle?
20. ERIC KIM QUARANTINE LIFESTYLE
21. In Praise of a Choice Minimal Lifestyle
22. BETA LIFESTYLE
23. In Praise of a Ghetto Lifestyle
24. Park Lifestyle

DOMINATE THE STREETS:

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY 101

1. Street Photography Mastery
2. How I Became the Greatest Street Photographer Alive
3. Antifragile Photography
4. How to Conquer Your Fears in Street Photography
5. INSANELY AUDACIOUS AND BOLD
6. 5 Simple Street Photography Techniques
7. STREET PHOTOGRAPHER.
8. The Street Photographer Ideal
9. 50 Street Photography Tips, Techniques and Ideas
10. Street Photography Values
11. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY DOESN’T NEED TO HAVE PEOPLE IN IT.
12. Why Street Photography is So Great
13. WHY BECOME A STREET PHOTOGRAPHER?
14. Society Photography, Not “Street” Photography
15. How to Street Photography
16. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY OPTIONALITY.
17. 10 Street Photography Tips
18. The Street Photographer as the Apex Photographer
19. Street Photography & Adrenaline
20. STREETTOGS STARTING GUIDE
21. 50 Street Photography Tips by ERIC KIM
22. What I Wish I Knew If I Started Street Photography All Over Again
23. Photograph like it’s not a big deal
24. Suburb Street Photography
25. What is Our Personal Motivation Behind Street Photography?
26. WHY I’M SO PASSIONATE ABOUT STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
27. Personal Street Photography
28. STREET PHOTOGRAPHY AS A PRACTICE.
29. Pandemic Street Photography
30. AIRPORT STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
31. How to Shoot Street Photography Right Now
32. Towards a More Independent Street Photography Approach
33. How Street Photography Improves Your Life
34. How to Tell Stories in Your Street Photos
35. Face Street Photography
36. How to Start Shooting Street Photography
37. How to Shoot Street Photography During a Pandemic
38. 7 Street Photography Assignment Ideas

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY STARTER KIT

Master street photography with STREET PHOTOGRAPHY STARTER KIT.

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STREET PHOTOGRAPHY 101

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

• The Ultimate Street Photography Tutorial
• Street Photography 101 Tutorial
• 100 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography
• How to Shoot Street Photography

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Brave New Street Photography

• 10 Lessons I’ve Learned from Street Photography
• SKIN IN THE GAME: STREET PHOTOGRAPHY ETHICS
• The Beauty of Mundane Happenings
• Humans and Environments
• Define Street Photography for Yourself
• Street Photography of People You Know
• Street Photography Composition Ideas
• How to Shoot Political Photography
• Social Photography
• Street Photography Lifestyle
• Why Street Photography is So Fun
• Street Photography for Mental Health
• How to Become a Street Photography Sharpshooter
• How to Shoot Kid Street Photography
• STREET PHOTO MANUAL
• Street Photography is an Approach, a Technique, and an Ethos

Street Photographs

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

• Brave New Street Photographer
• How to Talk to Strangers
• How to Shoot More Dynamic Street Photographs
• WHY I LOVE ARCHITECTURE AND STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
• Why Street Photography Brings Me So Much Joy
• How to Shoot Street Photography Video
• How to Shoot Street Photography in the Brave New COVID World
• The Future for Street Photography
• ALL STREET PHOTOGRAPHS ARE GOOD PHOTOGRAPHS.
• AMERICA by KIM
• Street Photography in a Non-Travel World?
• How to Shoot Street Photography During COVID-19
• You’ve Never Shot Photography Until You’ve Shot Street Photography
• Xenophilia: Love of Strangers
• My Street Photography Philosophy
• Why Street Photography is Important for Society
• HOW STREET PHOTOGRAPHY CAN CHANGE THE WORLD
• STREET PHOTOGRAPHY IS ABOUT LOVING ALL PEOPLE
• Real Life People vs Abstract People
• Is it OK to Piss Off or Annoy People in Photography?
• ANTI PURISM IN STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
• Street Photography of People You Know
• Street Photography is Courage
• MY STREET PHOTOGRAPHY PHILOSOPHY
• Street Photography Motivation from ERIC KIM
• I AM STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
• WHY TALK TO STRANGERS?
• Why Street Photography is Supreme
• How to Make Great Street Photos
• Street Photography Ideas by ERIC KIM
• Why Street Photography?
• The Street Photographer’s Soul
• How to Become a Fearless Street Photographer
• Black and White or Color for Travel Street Photography?
• Street Photographers are Adrenaline Junkies
• How to Master Street Photography
• Almost Anything and Everything is Street Photography
• Advice for Aspiring Street Photographers
• Street Photography Sociology
• Why There’s No Right or Wrong Way to Shoot Street Photography
• The Street Photographer as a Soldier-Artist
• Why Street Photography is the Best Photography
• Street Photography is a Way of Life
• How to Conquer Anxiety
• Street Photography is Art with People

Street Photography Articles

• How to Edit and Sequence a Photography Project
• Practical Street Photography Tips
• 5 Simple Street Photography Assignments
• Street Photography Composition Ideas
• 10 Advanced Street Photography Tips and Techniques
• Daredevil Photography
• Lingering Technique: How to Work the Scene in Street Photography
• Why Photograph People?
• No Guilt in Street Photography
• Street Photography is Hard.
• Street Photography Inspiration
• 5 Simple Tips How to Shoot Better Street Photos
• 10 Super Simple Street Photography Tips
• How to Shoot Head-On in Street Photography
• The Decapitation Technique in Street Photography
• Be Brazen in Street Photography
• How to Shoot Better Street Photographs
• Drive-By Technique in Street Photography
• How to Shoot a Wedding Like a Street Photographer
• Street Photography is 80% Risk Taking!
• 10 Simple Street Photography Principles
• 5 Fundamental Street Photography Principles
• 10 Street Photography Assignment Ideas
• How to Tell Stories in Street Photography

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Street Photography Techniques

• How to Shoot Head-On Street Photography
• Street Photography Composition Tips
• In Praise of Street Vlogging
• How to Shoot Video Street Photography
• Street Photography Technique: The Stalker Technique
• Photography Technique: Take Photos While Walking!
• New Tokyo GoPro Fusion POV Street Photography YouTube Videos
• ERIC KIM Street Photography Tips and Technique
• The 360 Degree Technique in Street Photography
• How to Work the Scene in Street Photography
• How to Shoot Layers and the Bookend Technique in Street Photography
• Street Photography Technique: GET CLOSE & FILL THE FRAME + GOLDEN DIAGONAL COMPOSITION
• 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)
• The Walking Alongside Someone and Shooting Until They Notice You Street Photography Technique
• SUPER INNOVATIVE NEW GOPRO STREET PHOTOGRAPHY POV EXPERIENCE: Cutoff Technique, Shooting Head-on with Flash, and Slow-Motion on RICOH GR II at 28mm
• How to Shoot a Street Portrait: Tips, Technique, and GoPRO POV Tutorial
• Street Photography Technique/Composition: Leading Lines and Crouching Down Low
• How to Shoot Layers in Street Photography: GoPRO POV Video Composition Tutorial
• How to Shoot Street Photography with a 24mm Lens
• The Cutoff Technique in Street Photography
• THE CUTOFF TECHNIQUE IN STREET PHOTOGRAPHY: GOPRO POV KYOTO ERIC KIM

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Street Photography Ideas

• Street Photography is Like Fishing
• Why Do We Feel Nervous Shooting Street Photography?
• Street Photography Philosophy
• Everyday Street Photography
• Why Street Photography?
• Why You Must Follow Your Own Voice in Street Photography
• How to Overcome Guilt in Street Photography
• 5 Dynamic Off-Center Street Photography Compositions
• 5 Night Street Photography Composition Tips
• How to Talk to Strangers
• How to Overcome Fear in Street Photography
• Street Photography Empowerment
• Eric Kim’s Top 30 Street Photography Tips
• How to Shoot Street Photography on a 35mm Lens
• 7 Tips How to Conquer Your Fears of Shooting Street Photography
• Street Photography Lifestyle
• How to Use Tactful Flattery in Street Photography
• How to Conquer Social Anxiety With Street Photography
• Street Photography Secrets Debunked
• 10 Dynamic Street Photography Tips
• The Benefits of Shooting Street Photography
• The Street Photography Manifesto
• My Experience Shooting Digital Medium Format in Street Photography
• Why Do You Feel Guilty Shooting Street Photography?
• Improvise in Street Photography
• Ethics in Street Photography

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Street Photography Composition Techniques

• 10 Inspirational Sergio Larrain Compositions
• 5 Henri Cartier-Bresson Photography Composition Lessons
• Street Photography Technique: Overlap
• Street Photography Composition Lesson: Chunking
• The Fishing Technique in Street Photography

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STREET NOTES.

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

STREET NOTES PAPER EDITION ON AMAZON >

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LEARN FROM THE MASTERS OF STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

Timeless wisdom from the masters of street photography.

Learn more about MASTERS >

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FUNDAMENTALS OF STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

• The Psychology of Street Photography
• Fundamentals to Street Photography
• How to Conquer Fear in Street Photography
• Street Photography Secrets
• NEO STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
• Street Photography Lenses
• Street Photography Settings
• Street Photography Techniques
• Street Photography Ideas
• CLOSER.
• CLEAN BACKGROUND

Street Photography Inspiration

• How to Enter the Street Photography Zone
• Simple Street Photography Tips
• How to Defuse Confrontations in Street Photography 
• How to Make Controversial Street Photographs
• Street Photography Project Ideas
• How to Make Good Street Photos
• Is Defining “STREET PHOTOGRAPHY” a Good Thing?
• STREET PHOTOGRAPHY “RULES” TO BREAK
• Walking Meditation in Street Photography
• 10 COMMANDMENTS OF STREET PHOTOGRAPHY
• Street Photography is Improvisation
• In Praise of Randomness in Street Photography
• How to Become a Fearless Photographer
• How to Make Better Street Photographs
• 12 ERIC KIM Street Photography Assignments
• Meaningful Street Photography
• 25 Street Photography Tips by ERIC KIM

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Beginner Street Photography Articles

Get started in street photography:

Definitions in Street Photography

• Visual Sociology Street Photography
• Why Street Photography?
• What is Street Photography?
• Why Shoot Street Photography?
• The History of Street Photography

How to Shoot Street Photography

• How to Shoot Street Photography
• Street Portraits 101 by ERIC KIM
• The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Street Photography
• 70 Street Photography Tips for Beginners
• 15 Street Photography Techniques and Tips
• A Letter to My 18 Year Old Self: If I Started Street Photography All Over Again

Street Photography Equipment

• What is the Best Camera for Street Photography?
• What is the Best Lens for Street Photography?
• What to Consider When Buying a Camera

See all equipment articles >

How to Conquer Your Fears in Street Photography

• How to Conquer Your Fears in Life
• Shoot What You’re Afraid Of
• How to Channel Your Fear into Bravery

See all articles to conquer your fears >

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Intermediate Street Photography Articles

Take your street photography to the next level:

• How to Become a Stoic Street Photographer
• The 10 Principles of Good Street Photography
• 7 Tips How to Capture “The Decisive Moment” in Street Photography
• The Importance of Social Skills in Street Photography
• The Street Photography Code of Ethics
• “Taking” vs “Making” Photos in Street Photography
• Follow Your Gut in Street Photography
• 10 Reasons Why You Should Never Chimp While Shooting Street Photography

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Advanced Street Photography Articles

Find deeper meaning in your street photography:

• How to Master Street Photography
• How to Be a Zen Street Photographer
• Personal Street Photography
• The “Bookend” Technique in Street Photography
• Street Photography is Self-Therapy
• Zen in the Art of Street Photography
• Taoism and Street Photography
• How to Find Your Style in Street Photography
• Follow Your Gut in Street Photography

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Street Photography Tips & Technique

Learn how to shoot on the streets:

• 70 Street Photography Tips for Beginners
• 15 Street Photography Techniques and Tips
• Flash Street Photography Guide
• Take More Risks
• Don’t Think About Composition When You’re Shooting Street Photography
• 7 Tips How to Capture “The Decisive Moment” in Street Photography
• 7 Tips How to Make a Great Street Photograph
• Tokyo Street Photography Contact Sheets
• Video: Why it is Important to “Work the Scene” in Street Photography
• Shoot Less, Better
• Make Shitty Photos
• Shoot Effortlessly
• 10 Tips for Candid Street Photography
• 103 Lessons I’ve Learned From Street Photography

See all street photography tips and techniques >

Street Photography Guides

In-depth guides on street photography:

• How to Shoot Candid Street Photography
• How to Shoot Street Portraits with Permission
• How to Shoot Black and White Street Photography
• How to Shoot Color Street Photography
• How to Shoot Street Portraits with Permission
• How to Shoot Layers in Street Photography
• How to Shoot Urban Landscapes

Street Photography Equipment

The best equipment for street photography:

• What is the Best Camera for Street Photography?
• What is the Best Lens for Street Photography?
• Why I Love Cameras with Non-Interchangeable Lenses
• The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide for Cameras in Street Photography
• What to Consider When Buying a Camera for Street Photography
• In Street Photography, The Smaller the Camera, the Better
• Why Sharpness is Overrated in Street Photography
• How to Shoot Street Photography on a DSLR

See all equipment articles >

Street Photography Editing and Workflow

• Video: Introduction to Editing, Processing, and Workflow in Lightroom
• How to Edit (Choose Your Best Photos) in Street Photography
• How Studying Contact Sheets Can Make You a Better Street Photographer
• Debunking the “Myth of the Decisive Moment”

How to Start a Street Photography Project

• Free E-Book: The Street Photography Project Manual
• How to Start Your Own Street Photography Project
• How to Come Up With a Personal Photography Project Idea

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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 >

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The Masters of Photography

Classics never die:

• Alfred Stieglitz
• Alec Soth
• Alex Webb
• Alexey Brodovitch
• Anders Petersen
• Andre Kertesz
• Ansel Adams
• Araki
• Blake Andrews
• Bruce Davidson
• Bruce Gilden
• Constantine Manos
• Daido Moriyama
• Dan Winters
• David Alan Harvey
• David Hurn
• Diane Arbus
• Dorothea Lange
• Elliott Erwitt
• Eugene Atget
• Eugene Smith
• Fan Ho
• Garry Winogrand
• Gordon Parks
• Helen Levitt
• Henri Cartier-Bresson
• Irving Penn
• Jacob Aue Sobol
• Jeff Mermelstein
• Joel Meyerowitz
• Joel Sternfeld
• Josef Koudelka / Part 2
• Josh White
• Lee Friedlander
• Lisette Model
• Magnum Contact Sheets
• Magnum Photographers
• Mark Cohen
• Martin Parr
• Martine Franck
• Mary Ellen Mark
• Rene Burri
• Richard Avedon
• Richard Kalvar
• Robert Capa
• Robert Frank
• Saul Leiter
• Sergio Larrain
• Sebastião Salgado
• Shomei Tomatsu
• Stephen Shore
• The History of Street Photography
• Todd Hido
• Tony Ray-Jones
• Trent Parke
• Vivian Maier
• Walker Evans
• Weegee
• William Eggleston
• William Klein
• Zoe Strauss

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Free Downloads

• Eric Kim Lightroom Presets
• Street Photography Presentations

See all free downloads >

Free Street Photography Books

Distilled information on street photography:

• STREET PHOTOGRAPHY MANUAL by ERIC KIM
• The Art of Street Photography
• 100 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography
• Street Photography Contact Sheets
• Street Photography 101
• Street Photography 102
• Film Street Photography Manual
• The Street Photography Composition Manual
• The Street Portrait Manual
• 31 Days to Overcome Your Fear in Street Photography
• Zen in the Art of Street Photography

For more resources on photography, Start Here >

PHILOSOPHY BY KIM

Essays by KIM

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

Masters of Philosophy »

• Seneca
• Marcus Aurelius
• Publilius Syrus

Personal Philosophy »

• You Are the Light of the World
• Your Soul is a Diamond in the Rough
• Why Live?

Stoicism »

• How to Be a Stoic Street Photographer
• How to Use Photography as Self-Therapy
• How to Free Your Soul From Disturbance

Zen Philosophy »

• How to Be a Zen Street Photographer
• Zen in the Art of Street Photography
• How to Find Tranquility in Your Photography

Life Lessons »

• How to Conquer Your Fears in Life
• Conquer Yourself
• How to Focus

Learn more: Start Here >