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...

  • Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland
  • Royal Australian Historical Society
  • Mississippi Department of Archives and History
  • DC Public Library Commons
  • Provincial Archives of Alberta
  • Internet Archive Book Images
  • Vancouver Public Library Historical Photographs
  • NASA on The Commons
  • UA Archives | Upper Arlington History
  • UVicLibraries
  • National Library of Ireland on The Commons
  • State Library of New South Wales collection
  • Law Society of Upper Canada Archives
  • Galt Museum & Archives on The Commons
  • Biblioteca de Arte-Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian
  • UL Digital Library
  • Deseronto Archives
  • New York Public Library
  • The Graduate Institute, Geneva
  • Université de Caen Normandie
  • LlGC ~ NLW
  • George Eastman House
  • Riksarkivet (National Archives of Norway)
  • Aalto University Library and Archive Commons
  • Vestfoldmuseene | Vestfold Museums
  • San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives
  • The Field Museum Library
  • Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
  • The Library of Congress
  • The Library of Virginia
  • Getty Research Institute
  • The Royal Library, Denmark
  • Musée McCord Museum
  • Senado Federal do Brasil
  • Powerhouse Museum Collection

A Commons Sampler

Image taken from page 206 of 'Three Years in the Sixth Corps. A concise narrative of events in the Army of the Potomac, from 1861 to the close of the Rebellion, April, 1865. [With illustrations.]'
Image taken from page 206 of 'Three Years in the Sixth Corps. A...
from The British Library

Image taken from page 657 of 'Der Mensch, die Räthsel und Wunder seiner Natur. ... Vierte Auflage'
Image taken from page 657 of 'Der Mensch, die Räthsel und Wunder...
from The British Library

Image taken from page 233 of 'More Colonial Homesteads and their stories'
Image taken from page 233 of 'More Colonial Homesteads and their...
from The British Library

Image taken from page 352 of '[Syria, the Holy Land, Asia Minor, &c., illustrated. In a series of views drawn from nature by W. H. Bartlett, William Purser (Thomas Allom), &c. With descriptions of the plates by J. Carne. [With maps.]]'
Image taken from page 352 of '[Syria, the Holy Land, Asia Minor,...
from The British Library

Image taken from page 108 of 'Among Cannibals. An account of four years' travels in Australia, etc. [Translated from the Danish.]'
Image taken from page 108 of 'Among Cannibals. An account of four...
from The British Library

Image taken from page 349 of 'Petroleum ... Together with the occurrence and uses of natural gas. Edited chiefly from the German of Prof. Hans Hoefer and Dr. Alexander Veith, by W. T. Brannt ... Illustrated, etc. (Based upon “Das Erdoel und seine Verwandt
Image taken from page 349 of 'Petroleum ... Together with the...
from The British Library

Image taken from page 6 of 'With the Beduins. A narrative of journeys and adventures in unfrequented parts of Syria ... Illustrations and a map'
Image taken from page 6 of 'With the Beduins. A narrative of...
from The British Library

Image taken from page 13 of 'Philaster ... With alterations [and a prologue by George Colman the elder], etc'
Image taken from page 13 of 'Philaster ... With alterations [and a...
from The British Library

Image taken from page 970 of 'La Terra, trattato popolare di geografia universale per G. Marinelli ed altri scienziati italiani, etc. [With illustrations and maps.]'
Image taken from page 970 of 'La Terra, trattato popolare di...
from The British Library

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!!