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*

Participating Institutions

FAQ

Rights Statement

A random sprinkling of our participating institutions...

  • Het Nieuwe Instituut - Architecture Collection
  • Australian War Memorial collection
  • Preus museum
  • National Library of Scotland
  • Miami U. Libraries - Digital Collections
  • UW Digital Collections
  • NASA on The Commons
  • The Finnish Museum of Photography
  • The British Library
  • Law Society of Upper Canada Archives
  • Ljósmyndasafn Reykjavíkur / Reykjavík Museum of
  • Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland
  • Cornell University Library
  • Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest
  • San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives
  • Biblioteca de Arte-Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian
  • Riksarkivet (National Archives of Norway)
  • Internet Archive Book Images
  • Nationaal Archief
  • The Library of Congress
  • Australian National Maritime Museum on The Commons
  • The Graduate Institute, Geneva
  • Nova Scotia Archives
  • New York Public Library
  • Swedish National Heritage Board
  • Galt Museum & Archives on The Commons
  • National Museum of Denmark
  • IWM Collections
  • Museum of Hartlepool
  • The National Archives UK
  • Getty Research Institute
  • Museum of Photographic Arts Collections
  • UL Digital Library
  • George Eastman House
  • tyrrellhistoricallibrary

A Commons Sampler

A. Sato (LOC)
A. Sato (LOC)
from The Library of Congress

Suffragettes at White House (LOC)
Suffragettes at White House (LOC)
from The Library of Congress

Dewey funeral [at Capitol] (LOC)
Dewey funeral [at Capitol] (LOC)
from The Library of Congress

Rolling Sheet Asphalt on Footway, Sydney Harbour Bridge
Rolling Sheet Asphalt on Footway, Sydney Harbour Bridge
from State Records NSW

Miss Bernays (LOC)
Miss Bernays (LOC)
from The Library of Congress

Woman pulling a sled with child - De Land
Woman pulling a sled with child - De Land
from State Library and Archives of Florida

Dewey funeral at his house (LOC)
Dewey funeral at his house (LOC)
from The Library of Congress

NO_51_6_81
NO_51_6_81
from

Dewey funeral (LOC)
Dewey funeral (LOC)
from The Library of Congress

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!!