Hi Geoff... thanks for response (and the kind words about my books).
I was actually expecting this from someone here. And I understand what you're saying. So here are some responses to consider about what I'm doing with Phoozl:
1. "Play" is an essential component of normal human development (non-human, too). We all play as children, but as time goes on we tend to push Play to the background. Although not completely. We still play racquetball at the gym, or Fantasy Football, or compete with colleagues to see who can make the shot of waded-up paper into the trash can. Play is always there under the surface, waiting for a chance to come out (in my world view anyway).
2. Play can be an excellent way to learn for some people or in some situations. There are lots of examples of teachers using Play to get students (including adults) motivated to learn. People seem to enjoy learning more when they're also having fun. Not in every case, but in many cases. Which is why I created an online game called "Photo IQ: What's Yours?" (on Phoozl). I'm not an accredited photo educator, but I contracted with one to produce the game's contents. And I can tell you that many photographers and photo enthusiasts have played that game and told me later that (A) it captivated them, and (B) they learned things they didn't know before about photography. They were learning while they were playing, which is music to my ears.
3. I absolutely consider photography to be an art (when that's the photographer's intent). And I'm no stranger to fine-art photography, having curated photo exhibitions, judged photo contests, bought fine-art photo prints, created and sold fine-art photo prints, yada, yada. So while my new site Phoozl might seem "lightweight" or "Play-Doh"ish to you or others currently without a lot of avenues for photography as an art to be displayed or viewed or discussed, that will be changing over time. The "Mission Blue" challenge was a first simple attempt at a low-tech version of doing this. There is more to come. But I will try to maintain a "Phun" attitude throughout.
4. I'm not anti-serious-photo. How could I be? I've spent 30+ years involved with the profession of photography. It's been a huge part of my life's work/career. That's a serious career with serious credentials and serious work behind me. But you know what? I haven't had this much fun with photography (working on Phoozl) as my fondest memories of first borrowing my father-in-law's Voigtländer range-finder and "playing" with it to see what it (and I) could do. Which was to create magic.
My goal now is to create some more of that magic but with a different vehicle. And let others share in that magic-creation in a new way that I think is pretty unique. We'll see how things evolve. But I appreciate your taking a look and giving your opinion. I'm listening.
