Check out the updated book: “100 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography.”

Dear streettogs,

I am excited to announce my new free “open-source” e-book: “Learn From the Masters of Street Photography.” This book is a compilation of all the lessons I’ve distilled from my “Learn From the Masters Series” on the blog, in a convenient PDF for you to read, learn from, edit, remix, and share.

This project is very close to my heart, because I think it is my greatest work to date. I have poured my entire heart, blood, and soul into this work (along with drinking close to 100 espressos in total). I truly hope that this book helps stimulate some new ideas, helps push you outside of your creative zone, and for you to embrace these timeless lessons from the masters of photography.

As a side-note, I actually turned down a lucrative book offer on the book. The publisher gave me a very good deal and was very accommodating, but unfortunately weren’t comfortable with me releasing a free and open-source PDF of the book (one of my non-negotiables). After all, the money I could have earned looked very attractive, but the purpose of my life is to create open, empowering, and free education and information for you. Anything that prevents me from doing so is against my morales and principles. So enjoy this labor of my love :)

Free Download

You can download the book for free via the links below. If you enjoy the book, share it with a friend and spread the love:

You can download the original .pages manuscript (to edit, remix, and translate as you please):

Here are all the quotes (in a convenient text file to keep with you):

Pay What You Want

In total this book took me about 3 years to put together. 2 years spent writing all the “Learn From the Masters” articles, 3-6 months re-reading all the articles, distilling the information into the 82 lessons, and another 2 months designing and putting together the book.

To keep this information free and open, I am sticking to this “pay what you want” model; which helps me continue to pay my rent, pay for my caffeine addiction, and provide this information for you.

You can also make a donation of your own price via Paypal.



Support Eric Kim Roll of film + develop $9.95 USD Romantic dinner $19.95 USD Nice photobook $49.95 USD

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How to use the book

The book is pretty massive (275 pages), so if you happen to find a place that can print it cheaply, feel free to print it out, and bind it together with a bigass stapler.

I recommend downloading the book to your phone, iPad, or digital device, and use it like a handbook of inspiration. Feel free to skip around, and digest one lesson for the day before you go out and shoot, or whenever you’re feeling uninspired.

Each section also has an assignment and an example of how I applied the lessons to my own photography.

Don’t take any of these “lessons” in this book as a “rule.” They are just guidelines, tips, and pieces of advice to help us find our own voice and vision in photography.

Introduction

“What has interested me in taking photographs is the maximum — the maximum that exists in a situation and the maximum I can produce from it.” – Josef Koudelka

I love photography with all of my heart and soul. For the last 9 years, I have tried to seek my own personal voice, style, and path in photography. This journey has led me through life in so many incredible ways. I have learned so many valuable lessons in photography (and life) which has transformed me as a human being.

My particular interest has been in street photography; capturing moments of everyday life in public settings. I have always been drawn to my fellow human beings, and street photography has helped me become a more empathetic human being.

However ultimately, photography is photography. I used to feel that I should only shoot “street photography”, but I have discovered in my path that it doesn’t matter what you shoot. What matters is how shooting makes you feel. What matters is whether photography pushes you outside of your comfort zone, and whether you are able to achieve your personal “maximum” in your life.

I feel the purpose of my life is to produce knowledge, and to distill information and lessons I’ve learned about photography to the masses. I am certainly not a “master” myself; just a humble student dedicated to a life-long pursuit of learning. Everything I share in this book is a distillation of the lessons I’ve learned from the masters of photography. Don’t take everything in this book as “truth”. Rather, see the masters of photography as your personal guides. Take these lessons with a pinch of salt; pick and choose which lessons resonate with you, and throw away the rest.

Ultimately to find your own personal vision and style in photography, you just need to know yourself as a human being. “Know thyself” is the distillation of wisdom known to the ancient Greeks. So I hope that this book helps you discover who you are as a photographer, and this concept of “street photography” can be used as a vessel or a boat to help you along your life’s journey.

But once the boat has served its purpose; burn it and continue along your own path.

I also share some of my personal lessons in this book– how the lessons from the masters of photography have helped influence my vision and personal journey. So let us enjoy this path together my dear friend. Disregard what others may think of your photography; seek inner-happiness, and fulfill the maximum you can out of your work and life.

Love, Eric (at Free Speech Movement Cafe, UC Berkeley, 10:23am, Tues, October 6, 2015)

Table of Contents

Lesson #1: Get closer

Lesson #2: Shoot from the gut

Lesson #3: Don’t shoot from the hip

Lesson #4: Don’t crop

Lesson #5: Emotionally detach yourself from your photographs

Lesson #6: Provoke your subjects

Lesson #7: Don’t be a slave to your camera

Lesson #8: Embrace “beginner’s mind”

Lesson #9: Limitations are freedom

Lesson #10: Shoot with a “Stream-of-Consciousness”

Lesson #11: Embrace failure

Lesson #12: Add “something more” in the frame

Lesson #13: Master your body language

Lesson #14: Kill your master

Lesson #15: Follow your curiosity

Lesson #16: Leave your photos open to interpretation

Lesson #17: Separate yourself from your photos (kill your ego)

Lesson #18: Photograph what you love

Lesson #19: Every photograph you take is a self-portrait

Lesson #20: Don’t repeat yourself

Lesson #21: Ask for permission

Lesson #22: Don’t hesitate

Lesson #23: Don’t become pigeonholed by definitions

Lesson #24: Don’t stop your projects too soon

Lesson #25: It’s okay to shoot shitty photos

Lesson #26: Chase the light

Lesson #27: Channel your emotions into your photos

Lesson #28: All photos are accurate, none of them is truth

Lesson #29: Disturb your viewer

Lesson #30: Disregard technical settings; focus on the idea

Lesson #31: Enjoy the process

Lesson #32: Single photos can’t tell stories

Lesson #33: Don’t focus on marketing your work

Lesson #34: Subtract from the frame

Lesson #35: Make yourself vulnerable

Lesson #36: Don’t go “pro”

Lesson #37: Stay hungry, stay foolish

Lesson #38: Don’t take easy photos

Lesson #39: Print your photos

Lesson #40: Don’t get suckered by “the exotic”

Lesson #41: Why are you pushing the button?

Lesson #42: Create specific photographs

Lesson #44: Arrange yourself, not others

Lesson #45: Don’t just take photos of people

Lesson #46: Focus on content over form

Lesson #47: Learn how to see

Lesson #48: Every photo you take is a self-portrait

Lesson #49: Don’t shoot your preconceived notions

Lesson #50: Time is your ultimate resource

Lesson #51: There is nothing wrong with staging photos

Lesson #52: Don’t have a project

Lesson #53: Improve a little bit everyday

Lesson #54: Make something extraordinary from the ordinary

Lesson #55: Don’t see your photos as art

Lesson #56: Constantly question yourself

Lesson #57: Feel emotions in color

Lesson #58: Always have a camera with you

Lesson #59: Make books

Lesson #60: Create relationships in your frame

Lesson #61: Pave your own path

Lesson #62: Stick with one camera for a long time

Lesson #63: Learn where to stand

Lesson #64: Expect to be disappointed

Lesson #65: On digital vs film

Lesson #66: Kill your babies

Lesson #67: Milk the cow, a lot

Lesson #68: Don’t shoot for others

Lesson #69: Photograph your own backyard

Lesson #70: Make images that stand on their own

Lesson #71: Your photo either works or it doesn’t

Lesson #72: Abstract reality

Lesson #73: Capture your own personal “decisive moments”

Lesson #74: Rules will set you free

Lesson #75: Experiment

Lesson #76: Disregard fame

Lesson #77: Think long-term

Lesson #78: Create a relationship with your subjects

Lesson #79: Don’t bore your viewer

Lesson #80: Embrace your job

Lesson #81: Don’t become married to your beliefs

Lesson #82: You’re only as good as your last photo

Assignments

Below is a list of all the assignments in the book:

Assignment: The “.7 Meter Challenge” Assignment: “Marinate” your shots Assignment: Have your subjects see you Assignment: Focus on the edges Assignment: Create context in your frame Assignment: “Can you do that again?” Assignment: Document your own life Assignment: Shoot what it feels like Assignment: Don’t be afraid to click Assignment: Fill the frame Assignment: Eye contact Assignment: Contradict a “rule” Assignment: Curiosity notebook Assignment: Make an “open” photo Assignment #2: Make a “closed” photo Assignment: They’re not your photos Assignment: What do you love? Assignment: Role-play Assignment: Repetition and Variety Assignment: The 10 “yes”, 10 “no” challenge Assignment: when in doubt, click Assignment: Try shooting another genre Assignment: One square block Assignment: Take 10,000 shitty photos Assignment: Study the light Assignment: Shoot how you feel Assignment: Haters are gonna hate Assignment: Try out “P” mode Assignment: Make yourself miserable Assignment: Tell a story Assignment: Don’t publish any photos for 6 months Assignment: Subtract until there isn’t anything left to subtract Assignment: What does it feel like to be on the other side? Assignment: Give away your photos Assignment: Shoot without film or a memory card Assignment: Shoot what you’re afraid of Assignment: Print your photos Assignment: Shoot your own backyard Assignment: Why do you take photos? Assignment: Shoot only one color Assignment: Trace over your photos Assignment: Shoot head-on Assignment: Shoot intimate objects Assignment: The human condition Assignment: Imagine if you were to become blind tomorrow Assignment: Self-portrait Assignment: Reset Assignment: What if you died tomorrow? Assignment: Direct your subject Assignment: Find a common theme or pattern in your work Assignment: Take 1 photograph everyday Assignment: Make something ugly into something beautiful Assignment: Make fun of yourself Assignment: Always question yourself Assignment: Photograph a color and mood Assignment: Always have your camera with you Assignment: Make a “zine” Assignment: Juxtapose two unrelated things in a single frame Assignment: Creatively Isolate yourself Assignment: One camera, one lens Assignment: Always take a step forward Assignment: Learn from your mistakes Assignment: Experiment with film Assignment: Kill your babies Assignment: The 1,000 photo challenge Assignment: “Personal documentary” Assignment: Shoot driveways Assignment: Show your photos to kids Assignment: When in doubt, ditch. Assignment: What is going on? Assignment: Shoot meaningful moments in your daily life Assignment: Create a rule for yourself Assignment: Try out different lenses Assignment: Create a secret social media profile Assignment: Think of a 10-year project Assignment: Talk with a stranger for at least 10 minutes Assignment: Shock and awe Assignment: Count your blessings Assignment: Find a counter-example to your beliefs Assignment: Only show your best 5 photos Assignment: What 1 photo do you want to be remembered for after you die?

Screenshots from the Book

Below is a sneak-peak of some of the pages of the book:

Other Free E-books by Eric Kim

Below is a list of all of the other free e-books available for you.

You can download all the PDF’s on Google Drive.

Make your own book

Dear friend, the last thing I want to leave with you is this: make your own book.

Design it in Google Docs, Apple Pages, Microsoft Word, or whatever basic software you have. Put together all the lessons you’ve personally learned, and share it with others.

Of course we are all students at the end of the day, but I think there is nothing more beautiful than sharing knowledge you’ve picked up along the way.

You don’t need to be an “authority”, “expert”, or “professional” to do any of this. I still consider myself an amateur, and I am still learning everyday (and killing old theories I picked up in the past).

So make your own photography book, project, and distribute it openly and freely. Push the human race forward with your knowledge, ideas, and creativity. You have no limits.

Love,

Eric

@ CC Coffeeshop in New Orleans, Mon, 3:05pm, with a double-shot of espresso

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