AT A GLANCE
- Known for
- Close, energetic street photographs and one of the most widely read street photography blogs
- Works in
- Black and white and color
- Camera
- Ricoh GR and GR II; earlier a Leica and a Contax rangefinder on film
- Also
- Teacher of street photography workshops around the world since 2011
- Start with
- Street Photography: 50 Ways to Capture Better Shots of Ordinary Life (DEXT, 2015)
- Links
Eric Kim (born 1988) is an American street photographer, teacher and blogger. Born in San Francisco to a Korean-American family, he started his street photography blog in 2010 and has taught workshops around the world since 2011. He is known for working very close to people, often with a small Ricoh GR camera.
The story
The first time Eric Kim photographed a stranger, he was waiting at a bus stop. A man was reading a book while leaning on a pole. Kim liked how focused yet casual he looked. He wanted the picture but did not know how to approach him. So he simply walked close, slowly raised the camera to his eye and pressed the shutter. At that moment the man looked straight at him. “My body filled with adrenaline and I couldn’t contain my excitement,” he remembered in a 2011 interview for Leica’s blog.
Kim was born in San Francisco in 1988 and grew up in the Bay Area. At UCLA he first studied biology, then switched to sociology. As a student he co-founded a photo club there. In 2010 he started a blog to share the lessons he was learning, because he could find little advice about street photography.
After university he planned a different life. He had thought about a Ph.D. and a career as a professor, but took a corporate job instead. Then the company’s stock fell, and he was laid off along with about half of the staff. Looking back, he called it the best thing that happened to him. Now he had time to shoot, write and teach.
In 2011 he was already teaching workshops in Brighton and Switzerland. Over the next years he taught in many cities, including Tokyo and Dubai. In 2014 he curated a group exhibition of street photography from around the world, Street., at Gulf Photo Plus in Dubai.
In 2015, on Fifth Avenue in New York, he met an older woman and photographed her with his Ricoh GR. He kept taking pictures. Halfway through, she said “You’re crazy!” and started to laugh. He got only one frame of her laughing. He later called it one of his favorite photos.
The bus stop and Fifth Avenue are years apart. Yet in both moments a stranger reacts, and a picture becomes a meeting. That is still what he looks for. “Although it is a bit unnerving at times, I love the human connection that I am able to make with my subjects,” he says.
The work
- 1988Born in San Francisco, California
- 2008Makes early street photographs in Westwood as a UCLA student
- 2010Graduates from UCLA and starts his street photography blog
- 2011Begins teaching street photography workshops abroad
- 2014Curates the group exhibition Street. at Gulf Photo Plus, Dubai
- 2015Photographs the Laughing Lady on Fifth Avenue, New York
- 2015Publishes his first printed book, Street Photography: 50 Ways
- 2016Photographs in Tokyo with a Ricoh GR II during a workshop trip
Lessons
Walk closer. For his first photo of a stranger, Kim simply walked up, raised the camera slowly and pressed the shutter.
Keep shooting. With the Laughing Lady he took many frames. The laugh came only halfway through.
Keep your tools simple. He says he feels less burdened with one camera and one lens.
Try this: go out for one afternoon with one camera and one lens. When you see someone interesting, walk close, raise the camera slowly and keep shooting until the moment changes.
Gear
Kim has changed cameras many times and writes openly about it. He advises spending on experiences, not gear.
Canon DSLR: after a small Canon point-and-shoot he moved to a Canon Rebel XT and later a Canon 5D. He made one of his early street photographs, in 2008 as a UCLA student, with the Rebel XT and a 50mm f/1.8 lens.
Contax IIIa rangefinder: in 2011 he was shooting film on a World War II era Contax IIIa that he inherited from his grandfather, with a 50mm f/1.5 Carl Zeiss Sonnar lens.
Leica rangefinder with a 35mm lens: he bought a Leica M9, and in 2013 he said he was shooting film on a Leica with a single 35mm lens.
Ricoh GR compact camera: he made the Laughing Lady with a Ricoh GR in 2015. In Tokyo in 2016 he used a Ricoh GR II set to high-contrast black and white.
Books
Street Photography: 50 Ways to Capture Better Shots of Ordinary Life (DEXT, 2015). Kim’s first printed book, a 134-page paperback a little smaller than an iPad mini, so it fits in a camera bag. He distilled what he had learned into about 50 short principles: how to get over the fear of shooting in public, how to choose gear, how to chase the decisive moment and how to find your own style. It also includes insights from the street photographers Ludmilla Morais, Blake Andrews, Thomas Leuthard and Kramer O’Neill. A German edition, Straßenfotografie: 50 Tipps für den schnellen Einstieg, was published by dpunkt.verlag. Kim wrote it mainly for people who are new to street photography.
Street Notes (HAPTIC PRESS, 2016). A pocket-sized workbook that Kim made with Cindy Nguyen. It measures 3.5 x 5.5 inches, has 44 pages for notes and reflection and was printed in small batches in California. Inside are fifteen photography assignments that the two of them edited over two years, meant to build confidence and help you break out of your comfort zone. Kim calls it a “workshop in your pocket.” A good book for anyone who needs a small push to go out and shoot.
In his words
“In street photography, it is less about the image but more about the story behind it.”
“Korea is truly the street photographer’s dream paradise, as there are always a plethora of people on the streets and subways constantly interacting.”
“Although I started street photography with digital cameras, there is something truly magical about shooting with a film rangefinder.”
“Buy experiences, not gear.”
