AIN'T NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT

Added on by Jason Lam.

The world isn’t going to end if you don’t become a millionaire

Your life doesn’t end if you don’t buy a giant house

Your friends don’t stop being your friends if you don’t have a fancy job title

Life doesn’t end if you don’t attain all the things you’re supposed to want

Focus on you

Focus on your craft

Focus on what you’ve got to contribute to the world

And when the world comes crashing down

Find peace in knowing that you gave yourself a chance

by Jason Lam

KEEP TRUSTING YOURSELF

Added on by Jason Lam.

Creating and putting your work out there is the greatest form of trust you can ever have for yourself. It is the ultimate testament. Leave nothing in the tank. Go for it. You might crash and burn. But you won't know until you try. At the end of the day, what matters most is that you keep stumbling forward no matter the self-doubt, no matter the hate, and no matter the rejection. Keep fighting. Keep creating. Keep trusting in yourself.

by Jason Lam

ACCEPT YOUR FLAWS

Added on by Jason Lam.

If you accept your flaws you can use that towards your art

Hide away from them and pretend like you’re ok, and you block yourself off from one of your greatest forms of authenticity

Because we all suffer, one way or another

What makes us unique is how we cope with it

Art is an outward expression of our willingness to survive and what we make of ourselves when things don’t quite go to plan

It’s a statement of our inherent strength

Our unifying truth

So share your story with the world

Because you are not alone in your endeavors

We're all afraid

by Jason Lam

THROWAWAYS

Added on by Jason Lam.

Some art projects are meant to be throwaways

You gotta get it out

Get it over with

So you can get to your real work

Get all the clever ideas out

The cheesy jokes

The trendy fads

Be done with it

And if you have the wherewithal

Keep on going when you’re out of ideas

Because that’s where the truth lies

Your truth

by Jason Lam

I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT THAT WAY BEFORE

Added on by Jason Lam.

Hopefully what I capture is not just someone looking into a camera, but someone who is looking for more. Yes. I am taking your picture in this very moment, but I’m also thinking about every year past this moment when looking back at this moment. What do you see? Someone who was brave? Or someone who was scared? There is no right answer, only what’s honest. And perhaps that’s what it is, that you allowed yourself to be seen. Not just by me. But by you. That’s a moment I want to help capture. Perhaps that’s what I do. I help you see you. I never thought about it that way before.

by Jason Lam

WHY WE LIKE GREAT ARTISTS

Added on by Jason Lam.

I think I figured out one reason why we like great artists.

We like great artists because they show us a part of ourselves that we have not been able to tap into yet.

By exposing the deepest parts of themselves, great aritsts, the ones we admire most, make us feel understood, less alone, and most importantly, they remind us that we, too, have it in us to tap into the deepest most parts of ourselves.

The question I then ask is, well, "Why does this even matter?"

I think the reason is because when operating in human society, it's easy to get lost playing a role. So much so, that we forget who we are. Artists bring us back to who we really are—our true nature. They remind us of the soul we have in all of us.

Great artists are like beacons in the night, emitting signals, reminding us of which direction to go.

I would like to be the light in the dark. To inspire you to be more than you are. To remind you that you are not alone. And ultimately, to never forget your true nature.

by Jason Lam

ONWARDS

Added on by Jason Lam.

For the past decade of my life, I’ve tried to craft this perfect image of a cool, stoic, black and white photographer. Ugh, just typing it out makes me want to puke. The reasoning behind it all was because I thought I needed to present myself in that manner in order to get work and build a good reputation. After all, many of the photographers I’ve looked up to seem to project this sort of mystical aura. They almost seem like gods who can create masterpiece after masterpiece, and here I am, just struggling to pull together a shoot, yet still trying to make it look like it’s all so easy. 

It’s not.

There are, in fact, many minor inconveniences about photography. You need to find the right subject. If you are shooting outdoors you need to hope and pray the weather is good. Before that, you need to find a location. And if you are going to shoot in a studio instead, well, you’re going to have to pay, and it can get quite expensive. People cancel last minute. And even if everything lines up, you might not be able to develop any chemistry with your subject to come up with good work. Lastly, some clients don’t pay. I remember all of them. 

But still, I’ve persisted with this cool… calm image. 

It’s fake. 

At least, I think my intentions are real. No, my intentions are very real. I have absolutely no other desire but to create raw, honest, and timeless work. Outside of the basic well-being of myself and those around me, that’s all I really want to do in my life. I just want to create, and I want to create at the highest level possible. And I guess, I’m coming to the realization that continuing as this cool calm black and white figure that I’ve created for myself is not the way.

The way forward is to continue as authentically me as possible, and that means not limiting myself to an image crafted by a younger, more naive version of me. 

I need to grow.

Seems to be the case, huh? No matter how much you learn, how much you grow, and how many damn lessons life has thrown at you. There’s still more. 

So much more. 

Moving forward, I will continue creating from the truest parts of me. I will not limit myself to this image I’ve crafted. I will let life be a little more messy. I will let my authenticity express its full self, and accept it in every form that it takes.

Onwards.

by Jason Lam

EVERYBODY HAS AN OPINION

Added on by Jason Lam.

Everybody has an opinion

But not everybody creates

Your job is to create

Let everybody else decide whether they like it or not

by Jason Lam

YOUR WAY, IS THE WAY

Added on by Jason Lam.

For most of my artistic career, I always felt like there was something I was missing.

A secret.

A technique I have yet to learn to get me the phenomenal results that would set me apart from everyone else in the world.

But then I reached a point where I had to acknowledge the fact that perhaps I wasn’t missing anything.

That my way was the way.

And that was when I set myself free.

To create whatever I wanted, however I wanted.

by Jason Lam

TO BE WITH YOU

Added on by Jason Lam.

To be with you is like drinking coffee on a foggy day

Like finding a twenty-dollar bill under the couch

Like getting a venti vanilla frappuccino, when you only ordered a grande

To be with you it almost feels like it’s Sunday, but every day

Sunshine,

A perfectly toasted ham and cheese croissant,

And the softest patch of grass I’ve ever laid on in my life

To be with you is like seeing a new leaf sprouting out of my monstera

Like kissing a frog… wait—

Like kissing…

Just kissing!

You know, those soft sensual kisses that are just the right amount of pressure

Like, not too much, but not too little either

And maybe just the right amount of chapstick leftover, in case your lips are also hella chap too

Cause that’s always a little bit gross

What was I talking about?

Oh yeah, to be with you is like meeting you for the first time every time—

Man, that’s hella cheesy  

To be with you

To be with you…

I just like to be with you

by Jason Lam

BE YOU AND OWN IT

Added on by Jason Lam.

“Be you and own it”

This was a piece of advice I received about five years ago.

To this day, I still think back to it because I feel there’s a part of me that still hasn’t fully integrated what this piece of advice has to offer.

"Be you," I think I have that part down.

Owning it?

That’s a whole different animal.

That means to be proud. To stick your neck out. To put your name on the line. And not only to just shine a light but to keep shining despite the haters trying to put you out.

This isn’t easy. No wonder I haven’t owned it.

I noticed I still take the safe route.

Like there’s a deep part in me that says, "Don’t put yourself on the line. Create a brand and come up with a fancy logo, people will love it!"

But really it’s just a dinky little costume I don in the hopes that people will like me better without having to expose too many parts of myself.

I need to be me. I need to own it.

by Jason Lam

MOTIVATION IS LIKE A FLAME

Added on by Jason Lam.

Motivation is like a flame

Every once in a while you need to feed it

Otherwise, with no oxygen, no fuel, and no spark, it can die and be that much harder to get going again

If you ever end up getting going at all…

If you find that you’ve built a flame, find a way to keep it going

Shield it from the haters

Surround the flame with people who care for you and support you

Even go so far as protecting the flame against yourself

Because sometimes, we can be our own worst enemies

by Jason Lam

BEGIN ANYWHERE

Added on by Jason Lam.

When starting a new endeavor there can be so much anxiety about how to start. For good reason. We don’t want to waste time. We don’t want to be wrong. We definitely don’t want to embarrass ourselves. The problem, however, is this beginner’s anxiety can keep us frozen for way too long and we end up doing nothing.

A different approach would be to “Begin Anywhere”. Sure, maybe you don’t know how to begin, but you probably won’t know until you get started. So just get going. Accept that the first few steps may not be a straight path. Chances are you’ll be zig-zagging left and right and even making a couple of circles when you first take off. Then again, this can also be considered your opportunity to gather information and find out where the proper path is located.

With enough time, you might find that you are always beginning. You may also discover that there isn’t always a clearcut path, and sometimes you must create your own. Everything is an experiment. Maybe the secret to life is to simply begin, and to begin again.

by Jason Lam