Photo by George

The Commons

Help us catalog the world’s public photo archives.

The Commons Help us catalog the world’s public photo archives.

Welcome!

The key goal of The Commons is to share hidden treasures from the world's public photography archives.

Please help make the photographs you enjoy more discoverable by adding tags and leaving comments. Your contributions and knowledge make these photos even richer*

A random sprinkling of our participating institutions...

  • Cornell University Library
  • LlGC ~ NLW
  • State Records NSW
  • Deseronto Archives
  • George Eastman House
  • UBC Library Digitization Centre
  • OSU Special Collections & Archives : Commons
  • SMU Central University Libraries
  • Powerhouse Museum Collection
  • Local History & Archives, Hamilton Public Library
  • Ljósmyndasafn Reykjavíkur / Reykjavík Museum of
  • Riksarkivet (National Archives of Norway)
  • State Library and Archives of Florida
  • San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives
  • The Field Museum Library
  • National Library NZ on The Commons
  • CDHS
  • LSE Library
  • Keene and Cheshire County (NH) Historical Photos
  • Internet Archive Book Images
  • Library Company of Philadelphia
  • Musée McCord Museum
  • Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
  • Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland
  • Schlesinger Library, RIAS, Harvard University
  • National Galleries of Scotland Commons
  • National Archives of Estonia
  • National Library of Ireland on The Commons
  • Het Nieuwe Instituut - Architecture Collection
  • Museum of Hartlepool
  • Biblioteca de Arte-Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian
  • tyrrellhistoricallibrary
  • SALTOnline
  • Costică Acsinte Archive
  • bibliothequedetoulouse

A Commons Sampler

AL-135 Highfill Album Image
AL-135 Highfill Album Image
from San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

AL-135 Highfill Album Image
AL-135 Highfill Album Image
from San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

AL-135 Highfill Album Image
AL-135 Highfill Album Image
from San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

AL-135 Highfill Album Image
AL-135 Highfill Album Image
from San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

ca_20140924_026
ca_20140924_026
from Costică Acsinte Archive

Piction
Piction
from San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

Tucker family from Sierra Leon London Centre UK
Tucker family from Sierra Leon London Centre UK
from Mennonite Church USA Archives

Cloyne UCW (United Church Women) -June 21, 1977
Cloyne UCW (United Church Women) -June 21, 1977
from CDHS

ca_20140924_002
ca_20140924_002
from Costică Acsinte Archive

More about The Commons

A new way to share photos on Flickr

The Commons was launched on January 16 2008, when we released our pilot project in partnership with The Library of Congress. Both Flickr and the Library were overwhelmed by the positive response to the project! Thank you!

The program has two main objectives:

  1. To increase access to publicly-held photography collections, and
  2. To provide a way for the general public to contribute information and knowledge. (Then watch what happens when they do!)

FAQ

I work for a cultural heritage institution that would like to be a part of The Commons. How do we do that?

Please let us know you're interested by registering here. It helps a lot if you let us know some background about your institution, and direct us to any online photo collections you already have.

How can I get involved?

We've already seen fantastic contribution from the Flickr membership. Your tags and conversations about the content in The Commons has been wonderful! The best way to get involved is to add a tag or two to the photos you see, and if you happen to know anything else about the subject, by all means add a comment.

What's "no known copyright restrictions?"

This new rights statement is being contained to the institutions participating in The Commons, at the account level. It is a requirement for participation in the program that institutions may rightly claim "no known copyright restrictions" on the content they share. More information.

*Any Flickr member is able to add tags or comment on these collections. If you're a dork about it, shame on you. This is for the good of humanity, dude!!