When I consider street photography, I actually believe the factors that determine whether or not you’ll be successful have nothing to do with the formalities of making art such as your composition skills, layering techniques, use of light, observation skills, etc… Ultimately, I believe that it becomes this game of how insanely passionate one can be about life itself. I find that the most successful photographers are at the frontlines of life, exuding all their courage, and engaging with life at the fullest.
First and foremost, how much courage does it take you to make photographs? Maybe it’s better if you’re feeling a bit uneasy, or insecure about making that shot. It’s a good feeling to transcend your norms and to go beyond with your potential. The more courage you fuel yourself with through weightlifting, confrontation, chatting with strangers, traveling to new places, the better you will become as a photographer. There’s no amount of studying the masters or techniques that will help you in street photography. Courage is everything.
Your body is your soul
A random thought I had is about the soul. I believe that the soul is a combination of your mind and your body. Your body is perhaps a physical representation, or a holographic projection of your mind, memory, and life experience. Any degeneracy, drug use, alcohol, smoking, sugary foods, and any poor decision-making will be reflected on your soul, your body. Likewise, if you engage in weightlifting, eat red meat, embrace the sun, avoid processed foods, don’t consume junk, and don’t spend all day indoors, your soul will be reflected beautifully. Consider your gut-mind connection. Perhaps our brain isn’t the only source of intelligence, but in our stomachs, and our gut. I actually believe in the democratic body or soul and the ability for everybody and anybody to become beautiful by focusing on health first.
Also, consider the photographs you create as a reflection of your soul. What this means is, that your memories, your photos, your ideas and artwork all reflect who you are as an individual. Who you are is reflected in your photographs as an outward projection of your soul.
Strong body, strong mind, strong soul.
Beautiful body, beautiful mind, beautiful soul.
Beautiful soul, beautiful art.
Health is happiness
Everybody wants to be happy, right? When I think about happiness, I think about health first. Honestly, the more that I think about it, I believe that people become depressed in the winter because of the lack of sunlight. If you spend most of your time indoors, ultimately you will become sick because of this both physically and mentally. Ironically, we’ve become more afraid of the sun, wearing sunglasses, sunblock, and staying inside as a preference, as if it’s some sort of luxury. The truth is, the the more sunlight you expose yourself to, the happier you will become. Also, the more beautiful you will be because of those UV rays and vitamin D synthesizing with the cholesterol in your cells, giving you tan skin. Tan skin is objectively more beautiful because it’s a sign that you are outside and getting the proper sun necessary and doing the bare minimum to be a healthy human. Humans should spend the maximum amount of time possible in the outdoors, no matter the weather conditions.
Why are most people extremely pale in Philadelphia? Well, the only time people really go outside is to scurry to the different processed food vendors throughout the city during the lunch rush, and then quickly go back inside. I think food is also a big problem. I do not trust other people cooking for me. Also, it’s 10x more economical to simply make food at home. Just buy the lamb leg from the Costco business center and throw it in a slow cooker for eight hours.
Also, physical health is mental health. If you’re feeling depressed, just start weightlifting. The solution to all mental health problems derives within your physiology. Whether it’s the lack of the proper protein from red meat, sleep, sun exposure, or physical strength, your mental health will be reflected through your physical health. I believe that a lot of people suffer from mental health problems because they simply don’t go outside or walk around enough. Too much time on the social medias, Reddit, commenting on posts and interacting online, watching youtube videos or podcasts, and not enough time producing things that they actually care. Just turn the phone off after you eat and go to sleep.
Detach yourself from the outcome
It’s important to detach yourself from the outcome when you’re making art or doing anything really. I believe in the autotelic approach where I’m simply making pictures to make pictures. I just love the process! With anything that you do, perhaps this is a simple heuristic to adopt. By detaching yourself from the outcome or any sense of reward, you find joy in the work itself. The act of walking and moving my physical body through the world, and seizing each moment in the day, with my camera in hand, I really could care less if I come home with a “good” photo. This is not my goal, and this is not what keeps me interested in photography. By detaching myself and remaining lost in the chaos, and in the work itself, I continuously explore each day with endless curiosity.
At the end of the day, how curious can you be? How courageous can one be and exude in their lifetime?
These are more important questions to consider than whether or not you press the shutter at the right moment or line the composition up the way that you thought about it, or got somebody’s approval on a photo and they told you that you did a good job. We shouldn’t care about others opinions honestly. We should simply make pictures for ourselves, and be more selfish.
Strong artist, strong art
I’m starting to believe that the stronger the artist, the stronger the art. No more degenerate Basciats or Jackson Pollocks should be born into the world going forward. We don’t need art made from a state of depression or degeneracy anymore. What we need are stronger artists, creating stronger art. In terms of photography, this is a physical medium. You have to move your body through the world to make these photographs. You should be able to walk 30,000 steps each day with barefoot shoes on, climb mountains, and swim upstream to make photos. Similarly to putting in the daily reps on the streets with our photography, we must do this in the gym everyday. The stronger the artist, the stronger the art.