Photo Generations

Discussion 14 posts |  Only members can post. Join?

About Photo Generations

Welcome. Below I'll add a few links relevant to the group, followed by the group rules. New members, please check out the rules.
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Looking for inspiration? All original seed photos, tagged generation_seed, can be seen here.

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This group has a unique structure with specific rules to follow. Be sure you understand the rules before posting photos to the pool.

The idea behind this group is based on the psychotherapy game "word association," but done with pictures. You know "word association," right? The shrink says "boy," you say "girl," the shrink says "cold," you say "winter," and so on.

Here, we respond to a picture with a picture.

Each member is allowed to post ONE and ONLY ONE "SEED" PICTURE to the group pool. Very important: once you've posted your seed photo, you can't change your mind!!!. All you have to do is pick a photo, tag it "generation_seed," and drop it in the pool. You can use any picture for this purpose.

After you've seeded the pool, any photos you add have to be responses to other pictures in the pool. Respond in any way that makes sense to you... you don't even have to know why one photo is a response to the other beyond "it just seemed right." If you see a picture of a bell, you can respond with your own picture of a bell... or you can show a picture of a woman in a bell shaped hoop skirt, or a musical staff, or anything at all that the bell inspires you to post.

If you respond to a "seed picture," then you should tag your photo "generation1," and comment with a link to the picture you're responding to. You can also post a link from your photo back to the photo you're responding to. See Two Way Links.

If you respond to a "generation1" photo, then tag your photo "generation2," and link to the picture you're responding to.

This pattern can go on indefinitely. One seed photo may inspire several "generation1" photos, each inspiring their own batch of "generation2" photos, etc.

The idea is that one should be able to pick any photo in the pool, and follow a chain of links back to the previous generation, the one before that, and the one before that, all the way back to the original seed.

Do Not Break The Chain! It will not be appreciated if you delete the relevant links or tags from your photo, making it impossible for future generations to trace their lineage. Undoubtedly this will happen from time to time... but don't do it!

Don't delete or change your seed photo! No one said your seed has to be your best photo. As long as it gives people something to associate from, it will spawn many generations. If its generations stop producing, so be it. You can always continue to associate off of other photos in the pool.

Don't respond to your own photo! You can respond to the next generation after yours, but don't respond directly to your own photo. This is to prevent people from spamming/flooding the pool by planting a seed, responding to it, responding to that, etc., to great excess.

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RULES SUMMARY:

1)Only one seed photo per member, tagged "generation_seed."

2)Don't change or delete your seed.

3)Respond to photos in the pool with new generations, tagged appropriately (e.g. "generation1," "generation2"), and comment with link to previous generation. See also Two Way Links.

4)Don't break the chain.

5)Don't respond directly to your own photo.

6)If the rules have to be revised along the way to stimulate activity in the group, they will be... just be sure to keep within the confines of the current rules.
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Any photos that aren't clearly identified with a "generation_seed" or future generation tag will be removed from the pool. Adding more than one seed, or deliberately violating the game's rules could get a member kicked or banned.

There is no voting in this group, this game is not a contest... it's done for fun and to see what we create. The strictness of the rules is to ensure that if someone creates a "generation6" photo, the picture they've responded to will still be here, and the lineage of photos will be traceable.

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Here's an example of how you might comment with a link to the previous generation:

This photo is a response to the previous generation:

- from the Photo Generations group

If you're having trouble with posting thumnails and links, just copy the text below, and insert the URL of the photo you're replying to, and the appropriate thumbnail image:

This photo is a response to the previous generation:
<a href="URL OF PHOTO PAGE"><img src="URL OF THUMBNAIL"></a>
- from the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/photogenerations/">Photo Generations</a> group