Know Your Hashtag: #PlayArtfully

If you take photos on the street, chances are you, too, have experienced that funny moment when your "moment"— say, the sun's glare through a fire escape in an alley— gets recaptured by someone standing right behind you, immediately after yours. It isn't a competition, to be sure, but in that moment, you're forced into either a fight or a flight response; something about the fact that your image may not be yours alone beckons you to forsake your own muses and act like you didn't care in the first place, or walk away with pride intact, puffing yourself up just to keep lit the spark that inspired you in the first place. The reality of being a 21st Century street photographer is that, well, everyone else is one, too.

Fear not, shutterbugs: SFMOMA recently started a twitter initiative that takes a page straight from Art Assignment Bot's playbook. Entitled SFMOMA On the Go, the museum proposes minigames for followers to artistically respond to. These games often challenge amateur photographers in surefire ways to get your creative juices flowing. Below, some of our favorite tweets and responses to #PlayArtfully:

CHALLENGE: collect the whole rainbow in one photo. Can you do it? #PlayArtfully pic.twitter.com/SPY5t32WJK

— SFMOMA (@SFMOMA) June 8, 2014

@SFMOMA I took this photo @UniqloAU in Melbourne. #PlayArtfully pic.twitter.com/cF1pMyASDo

— Adriana Ortega (@adrianaortegac) June 8, 2014

#PlayArtfully pic.twitter.com/m5SelPCkA0

— Paul Dickinson (@bitswizzler) June 12, 2014

Due to the reconstruction of the so-called “#FutureSFMOMA,” and the temporary loss of their own exhibition space, the idea began out of necessity, but the ‘On the Go’ project has seen enough of a response that it's blossomed into much more than an interim outreach. The games might be scattered around the San Francisco area and the SFMOMA twitter account, but it doesn’t matter if you're in San Francisco for this exhibition— it’s a rolling open call on the beautiful World Wide Web.

GAME 30: Take a weird photo of your surroundings and see if your friends can guess your location! #PlayArtfully pic.twitter.com/3m9lbUWtjh

— SFMOMA (@SFMOMA) June 10, 2014

Free to all. (guess where I am?) #playartfully http://t.co/Av7u3pj2Sz

— Alli Rico (@alli_rico) June 12, 2014

Photographer Edward Weston zoomed in on everyday objects to expose great beauty. #PlayArtfully w/ this concept→ pic.twitter.com/rW7DrDPLSh

— SFMOMA (@SFMOMA) June 3, 2014

Here's our reply to this one: 

#PlayArtfully inspiration for painting. Photo of a close up of my painting palate. Process creates inspiration. pic.twitter.com/vMs3ngY0Hl

— lindatrunzo (@zzpoo) June 4, 2014

GAME 27: in the style of a museum wall label, describe someone as an artwork. We made one for @Beyonce! #PlayArtfully pic.twitter.com/th7iCTAybk

— SFMOMA (@SFMOMA) June 4, 2014

I'm famous! Well, Laila's famous. #caturday #playartfully @sfmoma http://t.co/lAMyCJeahc

— Joelle (@joelle18) June 7, 2014

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. #PlayArtfully with this tiny art game and share what beauty means to you→ pic.twitter.com/fben54rsqS

— SFMOMA (@SFMOMA) June 2, 2014

Beauty to me is always the sea #PlayArtfully pic.twitter.com/NfwTWhL9cf

— Lisa Lind (@Lisanumber8) June 2, 2014

I am loving @SFMOMA's #PlayArtfully tweets! We should all #Play so fabulously! #Artastic

— J. Furlong Del Pozo (@JDelFabulous) June 12, 2014

Feeling the inspiration yet? Head on over to SFMOMA's Twitter, and flex your ability to #PlayArtfully.

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