Photo Games is a participatory method of making and learning photography through play. The specific method and its game designs are original works by Achilles Nasios and the Hocus Photus Creative Network, developed since 2015.

How it started

“When I first read Vilém Flusser’s Towards a Philosophy of Photography thirty years ago, I could not imagine that his deep thoughts, presented with almost fairy-tale simplicity, would radically change how I understood photography. It is not thoughts that change things, but action. Philosophy proves its value only when it is put into practice.

Over years of studying the art of teaching, I saw a new way of teaching photography gradually emerge. Inspired by Flusser and by the pedagogy of Rudolf Steiner and Pär Ahlbom, I came to create the Photo Games”.

What the Photo Games are

Photo Games are creative games with simple rules, in which people photograph together and combine their images into collective artworks. No previous artistic experience is needed. Each game explores a different part of the photographic process, from the first encounter with a subject to the final form of the work. Some games focus on the experience of shooting, others on sharpening the eye for editing and sequencing. Together they help each participant understand the photographic process more deeply and develop a clear visual language.

Formats

Live, in person

PhotoGames: workshops designed as games, in which participants photograph under specific constraints, such as limited time or challenging lighting conditions, and their images come together into a single collective series. Live games are also played as participatory performances in front of an audience, in venues and public spaces.

Live, online

Inter-Games: played in real time during live webinars, bringing together participants from different places in a shared creative process.

Zen Games: a separate series of real-time games played during live webinars, each with its own rules and focus.

Online, over several months

e-PhotoGames: played on-line, usually over six months or more. Players from different countries respond to one another with images and co-create collective works across borders and building networks, without the need to travel.

Stories

Weekly online meetings in which each participant develops a complete visual proposal. Working on these proposals, we came to understand the theory behind photography: the importance of style, and how form reveals the core of substance.

In numbers

e-PhotoGames: 250+ games, 160+ photographers from 7 countries

Live PhotoGames: around 20 participatory performances in Greece, Cyprus and Sweden, with some 240 participants so far.

Watch

Videos of our live PhotoGame performances and online games are available on our YouTube channel: youtube.com/@hocusphotus

Who we are

Hocus Photus Creative Network is a non-profit organization based in Greece, creating initiatives around photography, poetry, art, and collective creativity.

We use photography as a starting point for play, encounter, and creation. Through photographic games, we engage with art in a direct and experiential way. Observation, chance, choice, and collaboration become part of a creative process in which everyone can participate.

We are interested not only in the image that emerges, but above all in the experience, the encounter, and everything that happens between people as the work takes shape.

Contact: hocus_photus_network@proton.me