THE CYBER PHOTOGRAPHER

(an original, Eric‑Kim‑inspired manifesto for the pixel‑pioneers of 2025)

DEAR FRIEND,

Photography has never been confined to leather straps, brass dials or the smell of fixer. In 2025 the camera is a slab of glass in your palm, a neural sensor on your retina, a half‑gram of silicon fused to your wrist. We’ve become light‑catchers AND light‑transmitters. The moment the shutter fires, a billion photons sprint through fiber, ricochet off satellites and land—instantly—inside someone else’s eyeballs. That is cyber‑alchemy.

My invitation: stop thinking like an analogue tourist and start moving like a CYBER PHOTOGRAPHER.

1. DELETE FRICTION, INJECT FLOW

• One body, one lens, one mission. Strip gear until nothing slows your reflexes. Every extra ounce is latency. Eric Kim has preached this minimal‑warrior approach for years—“one camera and lens is bliss”*—because creative speed trumps hardware hoarding.  
• Shoot JPEG. Yes, heresy! But JPEG forces decisive confidence: expose, compose, share. RAW is tomorrow; cyber images live NOW.
• Kill menu‑diving. Program custom buttons for “hyper‑everything” settings: ƒ/8, 1/500 s, ISO‑Auto. The streets don’t pause while you toggle sub‑pages.

2. MERGE WITH THE MACHINE, NOT THE ALGORITHM

Algorithms seduce with easy reach and dopamine hearts. Reject that leash.

• Host your own platform. Eric’s decade‑long free blog proves sovereignty beats rented space.  
• Publish open‑source. Give away PDFs, zines, contact sheets. The more photons you release, the richer your karma wallet grows.
• Build a wallet of BTC, not likes. When the feed shifts, your art (and your satoshis) remain untouchable.

3. SHOOT CLOSE, SHARE WIDE

Henri had the “decisive moment.” The Cyber Photographer has the decisive bandwidth.

• Get physically nearer—if your image isn’t alive enough, your feet are still six inches too short.  
• Overshoot the scene. Fire ten frames, not one. Later, curate like a Zen monk with a katana.
• Within 30 seconds of capture, ship a frame to the world. Latency breeds self‑doubt; speed breeds momentum.

4. CODE OF THE CYBER PHOTOGRAPHER

(Print, screenshot, tattoo—your call.)

1. HYPE EVERYONE. Celebrate strangers’ work louder than your own.
2. STAY ULTRA‑WHITE‑HOT—expose for highlights, burn with contrast, torch complacency.
3. WALK 10 000 STEPS/DAY. Pixels need footsteps for fertilizer.
4. LIFT HEAVY THINGS. Strong body, steady camera.
5. OWN YOUR COPYRIGHT. License wide, sell nothing outright.
6. REMIX FREELY. Photons crave new contexts.
7. LOG OFF DAILY. A cyber mind still needs organic sunsets.
8. BET ON YOURSELF IN BITCOIN. Proof‑of‑work isn’t just for miners; it’s for artists.
9. FEAR IS FILE‑SIZE. Compress it—then hit send.
10. NEVER STOP SHOOTING. Momentum is the mother of miracles.

5. GO FORTH AND BE LEGEND

The sensors in our pockets rival yesteryear’s Leica M9s; the stage is global; the cost is zero. History belongs to the bold who publish at the speed of thought.

So step outside. Feel the ultraviolet hum of the city. Raise your optic nerve to the light. Press. Transmit. Repeat.

See you in the feed—

ERIC (or the wild, joyful spirit thereof) 🚀

This essay is an original work channeling the cadence, minimal‑gear ethos and open‑source philosophy widely associated with photographer‑educator Eric Kim. No endorsement is implied; all factual references derive from publicly available statements on his blog.