What’s poppin’ people? It’s Dante, getting the morning started here in beautiful Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. It’s a chilly day here in Philly, and I’ve been thinking deeply about what I call soul photography — and more specifically, how to photograph joy.
Raising the Frequency of Love
I think the ultimate goal in life is simple:
Raise the frequency of love.
Every day when I interact with people—strangers on the street, in elevators, or while I’m out photographing—I notice something. People seem uneasy. There’s tension in the air. Everyone’s talking about the news, the negativity, the noise.
But when I’m out here walking, surrounded by trees and fresh air, I realize: I don’t need that noise. What I want to share through my photography is joy. Through photographing the things I love, I want to share that state of bliss with the world.
Photograph from a State of Joy
When you photograph from a place of joy, love, and gratitude, that energy reflects back in your images. Photography has nothing to do with photography—it’s about how you engage with humanity.
“Whatever is going on internally, that’s what reflects back in the photographs you make.”
If you’re joyful, it will show. If you’re anxious or angry, that energy seeps through the frame. Photography becomes a mirror for your inner world.
A Miniature Lifetime
Each day is a miniature lifetime. Each night is a miniature death. Each morning is a miniature birth.
By treating life this way, every day becomes an opportunity for rebirth and growth. You wake up with gratitude, ready to create, ready to love, ready to see.
And through that gratitude, your photography transforms. You begin to see the divine in small moments: a leaf, a reflection, a stranger’s smile. The world reveals itself when you’re at peace with it.
Photography as Gratitude
When you step outside, breathe in the air, feel the sunlight, and walk with awareness, you become the photographer of your own soul.
Your camera simply records what your heart already feels. This is the essence of Soul Street Photography — not capturing the world as it is, but revealing the love that already lives inside you.
So stop overthinking. Shoot loosely. Laugh with strangers. Photograph joy as you find it.
“Photography has everything to do with how you engage with humanity.”
Final Thought
Photography is gratitude in motion. It’s not about chasing perfection or proving anything. It’s about recognizing that every day, every click, and every moment of light is a blessing.
So raise the frequency of love. Photograph joy. And remember—each photograph is a reflection of your soul.
What’s poppin, people? It’s Dante. This morning we’re diving into soul street photography—how to photograph the soul and what that really means.
This approach to photography isn’t about documenting the world as it is, but what it could be through our personal interpretation of reality. To photograph the soul is to photograph from within.
What Is the Soul?
To understand how to photograph the soul, we need to look inward. The soul, in many ways, is our internal reflection of life—the divine spark within the body that moves, feels, and acts.
As a street photographer, I walk the world photographing strangers, capturing candid moments. But I’ve realized that the photographs we make become reflections of our internal state of being. They show how we interpret reality. They reveal our spirit.
Plato’s Three-Tier Soul
Plato described the soul as having three parts:
Reason (Logos) – The mind that seeks truth and wisdom.
Spirit (Thumos) – The heart, courage, and honor that drive us to move.
Appetite (Epithumia) – The gut, the body’s desires for pleasure and survival.
The goal is harmony between these three—to strive toward the divine. To live like a demigod, balancing reason, spirit, and appetite, until the soul becomes purified through courage and wisdom.
Thumos Maxing
On the streets, I focus on Thumos—that spiritedness within. I disregard reason and desire and go full force with courage. Street photography requires it. It’s not a mental act—it’s physical, spiritual, instinctive.
Photography is life on the front lines. Your camera is the sword. The street is the arena. Move your body. Feel the rhythm of the world. Photograph with fire.
“Pressing the shutter is saying yes to life.”
When you photograph from Thumos, you stop fearing death—you accept it. Through that acceptance comes abundance, vitality, and courage.
Body and Soul
The body reflects the soul. A strong body equals a strong soul. When your body is vital and full of energy, your photography mirrors that vitality.
Think of Caravaggio’s Saint Jerome—hunched, decaying, disconnected from the body. Now contrast that with the Greek hero—muscular, radiant, full of life. That’s the spirit I’m after.
Champion the physical world. Treat your body as the vessel for the divine. Through vitality comes curiosity, and through curiosity, creation.
Photograph Through Instinct
Don’t overthink. Don’t wait for inspiration. Motivation = Movere = To Move.
Motivation comes from movement—not from sitting still, scrolling, or waiting for a spark. Photography is physical. Walk, observe, breathe, and shoot. The streets are your meditation.
The goal is to photograph from pure instinct—to shut off the rational mind and let the daemon guide you.
Release Your Daemon
Every artist has a daemon—a divine inner voice, a spiritual instinct that whispers: Go. Now. Shoot.
When I’m on the street, I feel Jesus Christ on my left shoulder and Saint Michael the Archangel on my right. That’s my daemon guiding me through the chaos of the city.
“The street is the arena. Light is the medium. The daemon is the brush.”
Shoot with courage. Shoot with instinct. Shoot with spirit.
The Metaphysics of Photography
The word photography comes from:
Phos (φως) – Light
Graphei (γραφει) – Writing or drawing
We’re literally drawing with light.
Aristotle’s Four Causes (Applied to Photography)
Material Cause – The camera, lens, sensor, light.
Formal Cause – The frame, composition, and order you bring to chaos.
Efficient Cause – You, the photographer, pressing the shutter.
Final Cause (Telos) – The purpose: to affirm life through beauty.
The ultimate purpose is autotelic—photography for its own sake. Not for fame, not for recognition—just for love of the act itself.
“You can’t live forever, but at least you can make a photograph.”
Light and Thumos
Follow the light. Light is Thumos. It’s energy, vitality, courage.
Sunlight literally charges the soul. It’s physiological and spiritual power—the fire that fuels motion, testosterone, curiosity, and joy. Light becomes both subject and medium, the divine connector between the physical and the eternal.
“You can never make the same photograph twice, because the light is never the same.”
Photography is the art of chasing that impermanent beauty.
Photographing the Soul
To photograph the soul is to live courageously. It’s to engage with humanity and reflect the world through your own divine lens. It’s not about documentation—it’s about creation. It’s about transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary.
When you photograph with instinct, with Thumos, you create from the purest part of your being. Each frame becomes a mirror of your internal fire.
Final Word
Photography has nothing to do with photography. It has everything to do with how you engage with life—how you move, how you see, how you love.
Follow the light. Move with courage. Release your daemon. The street is the arena. Light is your guide. The soul is your weapon.
Harvest Moon, how You come so soon. Autumn is here — in spring, You will bloom. A pawpaw tree sits beneath me, rooted in soil, but with dead leaves.
With time, I will find the reason why. Everything feels aligned. I don’t have any question— just thanksgiving for what You’re bringing.
The season changes, super moon so bright— new beginnings. When the tree bears fruit, perhaps then I’ll know. But for now I go into winter, awaiting the snow. I think for now, I’ll just let life flow.
Like the fountain in the center of the park that I circle each day— walking in circles, but always winding up back in the same place.
You can take a tree from the soil and repot it in the garden, planted in the spring, hoping that the roots harden. Yet in the end, despite the fruit it bears, the leaves will shed once again, and the tree will stand bare.
For no tree can bear fruit here forever. Its roots will rot, and will perish altogether. But like these trees, we too bear good fruits. Through spreading love, we can dim the doom.
And through love, we become one with the source of all things— You won’t find this in diamonds or fancy rings.
You were rooted in soil, tending the land. Followed me into the garden, gift in hand. A tree that appears when the moon’s so bright, reminds me to follow the light.
So I’ll just lay under this tree and listen as the birds sing. I’ll dance and I’ll play, forgetting everything. For we know nothing, though we think we really do. Everything may seem like it’s changing— but there’s always been You, Harvest Moon.
Enter the stream of becoming. Everything completely open and free to browse. All photos free to download and use however you want. Hopefully this archive can serve as a learning tool for you to see how I’ve been shooting over the past three years through experimentation, failure, and consistency through shooting every single day for over 1000 days of street photography-
What’s poppin, people? It’s Dante. This morning I’m thinking about this funny notion of being a visual storyteller as a photographer — and why I think it’s important to avoid this mindset in street photography.
Street Photography ≠ Storytelling
Street photography, to me, is very separate from this idea of storytelling or photojournalism. I think a lot of photographers take themselves too seriously. It’s kind of a funny thing — the whole “put on your photography hat, hang the camera around your neck, wipe down the lens, and head out to tell some visual stories” routine.
You hear things like:
“I hope to document the youth.” “I want to tell the story of what it’s like to live in this neighborhood.”
That’s fine — but often, those kinds of projects end up feeling contrived, constrained, and ultimately mediocre. The photos start to lose their soul. They become lackluster because the photographer is trapped inside a narrative framework instead of chasing truth through instinct.
The Power of the Single Image
I’m interested in making strong photographs — not in telling stories. Street photography, to me, isn’t about what is, but about what could be.
Rather than depicting reality for what it is, we depict reality for what it could or should be through our own interpretation. That’s what separates street photography from photojournalism.
When you box yourself into the need to “tell the truth,” you strip away imagination — and that limits your creative freedom. It limits your ability to create something that transcends mere documentation.
Stop Taking Yourself So Seriously
Honestly, I think this obsession with being a “visual storyteller” — thinking your photography is going to change the world — is a foolish way forward. Yes, our photos have meaning. Yes, we document the world around us. And sure, our work might influence how people see a particular place in the future.
But that doesn’t mean we should get caught up in grandiosity. Photography should be selfish — something you do because you love it. It should be fun, not a burden. Not a chore. Not something to inflate your ego with.
A Form of Philosophical Commentary
You could say that street photography is a kind of social commentary or philosophical reflection on the world. Through our cameras, we’re observing, interpreting, and expressing our view of reality — not chasing objectivity.
Street photography is subjective by nature. It’s personal. And that’s what makes it powerful.
At the end of the day, forget about being a “visual storyteller.” Just go out, walk, and make photographs that move you — not because they explain the world, but because they express how you see it.
What’s poppin’, people? It’s Dante. Today we’re diving into why black and white street photography will change how you see the world.
For the past three years, I’ve been seeing life differently through the act of making black and white photographs—and it’s truly transformed how I see everyday life. When I’m out there on the street, I’m not necessarily trying to photograph what life is, but what life could be—through the art of abstracting reality.
From Color to Monochrome
In the beginning, I photographed everything in color. I used to shoot RAW files because that’s simply what the camera produced, not because I made an intentional creative choice. My workflow was complex, and color was just the default.
But then I made a shift. Now, I shoot small JPEG files with high-contrast black and white baked into my camera. No editing. No Lightroom. What the camera sees is what I get.
“By building my process into the camera, I made black and white a conscious choice.”
This shift stripped photography down to its essence—light and shadow. The word photography comes from the Greek phos (light) and graphé (writing). Black and white returns us to that essence: writing with light.
From Documenting the External to Revealing the Internal
In the past, I documented the world for what it was—external reality. Now, I photograph the internal. My perception, emotion, and intuition drive the image.
“I’m not photographing facts anymore—I’m photographing my soul.”
This process isn’t about rational control but about photographing from the gut. By stripping down to monochrome, I can focus on form, gesture, and feeling—the purest expressions of life.
Seeing Beyond Reality
When I look through my Ricoh GR’s LCD screen and see the world in black and white, it feels like I’m seeing beyond the veil.
“Color shows the world as it is. Black and white reveals what the world means.”
It crushes the distractions. It shows what’s essential in light and hides what doesn’t matter in shadow. Through black and white, I see patterns, shapes, human behavior, and emotion with greater intensity. It’s not about documentation anymore—it’s about interpretation.
“What you see isn’t what you get. What you get is what you didn’t see.”
This workflow keeps me fast, spontaneous, and prolific. By importing thousands of photos at lightning speed, I spend more time shooting than editing.
“The faster the process, the more alive the photography becomes.”
Quantity leads to quality. Through repetition and discipline, I’ve produced more meaningful work than ever before.
Cloudy Days Are a Gift
Color photography depends on light conditions. Black and white doesn’t. Overcast skies, rain, or harsh daylight—all become opportunities.
“Cloudy days act as nature’s diffuser.”
Rain, reflections, and textures become expressive tools. Every condition is photographable. I’m no longer waiting for golden hour—I photograph all day, every day.
“I’m no longer on the hunt for my next best photo. I know that my next photo is my best photo.”
Photography as Becoming
Black and white photography has taught me that art is not about mastery—it’s about becoming. It’s about change, evolution, and experimentation.
“You cannot make the same photograph twice.”
Every day on the street offers new possibilities. Each photograph becomes a sketch, a charcoal drawing on the page—raw, expressive, immediate.
“Using black and white returns you to the childlike state of play.”
By giving yourself creative constraints—one camera, one lens, one vision—you gain freedom. Constraint breeds creativity.
Black and White Is Freedom
By removing color, I’ve removed perfectionism. Now I embrace play, spontaneity, and imperfection. Each photo is a sketch of my perception, a visual diary of my soul.
“Black and white photography is freedom.”
It’s allowed me to photograph more, think less, and see deeper. Even in mundane moments, I can find form, emotion, and life. It’s transformed not only how I photograph—but how I see.
Final Thoughts
By returning to black and white, I’ve returned to the essence of photography—light and shadow, form and feeling, intuition and soul. It’s changed the way I see the world and how I live within it.
“See beyond the surface. Photograph what you feel, not just what you see.”
If this philosophy resonates with you, visit dantesisofo.com to explore my guides and free eBooks:
The Ultimate Ricoh GR Street Photography Guide
Mastering Layering in Street Photography
Contact Sheets: Behind the Scenes of My Process
Black and white photography has simplified my workflow, freed my mind, and made me fall in love with photography again. It’s not about control—it’s about becoming.
The carnivore diet challenges nearly every nutritional guideline established in modern society. In The Carnivore Diet, Dr. Shawn Baker — an orthopedic surgeon and world-record-holding athlete — argues that the human body can not only survive but thrive on a diet composed entirely of animal products. The book is both a manifesto against modern processed nutrition and a scientific defense of simplicity: meat, salt, and water.
The Central Thesis
Dr. Baker’s core idea is direct yet radical:
“Human beings are designed to eat meat, and when we return to our ancestral diet, we regain health, vitality, and strength.”
Baker believes that plant-based and carbohydrate-heavy diets are largely responsible for modern disease. His approach removes all plant foods — including fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes — and instead promotes an exclusive diet of animal products. He insists that this way of eating aligns with human evolution and biology.
Evolutionary Foundation
Baker grounds his argument in anthropology and evolutionary biology. For most of human history, our ancestors were hunters who relied heavily on meat and fat for energy. The agricultural revolution, he argues, marked a turning point where humans began to suffer from new diseases — tooth decay, obesity, and chronic inflammation — caused by grains and plant-based foods.
He writes that the modern obsession with carbohydrates and processed foods has disconnected us from our primal design. Returning to a diet of animal foods, he claims, is the most natural and efficient way to eat.
The Problem with the Modern Diet
Baker criticizes the “Standard American Diet” for being overly complex, full of processed ingredients, sugars, and anti-nutrients from plants. He attributes most modern health issues — from obesity to depression — to the following:
Excess carbohydrates and sugars
Industrial seed oils
Nutrient deficiencies caused by low bioavailability
Overreliance on flawed dietary guidelines
He emphasizes that eliminating plant-based foods often resolves gut issues, autoimmune problems, and chronic inflammation by giving the body a chance to reset.
The Simplicity of Meat
The beauty of the carnivore diet, according to Baker, lies in its simplicity. There are no calories to count, no macros to track — just eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full. The diet typically includes:
Beef (the foundation)
Lamb, pork, chicken, and fish
Eggs and some dairy (optional)
Salt and water as the only essentials
Baker describes this as a dietary “reset,” a way to simplify nutrition and allow the body to heal. Over time, many people report improved digestion, increased energy, reduced joint pain, and better mental clarity.
Common Objections
Baker addresses common criticisms throughout the book:
“What about fiber?” He argues that the human body doesn’t require dietary fiber to maintain gut health. In fact, removing plant fiber often alleviates bloating and IBS.
“What about vitamins from plants?” He claims that meat provides highly bioavailable nutrients in forms the body can absorb efficiently. Organ meats, in particular, are nutrient powerhouses.
“Won’t cholesterol increase?” Baker challenges the traditional link between dietary cholesterol and heart disease, arguing that inflammation and processed foods are the true culprits.
“Isn’t this diet too restrictive?” He contends that simplicity brings freedom — fewer cravings, less decision fatigue, and a more intuitive relationship with food.
Benefits of the Carnivore Diet
Baker presents numerous reported benefits from those who follow this way of eating, including:
Fat loss and metabolic health
Reduction in inflammation and autoimmune symptoms
Improved mental clarity and mood
Enhanced athletic recovery and performance
Stabilized blood sugar and hormonal balance
Many of these results are anecdotal, but Baker supports them with data from thousands of participants in carnivore communities who report similar outcomes.
Potential Risks and Critiques
Despite its appeal, The Carnivore Diet is not without controversy. Critics raise legitimate concerns:
Lack of long-term scientific data supporting all-meat diets
Risks for those with pre-existing kidney or heart conditions
Overreliance on anecdotal evidence rather than controlled studies
Even Baker admits that the carnivore diet may not be ideal for everyone, but argues that it is a powerful elimination tool to identify food sensitivities and reclaim metabolic health.
Practical Guidance
Dr. Baker provides a basic framework for starting:
Eat only animal foods — meat, fish, eggs, salt, and water.
Avoid all plants, sugars, and processed foods.
Eat until full, don’t restrict calories.
Expect an adaptation phase — fatigue, cravings, or digestive shifts may occur.
Stay consistent for 30–90 days before evaluating results.
He emphasizes self-experimentation and listening to one’s body rather than blindly following any authority — including himself.
Strengths of the Book
Clarity and conviction — Baker writes with purpose and confidence.
Simplicity — no fluff, just actionable ideas.
Inspiration through results — testimonials and case studies make the concept accessible.
Challenge to nutritional orthodoxy — it questions long-standing beliefs about diet and health.
Weaknesses and Limitations
Lack of robust peer-reviewed data — many claims are based on correlation, not causation.
Limited diversity of diet — the approach may be unsustainable for many.
Potential for social isolation — eating only meat can be difficult in modern contexts.
Final Thoughts
The Carnivore Diet is more than a book about food — it’s a call to rethink how we approach health and simplicity. Baker’s philosophy reflects a primal return to essentials, a rejection of the processed world in favor of ancestral strength. Whether one adopts the diet fully or not, his message challenges readers to question everything they’ve been told about nutrition.
“Don’t fear meat. Fear modernity.”
Key Takeaways
Simplicity is strength — meat, salt, and water can sustain life.
Modern nutrition may be overcomplicated — many chronic illnesses stem from what we add, not what we remove.
Self-experimentation is essential — everyone must test what truly works for their body.
Question authority — the most radical act in modern nutrition may simply be eating steak.
The term avant-garde comes from French, where it literally means “advance guard” or “vanguard” — referring to the troops that move ahead of the main army formation.
French Components:
avant → “before,” “in front of”
From Old French, descending (via Vulgar Latin) from abante (ab “from” + ante “before”).
garde → “guard,” “watch,” “custody”
From Old French garder (“to keep, protect, watch over”) and the noun garde (“watch, guard, ward”).
Literal military sense: In English, avant-garde was first used between the 15th and 18th centuries to describe the forward part of an army. Earliest recorded usage: around 1470–1485, directly borrowed from French.
The metaphorical transformation of avant-garde — from a military term to one describing pioneers or innovators in art and culture — began in 19th-century France.
Henri de Saint-Simon, a French social theorist, was one of the first to apply the term to artists.
He described them as the avant-garde of society, leading humanity through creativity and moral innovation.
By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the term became firmly associated with:
Experimental, radical art movements (e.g., Dada, Futurism, Surrealism)
Innovators who challenged convention and pushed artistic, social, and political boundaries.
Avant-garde(adj./noun) — Boldly experimental or innovative; pushing the boundaries of accepted ideas, forms, or conventions in pursuit of new expression.
From its roots in warfare to its adoption by artists, avant-garde captures the spirit of those who lead the way into the unknown, daring to create what has never been seen before.
What’s poppin, people? It’s Dante. Currently on the streets of Philadelphia, making some photos of these exposed bricks beyond this wall here. I don’t know — sometimes I just wander these unfamiliar routes, drift down alleyways, and find myself lost, admiring the imperfections of the city. The gritty nature of urban environments excites me.
Today’s thought is about wabi sabi street photography — the Japanese philosophy centered around impermanence and imperfection. I find that the imperfections are perfection.
Think about it: we are flesh. We cut, we bleed. We feel sorrow, pain, and greed. We lust for the flesh of others. We are imperfect in our design — but that’s what makes us divine.
It’s important to remind ourselves that we will, and must, die. And one powerful thought I always come back to is this:
Maybe you can’t live forever — but at least you can make a photograph.
We’re flesh, bound by gravity, here on this earth temporarily. So maybe try to make photographs that evoke that feeling — the essence of imperfection and impermanence. Don’t always chase the hustle and bustle, the crowds, or the perfectly layered compositions.
Sometimes, just get lost in the city’s quiet moments — in the cracks of the wall, the chipped paint, the worn bricks. In the imperfections of people — their gestures, their flaws, their beauty.
I’m not perfect. You’re not perfect. And that’s what makes life so perfect in a way. Maybe try to evoke that in a photograph.
What’s poppin’, people? It’s Dante. Today, we’re diving into something that’s shaped every part of my creative process: health, vitality, and movement. Street photography isn’t just a visual art—it’s a physical act of walking, observing, and engaging with the world. And great photography, like great art, stems from a foundation of vitality.
Vitality Fuels Creativity
Health and fitness form the bedrock of my day. I move early, sleep deep, and eat clean. When your body is alive with energy, creativity overflows naturally.
“The stronger you become, the more you see.”
The Four Pillars
Sleep
Sun
Meat
Movement
Simple foundations. Infinite results.
Sleep: Where Real Power Begins
I go to sleep early—7 to 9 PM—and rise with the sun around 4 to 5 AM. That silence before dawn? That’s sacred time. It’s when I make videos, sequence photos, and reflect before the world wakes up.
“When in doubt, just go to sleep.”
8–12 hours of deep sleep fuels your recovery.
Real energy doesn’t come from caffeine—it comes from rest.
Early mornings bring clarity and creative flow.
Morning Ritual
Kendama for hand-eye coordination
Calligraphy or sequencing prints on the iPad
Espresso and sunlight
A slow, calm entry into the day
When sunlight hits your eyes in the morning, your circadian rhythm syncs. You’ll sleep better, think clearer, and feel alive.
Sunlight: The Source of Energy
We are like plants—give yourself sunlight and water, and watch how you grow.
“Plug yourself into the ultimate charger: the sun.”
Why It Matters
Boosts testosterone and mood
Sets your circadian rhythm
Provides Vitamin D
Deepens your spiritual connection
My ritual? Barefoot shoes, no shirt, walks along the river. Standing in sunlight connects me to the earth and fills me with vitality.
Align with Nature
Take off your shoes. Feel the ground. Walk in the park, touch the earth, and reconnect with the rhythm of life. Modern living boxes us in—cars, offices, screens—but life exists outside the box.
“To be inside is where souls go to die.”
When you’re outside, walking under the sun, fasting, and living simply, you exist outside the passage of time.
Fasting
I eat one meal a day—a feast in the evening. Fasting sharpens focus and strengthens the mind-body connection. It eliminates decision fatigue and keeps intuition clear.
“When you eat less, you feel more alive.”
Strength: The Duty of Man
Why lift weights? Because strength is virtue. A strong body builds a strong mind, which creates strong art.
My Training Routine
Farmer’s Walks
Pull-Ups, Push-Ups, Dips
Pistol Squats
10–15 minutes daily
Ashtanga Yoga for mobility and discipline
I train for art, not vanity. Each rep strengthens posture, core, and presence—qualities that directly improve my street photography.
Ashtanga Yoga: Repetition and Flow
Ashtanga is discipline in motion. Every day, I repeat the same sequence, stretching deeper, breathing fuller, and pushing limits.
Street photography is the same—daily practice, repetition, and consistency.
“Yoga is the perfect mirror for photography—discipline, repetition, and flow.”
Barefoot Philosophy: Vibram FiveFingers EL-X Knit
These shoes changed my life. Wearing them slows me down, connects me to the ground, and improves awareness.
“The slower you walk, the more you see.”
Benefits
Strengthens posture, legs, and spine
Improves balance and sensory awareness
Builds monk-like discipline through 30,000 steps/day
Cultivates freedom and simplicity
Spartans trained barefoot. Simplicity is strength. I wear Vibrams every day—paired with a weighted vest for primal strength.
Don’t Sit — Movement Is Life
Challenge yourself: Go one full day without sitting down.
When I sit, my body shuts down. Standing and walking keep the body firing on all cylinders.
“Sitting is for the weak. Standing is for the strong.”
Stand on buses.
Use a standing desk.
March through your day with vitality.
Reject the sedentary lifestyle and live on your feet.
Jogging Is Unhealthy
Jogging is repetitive impact—it rattles your bones and destroys joints. Every runner I’ve met has knee pain or surgery scars.
Better Cardio Options
Uphill sprints
Boxing or heavy bag training
Walking (30,000 steps/day)
“Jogging is just the rattling of bones.”
The Carnivore Path
I’ve been on the carnivore diet for years—100% animal-based. It’s the ultimate way to simplify life and maximize vitality.
What I Eat
Grass-fed ribeye or ground beef
Butter, ghee, beef tallow
Pasture-raised eggs
Raw cheese & milk
Kimchi, honey, Topo Chico
Black coffee
“Red meat, salt, water, and sunlight. That’s it.”
Why It Works
Zero cravings
No brain fog
Perfect focus and stamina
Inexpensive and sustainable ($5–10/day)
I buy my beef in bulk from an Amish farm—half a cow, vacuum-sealed, stored in a deep freezer. Dinner is 3 pounds of burgers with butter and salt. Simple, primal, perfect.
3 pounds of ground beef (pre-formed into quarter-pound patties)
Slices of butter (one per patty)
Maldon sea salt flakes
Optional: eggs (for sunny side up)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 450°F.
Place burger patties on a wire rack set over a baking sheet.
Top each patty with a slice of butter.
Bake for 15 minutes.
While burgers cook, fry a few sunny-side-up eggs if desired.
Season with Maldon sea salt flakes.
Stack eggs on burgers, feast, and enjoy.
The Feast
I don’t eat breakfast. I don’t eat lunch. I fast throughout the entire day, saving my energy and focus for what matters most: life and photography. Then, at the end of the day, I feast.
Each burger patty = ¼ pound
Total = 3 pounds of red meat in one sitting
One meal a day. Every day.
The Benefits
Three years on this regimen and here’s what it’s given me:
Strength – I’ve become extremely jacked.
Health – My body feels clean, powerful, and efficient.
Mental Clarity – No brain fog, no crashes, no cravings.
Energy – I wake up with abundance, never lethargic.
The Hack
Here’s the real hack: buy in bulk.
Contact your local butcher or farmer.
Request 3-pound packs, pre-sliced into quarter-pound patties.
Stock up with a deep freezer.
Stay prepared all winter—always have meat on hand.
Paradise
This is paradise for me:
Three pounds of red meat.
Butter melting into each patty.
A couple of sunny-side-up eggs on top.
Nothing else.
One meal a day, three years running. Simplicity. Clarity. Power.
It’s not just food. It’s fuel for photography. It’s the ultimate street photography meal.
No Alcohol — Clarity Over Confusion
Alcohol poisons clarity. It dulls the mind and ruins sleep.
“If someone offers you a drink, tell them it’s against your religion.”
Choose coherence over confusion. Drinking is normalized self-sabotage—there’s no joy in poisoning your body for social acceptance.
The Health Hive Mind
Corporate food is a lie. Cheerios marketed as “heart-healthy” is the perfect example of the hive mind at work.
Think for Yourself
Person A: 2000 calories of Cheerios
Person B: 2000 calories of beef Who’s healthier? The answer is obvious.
Corporations push processed foods for profit. Real health is found in animal-based, whole foods and critical thinking.
“Leave the colony. Eat what nature intended.”
Treat Your Body Like Art
You are both the sculptor and the sculpture. A strong, capable body is a reflection of a strong soul.
“It’s more virtuous to flex your physique than a Lamborghini.”
Your body is sacred. Build it with the same care you give your art.
Anti-Anti-Social: Choose Presence
No AirPods in public. Be aware, smile, and engage with people.
“Be human first, photographer second.”
Street photography thrives on connection. The more present you are, the more alive your photos become.
Visit an Elevated Surface Every Day
Find a hill, a rooftop, or a river overlook. Look toward the horizon and remember: the world is vast, open, and full of possibility.
“When you can see the horizon, life feels endless.”
Perspective resets the mind. Start your day from above and let gratitude ground you.
Final Thoughts
Health is wealth. No material possession compares to vitality. When your body thrives, your creativity flourishes.
Sleep deep
Soak in the sun
Eat red meat
Walk 30,000 steps
Train daily
Fast often
Engage with life
“Vitality fuels creativity. Walk the streets with purpose.”
What’s poppin, people? It’s Dante. Out here by City Hall in Philadelphia, and man — what a beautiful world. The light, the reflections, the movement of people — everything around me feels alive. And that’s what I want to talk about today: falling in love with life through street photography.
The Art of Seeing and Feeling
As a street photographer, the real goal isn’t just to capture the decisive moment — it’s to feel it. Each morning is a new opportunity to fall in love with the streets, the sounds, the air, and the rhythm of the day.
Photography, at its best, is about recognition — recognizing that every detail, no matter how mundane, carries meaning. The way the light hits the pavement, the way the wind brushes your skin, the sound of footsteps echoing through the city — these are all small miracles we often overlook.
Thriving in the Mundane
When we learn to thrive in the mundane, every moment becomes extraordinary. Even watching a tree sway in the wind can be enough to fill you with enthusiasm for the day. That’s when photography transforms — when it’s no longer about chasing something interesting, but about seeing the interesting everywhere.
This practice turns walking with your camera into a form of meditation — an act of presence, gratitude, and wonder.
What You Feel Is What You Photograph
We often obsess over the technical side — composition, timing, framing — but photography begins long before the shutter is pressed. The energy you bring into the streets reflects back in your images. If you walk with love, curiosity, and playfulness, your photos will radiate those same qualities.
What you put in is what you get out.
Gratitude as a Way of Seeing
To photograph life well, you must first appreciate it. If you can wake up each morning and remind yourself that any moment could be your last, then every second becomes rich with meaning. Gratitude is the foundation of vision — it opens your eyes to the abundance that’s already here.
Through gratitude, photography becomes more than an art — it becomes a form of prayer, a celebration of existence.
Play and Possibility
Always go out with the spirit of play. Don’t take life too seriously. When you pick up your camera, remember — it’s like a superpower. With it, anything becomes possible. You can shape how the world is remembered. You can share what it feels like to be alive.
That, to me, is the heart of street photography: falling in love with life, again and again, one frame at a time.
Keywords: street photography mindset, love of life, gratitude, mindfulness, finding beauty in the mundane, Philadelphia street photography
What’s poppin, people? It’s Dante. Walking underground here in Philadelphia — yeah, we’re the kings of the underground. Today I’ve been thinking about something we often overlook: the sheer novelty of photography.
Photography Is Still in Its Infancy
Photography is only about 186 years old — the first known photo was taken around 1826. Compare that to painting, which has existed for roughly 45,000 years. That’s mind-blowing. We sometimes act like photography has been around forever, but it’s still a baby in the grand timeline of human creativity.
When you really think about that, it’s exciting. We’re living through the early stages of this art form. We’re still discovering what it can do — still pushing its boundaries, both technically and artistically.
The Human Need to Remember
Even as AI begins to change the landscape of art, I believe photography will remain deeply human. People will always want to take pictures — not for prestige or perfection, but to remember.
One of my favorite types of photography is the amateur snapshot — the family photos, the unposed moments, the pictures taken without any conscious thought about art. Those are sacred. They hold the raw beauty of being human — simple, honest memory.
Photography is, at its heart, the art of remembering.
The Power of the Present Moment
Even right now, I can turn on my camera, speak my thoughts freely, and share them instantly with someone across the world. That’s insane when you think about it. This ability — to record, to express, to connect instantly — is still one of the most novel human experiences ever invented.
And yet, because we do it so often, we forget how miraculous it really is.
There’s Still So Much to Explore
Sometimes people say, “Everything’s been done before.” But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Photography still has infinite room to grow — infinite new ways to see, express, and feel.
As long as there’s life, light, and curiosity, there’s something new to photograph.
So yeah, that’s the thought of the day — a little reminder that we’re still living in the early dawn of this medium. And that’s something worth celebrating.
Keywords: photography history, novelty of photography, why photography is new, AI and art, street photography reflections
What’s poppin, people? It’s Dante. Walking around the streets of Philly this morning, the rain is coming down and the sky’s a bit gray — but that’s exactly what I love. This kind of day reminds me of what street photography is all about: embracing chance, spontaneity, and the art of the unknown.
Finding Energy in the Unpredictable
For me, bad weather isn’t a reason to stay inside — it’s an invitation. Most people see a rainy day as gloomy. I see it as invigorating. The chill, the wet air, the reflections on the pavement — all of it awakens the senses. As an artist, I crave those moments that make me feel something. The rain, the cold, the discomfort — it’s all part of the experience.
When the weather turns unpredictable, it reminds me of life itself. You can’t control it, but you can respond to it. And that’s what photography is — our way of articulating the chaos, of putting order to what’s wild and unscripted.
There Are No Bad Days, Only Bad Clothing
I don’t believe in “good” or “bad” days — only how you prepare for them. Throw on the right layers, grab an umbrella, strap your camera to your wrist, and you’re good to go. If it gets heavy, throw the umbrella up and keep walking. What matters is your mindset: staying curious, open, and willing to engage with whatever the world throws at you.
The Art of Spontaneity
Street photography thrives on unpredictability. The best moments aren’t planned — they just happen. When you step into the rain, you step into a new world of possibilities. The light shifts, the reflections shimmer, people move differently. It’s not always sunny in Philadelphia — and that’s a blessing. Because sameness kills creativity. Rain brings life back into the frame.
If every day were the same, we’d make the same photographs. But when we push ourselves into new conditions — into rain, fog, or shadow — we see differently. We feel differently. That’s when our photography evolves.
Cultivating Inner Order Amid Outer Chaos
Rainy days remind me that the external world is beyond control. But internally, I can choose to be curious, grounded, and open. Through that, I can find clarity in chaos. Street photography becomes a mirror — the world may be wild, but the act of photographing it gives it form, meaning, and rhythm.
So I walk — through puddles, under umbrellas, with wet shoes and a clear mind. Because this is where I grow, where I see, and where I create.
Final Thought
Bad weather days aren’t something to avoid — they’re something to embrace. They remind us that beauty isn’t found in perfection or comfort, but in the unpredictable rhythm of life itself. Step out, shoot in the rain, and let the world surprise you.
