Photo by George

The Commons

Your opportunity to contribute to describing the world's public photo collections.

The Commons Your opportunity to contribute to describing the world's public photo collections.

Welcome!

The key goals of The Commons on Flickr are to firstly show you hidden treasures in the world's public photography archives, and secondly to show how your input and knowledge can help make these collections even richer.

You're invited to help describe the photographs you discover in The Commons on Flickr, either by adding tags or leaving comments.*

Participating Institutions

FAQ

Rights Statement

A random sprinkling of our participating institutions...

  • The Library of Virginia
  • National Library of Ireland on The Commons
  • Galt Museum & Archives on The Commons
  • State Library of Queensland, Australia
  • The Royal Library, Denmark
  • Museum of Photographic Arts Collections
  • Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library Archives
  • SMU Central University Libraries
  • New York Public Library
  • State Library of New South Wales collection
  • Bergen Public Library
  • Swedish National Heritage Board
  • LSE Library
  • Getty Research Institute
  • OSU Special Collections & Archives
  • Ljósmyndasafn Reykjavíkur / Reykjavík Museum of
  • National Maritime Museum
  • George Eastman House
  • The Library of Congress
  • Smithsonian Institution
  • Fylkesarkivet i Sogn og Fjordane
  • Australian National Maritime Museum on The Commons
  • nha.library
  • Keene and Cheshire County (NH) Historical Photos
  • Stockholm Transport Museum Commons
  • National Galleries of Scotland Commons
  • National Library of Scotland
  • Musée McCord Museum
  • Biblioteca de Arte-Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian
  • The Field Museum Library
  • JWA Commons
  • IWM Collections
  • National Library of Australia Commons
  • Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums
  • Cornell University Library

A Commons Sampler

Llanfachraeth in darkness without electricity
Llanfachraeth in darkness without electricity
from LlGC ~ NLW

Blaenau Ffestiniog viaduct
Blaenau Ffestiniog viaduct
from LlGC ~ NLW

Bondi Beach, Sydney, 1922 / photographed by R. P. Moore
Bondi Beach, Sydney, 1922 / photographed by R. P. Moore
from State Library of New South Wales collection

Bondi Beach, Sydney, 1922 / photographed by R. P. Moore
Bondi Beach, Sydney, 1922 / photographed by R. P. Moore
from State Library of New South Wales collection

Johana Pruitt
Johana Pruitt
from SMU Central University Libraries

Turners Aerial Photography, Jarrow and Wallsend
Turners Aerial Photography, Jarrow and Wallsend
from Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums

Bombingen av Steinkjer
Bombingen av Steinkjer
from Riksarkivet (National Archives of Norway)

Joke Photograph [detail] of Unidentified Soldiers of the Allied Army of Occupation, Germany
Joke Photograph [detail] of Unidentified Soldiers of the Allied...
from Galt Museum & Archives on The Commons

Corporal George Thompson
Corporal George Thompson
from IWM Collections

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!!