Street Notes: Photo Assignments and Workbook

I've been a big fan of Eric's and an avid follower of his blog ([...]) for several years, having initially stumbled upon it looking for gear reviews when buying my first camera. If you're not familiar, Eric is a street photographer and teacher, who, over the past five years or so, has used his blog as a medium to educate and empower aspiring “streettogs” by sharing the practical (technique-oriented) knowledge he has gained during his career, as well as distilled lessons from his studies of the masters of the genre and his own uplifting, well-considered musings on life and philosophy. If you haven’t already, do yourself a favor and check it out; it is a vast reservoir of insights that will accelerate your development as a photographer and one of the few “professional” blogs out there that isn’t constantly jamming ads or product links down your throat.I’ve done a couple photography workshops over the years, including PhotoUno’s introductory “Digital Photography I” in NYC (12 hours over six Saturdays for ~$600) and Eric Kim’s advanced “Discover Your Unique Voice in Street Photography” in LA (~24 hours over three days for ~$500). While I found each to be extremely valuable in my evolution as a photographer and would recommend either to anybody in a heartbeat, something I realized is that one of the best parts about attending workshops is that they simply force you to go out and shoot, because for me, sustaining that drive and inspiration to practice photography in my regular life is one of the biggest challenges I face as a non-professional photographer. Street Notes is the antidote to this all-too-common complaint. By providing a library of well-structured assignments designed by an experienced photographer/teacher, Street Notes essentially serves as an intermediate-to-advanced workshop-in-your-pocket for multiples less than what you’d pay for a live course. And, if used in conjunction with Eric’s blog, the only thing Street Notes does not provide versus the traditional workshop model is a live critique following assignment completion. Don’t get me wrong, nothing can ever replace the experience of a really good workshop or face-to-face critique, but for $20 Street Notes is worth every penny. Just chuck it in your camera bag (its well-made and can stand up to a beating) and any time you’re in need of motivation shoot, just bust it out and complete one of the assignments (and let the social media machine do its thing if you’re really driven by peer review).

I have read some reviews of Eric Kim's Notes series that complain about the price. They are missing the value.These little books are short in pages but deep in assignments that will stretch you. I have been shooting as a hobbyist since 1983 and professionally (on and off) since 1989. I would recommend this book for novice and experts alike. I have been focusing on street photography for a little more than a year now and this is fun, helpful and challenging.Each assignment is a little vignette about a skill, along with the philosophy behind it, and an opportunity to not only do the assignment, but write about it. The last bit is as important, if not more important, than the doing. You have to reflect on the photo assignment or exercise.I prefer the physical copy. If you decide to get the digital version, get a little notebook to put in your camera bag as you go out. To get the full value of this little booklet you need to interact with the assignments and have something to reflect on and look at as you continue.When I was a teenager learning to shoot, my dad would give me little assignment that helped me grow. At the same time, the school paper editor would give me assignments and I had to grow in that as well.This is not overpriced. This is a person offering value while earning a living offering great resources. I am not great at reviews but I had to say this is wonderful, useful, fun, and worth it.

The 1st bullet of the Amazon description says "Photography guide and journal". It is not a guide like you'd expect when paying $20 for a photography book. It does encourage you to use it as a journal, but, given its compact size, there's no where near enough room to write your detailed thoughts down. It would be helpful for those who aren't familiar with Eric Kim if the description spelled out that this is a workbook aimed at those who want to improve their skills in the area of street photography by doing a series of short/concise assignments, each meant to be completed in a few hours or a day.I really like how well this book doesn't waste a lot of words getting its concepts across. Its form factor really encourages you to keep this book and a separate notebook/journal with you anytime you are on the street with a camera in your position --- including your smartphone.One might feel the price is steep at $20, but, given the small production runs I can understand the pricing.As another reviewer mentioned, Eric Kim has a very good blog site where he gives out lots of information. Definitely worth a read. It would definitely help reading the site in conjunction with this book; but, the assignments in this journal doesn't require you to read the website. It is interesting to see that this book doesn't provide his website URL.

Kim is arguably the most enthusiastic street photography instructor on the planet and his love for the genre is truly infectious. This is an excellent book to improve your photography. It focuses on the most important aspect, which is how to approach and capture people you don't know. Anyone can take a sharp picture, yet not everyone can walk up to a stranger or group of people and take a candid shot within a foot or two of their face(s). This is where Eric Kim's book comes in and makes a big difference. It is a workshop that you can iterate through at your own pace and in any location you can think of. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in taking better images.

Street Notes is an excellent practical workbook, particularly for someone just starting out in Street Photography. There are also some long term projects in there such as shooting a specific set of gear for a year. For more experienced shooters it is also of tremendous value If you're going through a rut and just need some well guided inspiration to get you going again. Honestly this little book is so reasonably priced you can't go wrong. When you receive the book it is also apparent that a lot of care went into the packaging.